September 19, 2009
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
The Rotterdam Design Prize 2009 nominees were announced by Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam, and the chairman of the nomination committee, Peter van Ingen. Simultaneously the exhibition was opened at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Rotterdam Design Prize 2009 Nominees are:
Atelier NL en Maarten Kolk
Christien Meindertsma
Customr
Damen Shipyards T&W Designteam
Gorilla
Jair Straschnow & Gitte Nygaard
Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum
Studio Makkink & Bey
Studio Joost Grootens
Studio Wieki Somers
The Rotterdam Design Prize is a biennial national prize which concentrates on the shared qualities of Dutch design and intensifies the design debate. Since the previous competition the focus has shifted from the autonomous product to the vision of the designer.Candidates are requested to submit their work together with a statement. A Dutch nominations committee made up of specialists assesses the submissions and nominates several designers. Their work is exhibited publicly. During the course of the exhibition an international jury meets to choose the winner. The prize giving takes place during the period of the exhibition. The nominations committee and the jury justify their selections in published reports.A Dutch nominations committee has made a selection from the 168 submissions by designers, clients and intermediaries. This year the nominations committee comprised Peter van Ingen (journalist and presenter/chairman), Hugues Boekraad (design critic), Jan Boelen (artistic director of Z33 and lecturer at the Design Academy), Matthijs van Dijk (professor of design at TU Delft), Nikki Gonnissen (winner of the Rotterdam Design Prize in 2007 and creative director of Thonik), Arjen Ribbens (reporter for NRC Handelsblad), Helen van Ruiten (gallerist) and José Teunissen (lecturer in fashion design at Arnhem).The winner of the Rotterdam Design Prize 2009 will be chosen by an international panel of judges during the exhibition and will be awarded €15,000 to spend as they wish. The judges are Alice Rawsthorn (journalist with the International Herald Tribune and design critic, UK), Rick Poynor (writer and design critic, UK) and Patrizia Moroso (artistic director of Moroso, IT).Prior to the prize-giving on 20 November, the Rotterdam Design Prize Foundation in association with Premsela – Dutch Platform for Design and Fashion will be staging a symposium on the current position of Dutch design seen from an international perspective. A number of renowned guest speakers from other countries will be sharing their views on the progressive nature of cutting-edge Dutch design.This year a public prize will be awarded in addition to the regular prize. Visitors can vote for it on the website www.designprijs.nl and at the exhibition. From 19 September onwards, the nominees, their work and their vision will be presented in a series of video portraits made by Hans Wessels. The series can be seen on the website and visitors can leave their vote and reactions.
Rotterdam Design Prize 2003
Rotterdam Design Prize 2001