(openPR) Winners of the international design contest will be presented with their awards at the 75th year company anniversary celebration on the eve of the “Interzum”, the leading international trade fair for suppliers to the furniture industry
For the second time in its history, Becker, manufacturer of moulded wood situated in Brakel, is holding an international product design competition for young designers. The occasion is the 75th company anniversary this year. The response has been overwhelming: 1.132 submissions from 52 countrys arrived at the company headquarters in North Rhine-Westphalia. The winners will be presented with their awards on the eve of the international trade fair Interzum on 24th May in Cologne during the course of the company’s 75th year anniversary celebration. In total, the prize money is worth 18.000 Euro.
Professor Dieter Zimmer, chairman of the international jury of seven experts, said he had never experienced such an amazing response to a design contest with so many applicants keen to participate. The ideas range from moulded wood classics like chairs or armchairs to lamps, handbags, bath tubs, cradles, bycicles, sleighs and shoes.
“The jury has decided to award an extra prize in addition to the original ten awards. That’s all we will reveal for the moment,” says product development manager Joachim Schelper. “Even the winners will not know until that very night who will be awarded one of the four cash prizes. However, they are all excited at the prospect of Becker producing moulded wood prototypes of their design ideas “. These prototypes will be presented at the awards show on 24th May and also during the Interzum.
The winners are:
- Philip Berkemeyer, Akademie Gestaltung im Handwerk, Münster, Germany
- Chang Yu-Chih und Hu Tsuo-Ning, Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin, Germany
-Tobias Fink, Dipl.-Designer (FH), Aachen, Germany
- David Gekeler, Universität der Künste, Berlin, Germany
- Jan Kemski, Kunsthochschule Kassel, Germany
- Malte Licht und Gunnar Sören Petersen, Universität der Künste, Berlin, Germany
- Stine Paeper, Hochschule für bildende Künste, Hamburg, Germany
- Oleg Pugachev, Weißensee Kunsthochschule, Berlin, Germany
- Joeri Reynaert, Media & Design Academy, Genk, Belgium
- Tjark Rumohr, Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel, Germany
- Dániel Varga, University of West Hungary, Sopron, Hungary
However, none of the contestants will be left empty-handed: Just in time for the Interzum Becker publishes a documentation of the contest with pictures of every single submission. The book will be distributed to all participants and companys of the furniture industry worldwide.
“With the award, we want to give students and young designers the opportunity to explore the world of moulded wood and to present themselves and their ideas to an international jury and professionals from around the world,” says company manager Dr. Ralf Becker. ”We were very impressed by the submitted ideas and would like to thank all participants of the contest. They have proved that curved plywood is an excellent and versatile material to be used for modern product design. With the documentation we want to say thank you for the great birthday present they have given us.”
For more information on the contest, the jury and moulded wood, please check our webseite www.becker-contest.com.
