A visit to Swarovski Emerging Talent Medal-winner Daniel Rybakken's studio
Once in a while a designer comes along who takes into account not just form and function but light and dark, graphics and mechanics, positive and negative space - the whole shebang. Daniel Rybakken's expression of all this, in designs exhibiting so little fanfare, has earned him the London Design Medal in the category of Emerging Talent.
The Norwegian designer, who graduated in 2008 with a degree in fine art from HDK Gothenburg, explored natural and artificial light in his conceptual art before shifting into lighting design. His first industrial work, Counterbalance, expands on the brilliance of classics like George Carwardine's Anglepoise or the Flos 265 by Paolo Rizzatto with astonishing flexibility and accuracy, as well as a graphic quality that makes it seem as much a shadow puppet as a 3D concern.
His follow-ups Ricochet and Coherence are similarly spare, but use secondary light sources and mirrors to reflect and diffuse light. This year, Rybakken riffed on his own design for Ascent, a simple bell-shaped lamp that slides up a vertical arm while increasing the intensity of its naturalistic glow.
The Swarovski Emerging Talent Medal was selected by a 13-judge panel including Alexander Payne of auction house Phillips and Martin Roth, director of the Victoria & Albert Museum. They also awarded the Coutts Lifetime Achievement Medal to Dieter Rams, designer of the 606 Universal Shelving System for Vitsoe; and the Veuve Clicquot Design Entrepreneur Award to the wheelchair creator David Constantine.
The Panerai London Design Medal went to legendary graphic artist Peter Saville for his outstanding contribution to the field. Our look at Saville's finest work, past and present, appears in the current issue of Wallpaper* (W*175).
Past works by Rybakken include 'Daylight Entrance', 2010
'Light Tray', by Daniel Rybakken, 2011
'Colour', by Daniel Rybakken for Ligne Roset, 2011
'Ricochet' light, by Daniel Rybakken for Luceplan, 2012
'Right Angle Mirror', by Daniel Rybakken for Galerie Kreo, 2012
-
Bocci and Anna Carnick join forces on a showcase of evocative design practices in Berlin'Crafting Community' is on view at Berlin's Wilhelm Hallen until 14 September 2025
-
The story behind a one-of-a-kind Dieter Rams handbag, reborn by German leather brand TsatsasA new exhibition at Vitsœ’s London store celebrates the ‘931’ bag, designed by Dieter Rams for his wife Ingeborg in 1963 and reborn over half a century later in a collaboration between Rams and German leather accessories brand Tsatsas
-
A Miami pied-à-terre channels Art Deco glamour and endless summerInterior designer Olga Malyev reimagines a South of Fifth apartment with bold colour, vintage treasures and a sunlit spirit that captures Miami’s timeless allure
-
A travelling exhibition of chairs hits the road for London Design Festival 2025Organised by Design Everything, ‘A Seat at the Table’ travels to different venues in the city, where the chairs support communal events
-
Norman Foster and nine other architects design birdhouses for charity – you can bid‘Architects for the Birds’ is spearheaded by Norman Foster and the Tessa Jowell Foundation to raise funds to improve treatment for brain cancer. Ten architect-designed birdhouses will go up for auction
-
The David Collins Foundation celebrates creativity in all its forms at London Design FestivalThe David Collins Foundation presents ‘Convergence’ at the Lavery during London Design Festival 2025 (on view until 19 September), featuring works from the Arts Foundation’s annual Futures Awards
-
What not to miss at London Design Festival 2025We bring you the best new installations, exhibitions and products to launch at London Design Festival 2025 (13–21 September)
-
Lee Broom’s brutalist-inspired ‘Beacon’ will light up London as Big Ben strikes the hourSet to pulse through London Design Festival 2025 (13-22 September) and beyond, the British industrial designer’s sculptural light installation on the South Bank draws on its surroundings
-
Yuri Suzuki turns sound into architecture at Camden Arts ProjectsThe sound designer unveils ‘Utooto’, an interactive installation at London’s Camden Arts Projects (until 5 October 2025), in which visitors collaboratively build a sonic piece of architecture
-
Alex Tieghi-Walker unveils his plans for Brompton Design District 2025Ahead of London Design Festival 2025, we catch up with New York gallerist Alex Tieghi-Walker about his appointment as curator of the Brompton Design District programme
-
‘The point was giving ordinary people access to bold taste’: how Ikea brought pattern into the home‘Ikea: Magical Patterns’ at Dovecot Gallery in Edinburgh tells the story of a brand that gave us not only furniture, but a new way of seeing our homes – as canvases for self-expression
