Beazley Designs Of The Year 2017

Sir David Adjaye has been announced as the overall winner of Beazley Design of the Year 2017, for the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington designed in collaboration with The Freelon Group, Davis Brody Bond, and SmithGroupJJR. Now in its tenth year Beazley Designs of the Year is an annual award and exhibition of the very best in international design held by The Design Museum, the world’s leading museum devoted to contemporary design and architecture; and sponsored by specialty insurers Beazley. 

Notable mentions include: 

Serpentine Pavilion designer, architect Francis Kéré who was nominated for his Lycée Schorge Secondary School, in Burkina Faso. Built from locally sourced materials, in keeping with the ethos of Francis Kere’s practice, the establishing of school is to set a new standard for educational excellence in the region.

Sound and installation artist, Emeka Ogboh for Sufferhead Original Stout. A craft beer inspired by the experiences of African immigrants living in Europe, that has found success in Germany. The beer gets its name from Fela Kuti’s 1981 track of the same name, the lyrics of which reference politics and economics, some of the issues Emeka is tackling with the beer and the packaging. I have mentioned Emeka’s work previously in a feature on textile artist Yemi Awoslie.

The Mahjouba Initiative, an electric moped created for the local market. Made using Moroccan craft techniques and materials, the moped is designed by artist Eric van Hove. 

Beazley Designs of the Year saw 62 nominations drawn from the six categories of Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Graphics, Product, and Transport. The nominees for each category are put forward by invited curators. The shortlist and winners  then selected by a jury comprising a distinguished group of designers, curators and creatives: David Rowan, Editor-at-large of WIRED’s UK edition; Ozwald Boateng OBE, fashion designer; Marcus Engman, Design Manager of IKEA Range and Supply; Margaret Calvert OBE, typographer and graphic designer; Amanda Levete, Founder and Principal of AL_A; Professor, Gerry McGovern, Chief Design Officer, JLR; and Michael Tchao, VP Product Marketing at Apple Inc. 

– Tapiwa Matsinde

Additional details:

For more information about Beazley Designs Of The Year visit: www.designmuseum.org

For more information about Beazley visit: www.beazley.com

[Image credits: The images shown are sourced from The Design Museum. If downloaded and used elsewhere please credit accordingly.]