Designs of the Year shortlist announced
This year's shortlist, which will go on show at the Design Museum in London in March, includes some of the best designs produced in the last year including architecture by Zaha Hadid and furniture designed by Barber & Osgerby
The Design Museum in London has announced the shortlist of contenders for this year's Designs of the Year competition which, as usual, includes a diverse selection including a floating school in a Nigerian lagoon, friendly lamp posts, an extra-light table a recoiling mudguard for the discerning cyclist.
Designs are nominated in seven categories: Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Furniture, Graphic, Product and Transport design
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The Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo: Hufton+Crow
2014's nominees include international design stars such as Zaha Hadid, John Pawson, Stephen Jones, David Chipperfield and Miuccia Prada, alongside crowd-funded start ups and student projects.
All of the nominated designs go on display at the Design Museum, in an exhibition open from 26 March to 25 August 2014. A distinguished panel of experts will choose a winner from each category and, finally, one overall winner, to be announced later in the year.
Interior of the St Moritz Church, Augsburg, Germany, designed John Pawson. Photo: Jens Weber
Nominated in the architecture category are Zaha Hadid's spectacular Heydar Aliyev Centre, which graced the cover of Blueprint's current issue (332) and the St Moritz Church, Augsburg, Germany whose interior renovation by John Pawson appeared in our list of the world's 10 best modern religious buildings.
Also on the list for architecture was the amazing Makoko Floating School in Nigeria (main picture), Designed by NLÉ, Makoko Community Building Team.
New interior for the United Nations North Delegates' Lounge in New York. Photo: Frank Oudeman
Among the furniture designs nominated by industry experts this year are the Bodleian Library Chair, Designed by Barber & Osgerby, and new interior for the United Nations North Delegates' Lounge in New York, designed by Hella Jongerius, together with Rem Koolhaas, Irma Boom, Gabriel Lester and Louise Schouwenberg.
The digital design category (which produced last year's winner, the redesigned website for the UK Government) this year includes Hello Lamp Post, a 'playful SMS platform', designed by Pan Studio which invites people to strike up conversations with familiar street furniture.
The always strong product design section has this year includes Formlabs Form 1High-Resolution Desktop 3D Printer - Designed by Formlabs Inc. and the Plume Mudguard by Patrick Laing & Dan McMahon which, when not in use, cleverly shrinks up under bicycle seat.
