Lexus Design Award: Collective Progression

The Latin prefix “Co“, meaning “with”, forms the theme for the sixth edition of the Lexus Design Award. The 12 selected finalists respond collaboratively to contemporary challenges, offering solutions to ecological, agricultural and social issues. As renowned architect and member of the judging panel, Sir David Adjaye, notes: “The next generation of designers translates new concepts and philosophies into innovative solutions to the fundamental concerns of today.”

For example, Eriko Yokoi’s Recycled Fibre Planter responds to concerns surrounding a lack of textile reprocessing in Japan, layering polyester clothes to create fibre soil, which is formed through compression. The multicoloured material offers the ideal conditions for growing plants, providing a sustainable use for old clothing and giving waste products a new life. Hiroki Furukawa proposes a similar solution; Paper Skin, as seen aboveconnects layers of paper to create an alternative fabric which is lightweight, moveable and robust.

Blending 21st century technological advancements with an environmental ethos, CO-RKs, also featured above, is the brainchild of DIGITALAB, an emerging innovative multidisciplinary architecture, design and research studio based in Portugal. The project combines scientific practice with a sustainable philosophy, comprising three-dimensional homeware objects created from cork thread. The non-fibrous, durable and natural substance is generated using mathematical algorithms. In a comparable way, Myung Duk Chung’s contribution, Fabric Block, is a supple, multiuse cloth which can be reformed into various structures, with the potential for application within architectural constructions.

Other projects, such as Exploration Factory’s Testing Hypotheticals and Khoa Vu and Wilson Harkhono’s CO-Living provide communal living options, whilst Paul Yong Rit and Jaihar Jailani Bin Ismail’s Honest Egg and VNWALLS’ Garden offer new ways of producing and consuming food products. I DEAL’s Grabby is a co-adaptive cutting board for people who have difficulty preparing food, offering an inventive, accessible solution to domestic life.

The winner is announced at Milan Design Week, which runs 17-22 April. Find out more here.

Credits:
1. Images courtesy Lexus Design Award.