The Design Museum opens 2018 Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition

The year’s most innovative designs go on view at the Design Museum for the 11th edition of the Beazley Designs of the Year, opening during London Design Festival for the first time. The mammoth shortlist of 87 nominees has been announced today and is split into categories of fashion, graphics, architecture, product, digital and transport. From Thomas Heatherwick’s Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa and the sets of Blade Runner 2049 by Territory Studio, to Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi and Studio Drift’s drones, the shortlist gives a dynamic overview of the design climate of today. Sustainability has been honoured throughout with many impressive eco-friendly projects including the first plastic-free supermarket aisle, an emission-free bike and Formafantasma’s recycled e-waste furniture. Plus, pioneering medical equipment is included from a hand-powered centrifuge to self-healing e-skin. This year’s exhibition has been curated by Aric Chen of M+ museum in Hong Kong, and the winner will be announced on 15 November. For now, delve into the exhibition and explore the inspiring shortlist below...

By Sujata Burman

last updated 13 October 2022

Installation vew of Beazley Designs of the Year plastics section

For his exhibition design, Aric Chen decided not to lay the products out by their shortlisted categories, but instead displayed them under political, social and economical issues in our world today. At the start of the exhibition, the environment and materials is the focal point under the heading 'Water is precious, and so is waste'

Installation vew of Beazley Designs of the Year by Aric Chen

The title in each section acts as news headlines for the different dimly lit areas. Each hidden display is a cabinet of curiosities structured by walls of dark blue paint layered with sand

Installation vew of Beazley Designs of the Year

As you explore deeper into the show, the titles get more enigmatic (‘Real and fake are being redrawn;’ ‘Communities are claiming new spaces’) signifying unsure times and putting these celebrated designs on a pedestal as powers to create positive change

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town
**Designer:** Heatherwick Studio

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Bío Bío Regional Theatre, Chile
**Designer:** Smiljan Radic, Eduardo Castillo and Gabriela Medrano

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** The Common Stove, public stove at Biennial of Design in Ljubljana
**Designer:** Matali Crasset

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Copenhagen Islands floating platforms
**Designer:** Marshall Blecher and Magnus Maarbjerg

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Ganga Maki Textile Studio, India
**Designer:** Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Jintai village reconstruction, China
**Designer:** Rural Urban Framework

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Lego House, Denmark
**Designer:** Bjarke Ingels Group

SESC 24 de Maio, Brazil — **Category:** Architecture
**Name:** SESC 24 de Maio non-profit arts and recreation centre, Brazil
**Designer:** Paulo Mendes da Rocha and MMBB Arquitetos

Lumen knitted pavilion — **Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Lumen knitteAd pavilion
**Designer:** Jenny Sabin Architects

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Microlibrary at Taman Bima, Indonesia
**Designer:** SHAU Indonesia

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** MycoTree
**Designer:** Sustainable Construction (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) and Block Research Group (ETH Zürich)

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Qatar National Library
**Designer:** OMA

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Gulshan Society Jame Mosque, Bangladesh
**Designer:** Kashef Chowdhury/Urbana

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Louvre Abu Dhabi
**Designer:** Jean Nouvel

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Chaoyang Park Plaza, China
**Designer:** MAD Architects

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Stone Matters pavilion, Palestine
**Designer:** AAU Anastas/Scales and Laboratoire GSA

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Fuyang Cultural Complex, China
**Designer:** Amateur Architecture Studio

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Small is Meaningful public space, Hong Kong
**Designer:** Design Trust Futures Studio

**Category:** Architecture
**Name:** Digua Community urban bomb shelter, China
**Designer:** Shu Zhou

**Category:** Transport
**Name:** Falcon Heavy rocket
**Designer:** SpaceX

**Category:** Transport
**Name:** Kalk electric motorbike
**Designer:** Cake

**Category:** Transport
**Name:** Virgin Hyperloop One
**Designer:** Hyperloop One

**Category:** Transport
**Name:** City Brain artificial intelligence
**Designer:** City Brain Open Research (Wang Jian, Zue Guirong, Li Zhengui and Wang Min)

