Samuel Nagel and Paul Feiler win the Rimowa Design Prize 2026

The annual Rimowa Design Prize returns for another year of celebrating emerging designers across Germany. The prize, which launched in 2022 and looks for ingenious ways to support mobility, allows creatives across the country to receive practice-expanding opportunities.

In this latest iteration, looking beyond the mechanics of motion to consider mobility, instead, as a framework for possibility, the initiative has explored how design can act as a catalyst for social, environmental, and professional change.

The Rimowa Design Prize 2026

The journey culminated on 11 May 2026 at Berlin’s Kulturforum, where Samuel Nagel and Paul Feiler, who were mentored by Tim Richter, head of industrial design at Siemens Healthineers, were announced as winners. The ceremony was not just a moment of celebration and recognition, but marked a pivotal career moment where student concepts met industry practice.

The winning ‘Nura’ bracelet enables real-time communication between deaf and hearing people, translating sign language into audible speech and spoken language into text. Rimowa also presented a Special Mention award to Niklas Henning, who received a €10,000 prize for his Paludi Harvester which consists of two autonomous machines working together to enable autonomous reed farming on peatlands.

The winners were selected from seven finalists, chosen from entries across more than 40 universities, with each presenting a distinct approach to innovation, longevity and responsibility.

The jury was led by highly respected voices from the worlds of design, architecture and cultural leadership, who also served as mentors to the finalists as they developed their projects.

This year’s finalists were paired with visionaries including designer Konstantin Grcic; Farah Ebrahimi, founder and art director of furniture brand E15; and Matylda Krzykowski, artistic director of social infrastructure platform Civic. Honorary jurors Alexandre Arnault and Beatrice Monguidi, current CEO of Rimowa, also formed part of the panel that evaluated the projects for their ingenuity, creativity, global relevance and timelessness.

While the financial rewards are significant, ranging from €5,000 for finalists to €20,000 for the winner, the true value lies in the visibility afforded by the prize. Finalists have access to professional workspaces and networking opportunities to help bring their concepts to life.

By connecting emerging designers with industry heavyweights, the Rimowa Design Prize ensures that deserving concepts don't just exist as prototypes, but as active contributions to the future of design, and its end users. It also signposts where the next generation of creators is headed. We look forward to all the finalists’ future projects, and what the Rimowa Design Prize, as an evolving platform for growth, brings next.

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