Winning design: BraunPrize 2015 announces trio of champions
High excitement at the consumer electronics manufacturer Braun this week, as the finalists of BraunPrize 2015 were paraded in front of an audience at their HQ in the small German town of Kronberg. The prize started in 1968 under the stewardship of Braun’s then design director Dieter Rams. Since the departure of that influential visionary in 1995, and Braun’s purchase by US brand P&G a decade later, Braun seems to have lost its aesthetic way. But this year’s BraunPrize injected some thought-provoking conceptual ideas into the building.
The competition brief called for product concepts that put 'the extra in the ordinary,' because 'we surround ourselves with things we don’t really value, instead of focusing on fewer but better solutions that contribute to our lives,' says Braun design director Oliver Grabes.
The jury had whittled down more than 2,500 entries to just three finalists in two categories - students, professionals and enthusiasts – who would share the $75,000 prize money. After each presented their concept, the outright winner was chosen through an audience ballot – an unusual twist for such a competition. Roel Deden of Design Academy Eindhoven in The Netherlands came out on top of the students for Printhesis, an ingenious cheap, lightweight, 3D-printed prosthetics concept.
In the second category, Helsinki-based designer Mats Lönngren won with Ahti X 1, a life jacket with built-in mobile technology to locate a man overboard and speed up rescue. For its Rams-like minimalism, perhaps, a smart fuse box for homes called Fuse by DCA Design International in Warwick, UK, was awarded silver.
If votes had been cast for presentation style alone, the three-strong industrial design team from China’s Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts would have won hands down. Looking unfeasibly young and dapper in dark suits, Dong Ding, JinCai Ma and JunXi Huang (one of them sporting a chic bowtie) gravely stood to attention while an English-speaking companion delivered their entry. Wiper Barricade Lights, an LED warning concept for car rear windows was rewarded with bronze.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Tiffany & Co nods to its theatrical history with a surreal new campaign
Tiffany & Co campaign ‘With Love, Since 1837’ sees Dan Tobin Smith and set designer Rachel Thomas create an offbeat set
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Celine’s new fragrance Zou Zou is inspired by 1960s heroines
Celine debuts a new fragrance, Zou Zou, inspired by Hedi Slimane’s obsession with 1960s youth culture
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Bar Spero, in Washington DC, nods to the playful nature of Spanish cuisine
Bar Spero is a Spanish seafood bar and grill designed by Streetsense and led by chef Johnny Spero
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
A new history of Braun charts the company’s path to ultimate modernist manufacturer
Phaidon’s monograph Braun: Designed to Keep tracks over a century of product design, including its long-standing collaboration with Dieter Rams
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Less but better: Dieter Rams’ lessons on show at ADI Design Museum, Milan
An exhibition at Milan’s ADI Design Museum celebrates Dieter Rams’ creations
By Cristina Kiran Piotti Published
-
Virgil Abloh reimagines Braun’s iconic Wandanlage stereo
Braun and Virgil Abloh team up to celebrate the company's centenary with a new project that features timeless design, film and the designer's eclectic musical universe
By Rosa Bertoli Last updated
-
Tony Chambers on why ‘less but better’ is the future for retail and design
By Tony Chambers Last updated
-
A hole in one: celebrating 21 years of life-enhancing stuff
By Tony Chambers Published
-
Vitsoe opens a new outpost in Munich
By Sophie Lovell Last updated
-
Book: Dieter Rams - As Little Design as Possible
By Apphia Michael Published