in what is widely acknowledged as one of the most important programs to reward outstanding designs in asia pacific, the hong kong design centre (HKDC) awards invited a spectrum of international winners and guests from creative industries, business and media to the award presentation ceremony december 1st, 2011, to recognize the power of excellent designs and innovative minds in the region.

among the 156 awards presented to design gurus from around the world, this year HKDC bestowed 10 seminal design for asia (DFA) grand awards for significant impacts and contributions to the world’s sustainability in asia, showing capabilities beyond design form and aesthetics.

HKDC design for asia award ceremony

winners of the acclaimed DFA grand awards at the hong kong convention and exhibition centre were: 1. ‘green-in-hand’ (also the winner of DFA special award for culture), the taiwan native grains bring us back to thinking about the relationship between earth and human; 2. ‘olive’ (also the winner of DFA special award for technology award), a wiki-style site with a collaboration of survival tips from global citizens for march 11 earthquake victims in japan; 3. ‘musashino art university museum and library’, a library with walls of book-shelves as building structure and space expansion to inspire design students visiting the library; 4. ‘open architecture project’, an extension of the public realm inserted in the spatial chasm between pre-existing buildings which promote activities and communication between the local inhabitants; 5. paper partition system, a set of simple cardboard sheets to show craving privacy in refuge which was widely applied during the march 11 earthquake in japan; 6. ‘shang xia’, a brand which brings the excellence of chinese and other asian craftsmanship into contemporary lifestyle through the encounter of heritage and innovation; 7. ‘so…soap!’, a hong kong-based community organic soap production scheme with the goal of generating jobs for disadvantaged woman; 8. ‘tokyo fiber senseware’, a spectacular exhibition in using innovative artificial fiber technology to create inspiring design; 9. ‘truss-me’, an indian collection of bamboo furniture which reveals human wisdom; and 10. ‘yusuhara wooden bridge museum’, a construction with astonishing building structure.

all of these winning projects are more than just impressive design forms and style; they attempt to delve deeper when examining the manner and approach of design. they are marketable and have been developed to solve a wide range of social and environmental problems for those living on the asian continent and enhance one’s quality of living.

HKDC design for asia award ceremony DFA grand award winners

in addition to recognizing the better known styles of design, the HKDC has a mission to nurture local talent and champion hong kong design. for that reason, two award platforms, design for asia student award (DFASA) and hong kong young designer talent awards (HKYDTA), were established to stimulate and inspire creativity among young, up-and-coming designers through a competition promoting design awareness while boosting the confidence of those designers-to-be.

the experienced judging panel consists of distinguished local and international experts had chosen ms. ayano senzui from tama art university of japan as the winner for her innovative yet practical the assemblage of irregular pieces.

HKDC design for asia award ceremony ms. ayano senzui, winner of the design for asia student award

four of the local design practitioners and students were acknowledged with the HKYDTA award and will have the opportunity to undertake overseas training and work. a total sponsorship of 1.5 million HKD was presented with these awards. ms. amy chow, project director of hong kong design centre, congratulated the winners and said, ‘we hope that the founding of the DFA award will help provide developmental direction for asian designers to understand asia more directly. with a more regionalized design competition, it ensures asian design and its nuances and thinking can be properly evaluated. we believe that design from asia should be judged against an alternative set of parameters for our cultural foundations, lifestyle, cuisine and costumes. it is also these differences and contrasts that create a basis for asia to approach design differently.’

HKDC design for asia award ceremony winners of the hong kong young designer talent award