Mobike Lite by Naoto Fukasawa for Mobike — **Category:** Transport
**Name:** Mobike Lite
**Designer:** Naoto Fukasawa for Mobike

**Category:** Digital
**Name:** Bad News game
**Designer:** Gusmanson and DROG

**Category:** Digital
**Name:** Counter Investigations: Forensic Architecture exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
**Designer:** Forensic Architecture

**Category:** Digital
**Name:** Gucci Spring Summer 2018 campaign: #GucciHallucination
**Designer:** Ignasi Monreal (artwork), Alessandro Michele (creative direction) and Christopher Simmonds (art direction)

**Category:** Digital
**Name:** Space Debris – A Journey to Earth digital animation
**Designer:** European Space Agency with ID&Sense and Onirixel

**Category:** Digital
**Name:** aibo ERS-1000 pet robot
**Designer:** Sony Corporation

**Category:** Digital
**Name:** Choose Love shop
**Designer:** Help Refugees in partnership with Glimpse

**Category:** Digital
**Name:** Verificado19s website
**Designer:** Anonymous Collective

**Category:** Digital
**Name:** Technology interfaces for Blade Runner 2049
**Designer:** Territory Studio

Franchise Freedom by Studio Drift — **Category:** Digital
**Name:** Franchise Freedom drone installation
**Designer:** Studio Drift

**Category:** Fashion
**Name:** Vigilamus, Matty Bovan’s debut collection
**Designer:** Matty Bovan

Franchise Freedom — **Category:** Fashion
**Name:** Horizon Infinity handwoven menswear
**Designer:** Marisa and Maris Gnanaraj

Burberry Rainbow tartan by Christopher Bailey for Burberry — **Category:** Fashion
**Name:** Burberry Rainbow tartan
**Designer:** Christopher Bailey for Burberry

**Category:** Fashion
**Name:** Zoa bio-fabricated leather collection
**Designer:** Modern Meadow

D-Stag RFTPi jeans — **Category:** Fashion
**Name:** G-Star Elwood RFTPi jeans & D-Staq RFTPi denim jacket
**Designer:** G-Star RAW with Artistic Miliners, Dystar and Saitex

**Category:** Fashion
**Name:** Hotel Palomo: Spring Summer 2018 Menswear
**Designer:** Palomo Spain

**Category:** Fashion
**Name:** Made by Rain textile collection
**Designer:** Aliki van der Krujis

**Category:** Fashion
**Name:** Goldwin Ski Jacket
**Designer:** Goldwin with Spiber materials

Nigeria National Football Team kit by Nike — **Category:** Fashion
**Name:** Nigeria National Football Team: National Team Collection
**Designer:** Nike

**Category:** Fashion
**Name:** Royal Ballet costumes for Christopher Wheeldon’s production of Corybantic Games
**Designer:** Erdem Moralıoğlu

**Category:** Fashion
**Name:** Telfar Fall-Winter 2018 Collection
**Designer:** Telfar

**Category:** Graphics
**Name:** Aravrit writing system that hybridises Hebrew and Arabic
**Designer:** Liron Lavi Turkenich

**Category:** Graphics
**Name:** Migrant Journal
**Designer:** Offshore Studio (art direction) and Justinien Tribillon (editor)

**Category:** Graphics
**Name:** Netherlands Women’s National Football Teamcrest
**Designer:** Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam for Nike

**Category:** Graphics
**Name:** Oto Nové Swiss interactive poster
**Designer:** Studio Feixen

**Category:** Graphics
**Name:** Trash Isles campaign
**Designer:** Plastic Oceans Foundation with Ladbible

**Category:** Graphics
**Name:** Visual identity for the Czech Railway Infrastructure Association
**Designer:** Studio Marvil

**Category:** Graphics
**Name:** Plastic-free aisle, Netherlands
**Designer:** A Plastic Planet and Made Thought for Ekoplaza

**Category:** Graphics
**Name:** Mushpit #10 women’s magazine
**Designer:** Mushpit with Richard Turley

**Category:** Graphics
**Name:** Save Our Species T-shirt
**Designer:** Lacoste with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

