swiss design awards 2021 crowns winners in exhibition during art basel

17 winners have been announced for the swiss design awards 2021

from recycled scrapped laced fashion designs to algorithmic floor tiles and vivid expressional graphics to superimposed photography, 17 winners have been announced for the swiss design awards 2021. the competition prompts and promotes swiss ingenuity, with only either swiss-born designers or designers located in the country able to enter. an array of creative categories are represented, showcasing the latest of innovations in many disciplines including photography, graphic design, fashion and textile design, product and industrial design, scenography, and even mediation.

(top image: ‘self identities’, les urbaines 2017 – 2019 by eurostandard: ali-eddine abdelkhalek, pierrick brégeon and clément rouzaud)

like each of its annual editions, the swiss design awards 2021 is a competition that catalyzes creativity in the alpine nation. however, the outlook and reach of the work is always far more international. due to the pandemic, the awards were steeped in even more importance of connecting creatives, sharing ideas and designing for global concerns. exciting projects were born from the crisis. after all, creatives naturally find solutions and question established paradigms.

from 247 entries, the jury of esteemed professionals in the creative industries narrowed submissions to 48 spectacular works across the six different disciplines. judges then scrutinized the final work paying special attention to quality, impact, contemporary relevance and innovativeness. laureates include AATB’s algorithm-designed outdoor flooring, mariel manuel’s fashion fashioned from recycled swiss lace, the reinterpretation of historically independent comic publisher edition moderne, quentin lacombe’s superimposed photography of metropolis during COVID lockdowns, and eurostandard’s all-but-standard graphic design using unconventional and experimental digital tools. each winner received prize money of 25,000 swiss francs.

swiss design awards 2021 exhibits winners at art basel

the work of the 48 finalists are on show at a dedicated multi-disciplinary exhibition in basel, switzerland from september 20-26, coinciding with art basel 2021. visitors can find the ideas as well as 17 winning designs up close, speak with the creatives, network and more. a book mimics an encyclopaedia for the swiss design award 2021, acting as a miniature of the exhibition for visitors to take home with them.

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competition info:

platform: swiss design awards

year: 2021

exhibition: 21–26 september 2021, hall 3 (first floor), messe basel

opening hours: daily 10am – 8pm. tuesday to 7pm and sunday to 6pm. free admission