LEXUS design award

LEXUS design award:

judges: paola antonelli (curator), aric chen (curator), jaime hayon (artist/designer), toyo ito (architect), birgit lohmann (editor-in-chief designboom)kiyotaka ise (president LEXUS international)mentors: sam hecht (product designer) and junya ishigami (architect)

‘motion’ is the theme of the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2012, a brand new international design competition to help nurture next generation innovators, initiated by the premium car brand from japan in collaboration with designboom. our daily lives are continuously filled with ‘motion’. the ‘motion’ of things, the ‘motion’ of people. moving people’s hearts. shifting consciousness. moving information, society and time. triggering chain reactions…

the creators of 10 awarded works will be invited to the milan design week in april 2013, and the two final winners will receive up to five million yen (more than 60.000 USD) each to cover costs of prototype execution, under the direction of two mentors: world-famous designers/architects sam hecht (UK) and junya ishigami (japan). the TOP jury includes paola antonelli, aric chen, jaime hayon, and toyo ito (in addition to kiyotaka ise, president of LEXUS and birgit lohmann, editor-in-chief designboom).

we welcome designers from all fields: architecture, product design, fashion…

how to define ‘motion’ is up to you. the competition invites next generation innovators from around the globe to participate. registration are now open. be quick. entry submission deadline is december 31, 2012. enroll here.

toyo itoportrait © designboom

on october 30th, 2012 at tokyo designers week, president of LEXUS international kiyotaka ise, architect toyo ito and designboom’s editor-in-chief birgit lohmann officially presented the LEXUS design award to the japanese press. in a question and answer session toyo ito emphasized the fact that the competition is a mentorship program where world famous designers and architects will assist the creators of the winning entries to further develop their concept, and LEXUS will financially support the realization of a prototype.

junya ishigami, one of the mentors of the LEXUS design award, talks about his work, the prospect of finding new talent and how the theme ‘MOTION’ reflects our current culturevideo © LEXUS

sam hecht, one of the mentors of the LEXUS design award, gives an in-depth interview on the theme ‘MOTION’ and how being an mentor can enrich the finalists resultsvideo © LEXUS

kiyotaka ise, toyo ito and birgit lohmann at the press conferenceimages © designboom

LEXUS showcased the award program in an exhibition on show over the seven day tokyo designers week.

kiyotaka ise, president of LEXUS international on LEXUS’ design philosophyimage © designboom

‘at LEXUS, we believe the mission of ‘DESIGN’ is to enrich people’s lives while at the same time solving problems for society and the environment. we think ‘it’s important to nurture and support young creators who can enrich our world’ to achieve this goal.’ – kiyotaka ise, president of LEXUS international. the LEXUS design philosophy is based on three main elements: seamless anticipation, incisive simplicity and intriguing elegance.