**Category:** Graphics
**Name:** Hoarding for the Apple Store, Taipei
**Designer:** Yang Shiyi

Glowing Plants by Seonyeong Kwak and Michael Strano, Strano Research Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology — **Category:** Product
**Name:** Glowing Plants
**Designer:** Seonyeong Kwak and Michael Strano, Strano Research Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Re-engineered Brown Betty Teapot
**Designer:** Ian McIntyre

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Trashpresso solar-powered recycling plant
**Designer:** Miniwiz

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Algae Lab
**Designer:** Studio Klarenbeek & Dros at Atelier Luma

Arrangements modular lighting sys — **Category:** Product
**Name:** Arrangements modular lighting
**Designer:** Michael Anastassiades for Flos

Ceramic Tap Water self cooling Carafe — **Category:** Product
**Name:** Ceramic Tap Water Carafe
**Designer:** Lotte de Raadt

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Enea walking stick
**Designer:** Shiro Studio in collaboration with Arup UK and MHOX

Excavation: Evicted furniture collection by Paul Cocksedge, supported by Friedman Benda and Beatrice Trussardi — **Category:** Product
**Name:** Excavation: Evicted furniture collection
**Designer:** Paul Cocksedge, supported by Friedman Benda and Beatrice Trussardi

Jins Design Project #01: New Normal by Jins and Jasper Morrison — **Category:** Product
**Name:** Jins Design Project #01: New Normal
**Designer:** Jins and Jasper Morrison

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Just Water bottles
**Designer:** Drew FitzGerald, Kara Rubin, Madwell and Tetra Pak, Inc.

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Medal Design for PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
**Designer:** Sukwoo Lee at SWNA

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Metamorphism new material
**Designer:** Shahar Livne

**Category:** Product
**Name:** New £1 coin
**Designer:** Royal Mint and David Pearce

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Nintendo Labo cardboard kit
**Designer:** Nintendo

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Ore Streams multimedia e-waste project
**Designer:** Studio Formafantasma

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Paperfuge hand-powered centrifuge
**Designer:** Prakash Lab

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Self-healing e-skin
**Designer:** Jianliang Ziao, Wei Zhang, Zhanan Zou and Chengpu Zhu

**Category:** Product
**Name:** SurgiBox sterile operating theatre
**Designer:** Debbie Teodorescu, Mike Teodorescu, Stephen Okajima and Team SurgiBox

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Tetra countertop dishwasher
**Designer:** Heatworks and frog

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Totomoxtle surfacing veneer
**Designer:** Fernando Laposse

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Fenty Beauty by Rihanna
**Designer:** Established

Unhomely sculptures by Chris Schanck — **Category:** Product
**Name:** Unhomely sculptures
**Designer:** Chris Schanck

**Category:** Product
**Name:** You & I rug collection
**Designer:** Nada Debs and FBMI

Bleached furniture series by Erez Nevi Pana — **Category:** Product
**Name:** Bleached furniture series
**Designer:** Erez Nevi Pana

Nest ceramic heaters by Estudio äCo — **Category:** Product
**Name:** Nest ceramic heaters
**Designer:** Estudio äCo

Jellyfish Vase by Nendo — **Category:** Product
**Name:** Jellyfish Vase
**Designer:** Nendo

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Caskia/Growing a Marsboot
**Designer:** Liz Ciokajlo (Ourownskin) with Maurizio Montalti

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Ori Studio Collection robotic furniture system
**Designer:** Ori with Fuseproject

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Pretziada Sardinian craft
**Designer:** Ivano Atzori and Kyre Chenven

**Category:** Product
**Name:** Quicksee eye test
**Designer:** PlenOptika

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Sujata Burman is a writer and editor based in London, specialising in design and culture. She was Digital Design Editor at Wallpaper* before moving to her current role of Head of Content at London Design Festival and London Design Biennale where she is expanding the content offering of the showcases. Over the past decade, Sujata has written for global design and culture publications, and has been a speaker, moderator and judge for institutions and brands including RIBA, D&AD, Design Museum and Design Miami/. In 2019, she co-authored her first book, An Opinionated Guide to London Architecture, published by Hoxton Mini Press, which was driven by her aim to make the fields of design and architecture accessible to wider audiences.

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