four LEXUS DESIGN AWARD winners publicly debut at milan design week 2023

LEXUS design award opens your choice award

Running since 2013, LEXUS DESIGN AWARD continues to push Lexus’ founding mission to Design for a Better Tomorrow. Tasking inspired creators to innovate solutions to our world’s most pressing issues – whether a humidifier 3D-printed from recycled ceramic waste or a portable catcher that turns fog into drinking water – the brand supports the next generation of creative talents and their projects in the aim of aiding the future. The four winners of the 2023 edition receive this encouragement through a professional mentorship, prototype funding, and a dedicated exhibition of their winning work at Milan Design Week 2023.

Visit Lexus at Superstudio Più in Milan’s Tortona Design District and vote for the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2023’s Your Choice Award – here.

The four winners of LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2023

All images courtesy of Lexus

From 2,068 entries from 63 countries and regions around the world, four winners for the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2023 were chosen by the judges: Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, Department of Architecture and Design, MoMA; Karim Rashid, Designer and Founder of Karim Rashid Inc.; and Simon Humphries, Chief Branding Officer, Toyota Motor Corporation. Each design was selected on whether it aligned to Lexus’ principles for Better Tomorrow, which are Anticipate, Innovate, Captivate, and Enhance Happiness.

The four designers attended a unique mentoring workshop in January 2023 with Marjan van Aubel, Solar Designer at Marjan van Aubel Studio; Joe Doucet, Designer and Founder of Joe Doucet x Partners; Yuri Suzuki, Artist and Designer/Partner at Pentagram; and Sumayya Vally, Architect/Principal at Counterspace. The winners received expert insight into the industrial, advice on how to continue to improve their designs, and detailed feedback as they aimed to finalize prototypes for the final presentation and, afterwards, the Milan Design Week exhibition.

Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, Department of Architecture and Design, MoMA (image © Marton Perlaki); Karim Rashid, Designer and Founder of Karim Rashid Inc. (image © Nikola Blagojevic / Spektroom); and Simon Humphries, Chief Branding Officer, Toyota Motor Corporation (From left to right)

2023 winner exhibition

Located at Superstudio Più in Milan’s Tortona Design District, Lexus reveals an installation by New York-based artist and architect Suchi Reddy, called Shaped by Air. The artwork coincides with LEXUS DESIGN AWARD’s exhibition, where its four 2023 winners publicly debut the prototypes of their designs. Visitors can find out more about the winning projects, the designers, and be inspired to create their own solutions for a Better Tomorrow. To top it off, guests can vote to crown their favorite project from the four winners. The vote for Your Choice Award can be completed online from 12:00 CEST on April 17 to 23:59 CEST on April 23 – here.

Marjan van Aubel, Solar Designer at Marjan van Aubel Studio (image © Sander Plug); Joe Doucet, Designer and Founder of Joe Doucet x Partners; Yuri Suzuki, Artist and Designer/Partner at Pentagram (image © Nick Glover); and Sumayya Vally, Architect/Principal at Counterspace (image © Lou Jasmine) (From top left to bottom right)

FOG-X BY PAVELS HEDSTRÖM

Pavels Hedström is a Swedish architect based in Denmark who works holistically in ecosystems. Fog-X transforms from a lightweight, compact jacket into a fog-catching shelter. The expanded design then collects fog to produce 10 liters of drinking water a day. It aims to be a lifeline for communities in arid environments around the world, producing water where most rare yet needed.

‘Fog-X is a project that explores alternative ways of collecting the life sustaining resource – water – in arid areas. But more than that, for Milan Design Week, my wish is that my project will catalyze dialogues about how design might help minimize the gap between humanity and the rest of nature,‘ explains Pavels Hedström.

Fog-X is the winning design by Swedish architect Pavels Hedström

It transforms from a lightweight, compact jacket into a fog-catching shelter

The expanded design then collects fog to produce 10 liters of drinking water a day

PRINT CLAY HUMIDIFIER BY JIAMING LIU

Chinese designer Jiaming Liu focuses his work on sustainability through the use of advanced manufacturing techniques. The Print Clay Humidifier recycles landfill-destined ceramic to turn this waste into a benefit for society. Its highly functional but unusual shape was realized after multiple experiments to maximize water absorption. The unique, elegant design is made by 3D-printing the recycled ceramics.

‘At Milan Design Week, I want to show how the work’s development process took form through the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD mentorship. I want to show the potential that this project has to help build a sustainable world and create a circular recycling system for a product that brings a Better Tomorrow,‘ remarks Jiaming Liu.

The Print Clay Humidifier recycles landfill-destined ceramic to turn this waste into a benefit for society

The design’s highly functional but unusual shape increases water absorption

TOUCH THE VALLEY BY TEMPORARY OFFICE

The work of Temporary Office, led by US-based designers Vincent Lai of Singapore and Douglas Lee of Canada, responds to the changing needs of our environment through rational yet playful architecture, urban, and product design. Touch the Valley is a 3D topographic puzzle that, through its assembly, aids visually impaired people in navigating their surroundings. The pieces are designed with smooth edges yet elevational grooves and magnetic haptic feedback to aid assembly. Users touch, play, and piece the contoured parts together to increase remembrance of the space surrounding them.

‘At Milan Design Week, we wish to show that the natural world we inhabit is full of extraordinary textures like those that we discovered through our research and interviews. The prototype puzzle is a small steppingstone to regain our innate superpower, our somatic sense, as a means to appreciate nature. During Milan Design Week, we really want to encourage visitors to engage with and touch the puzzle pieces on display. We believe that artwork and knowledge should be felt, not just be seen,‘ clarifies Vincent Lai and Douglas Lee of Temporary Office.

Touch the Valley is a 3D topographic puzzle that aids visually impaired people in navigating their surroundings

Users touch, play, and piece the contoured parts together

The assembly process increases the visually impaireds’ perception and remembrance of the surrounding space

ZERO BAG BY KyEONGHO PARK & YEJIN HEO

From the Republic of Korea, Kyeongho Park & Yejin Heo’s Zero Bag was inspired by the normal behavior in the country to wash newly purchased clothes to remove any chemicals before wearing. The new packaging dissolves in water whilst also dispersing washing detergents. After receiving the clothes wrapped in the bag, both the clothes and packaging can be run though a washing machine before wearing the items for the first time. The sustainable design has been extended to also package fruits and meal-kits, which are also typically washed before eating or cooking.

‘We believe that Milan Design Week is an opportunity to change how packaging will be used in the future. We hope that Zero Bag will raise the questions such as what can we do for our environment, and how should packaging of products change,‘ propose Kyeongho Park & Yejin Heo.

Zero Bag is a new package dissolves in water whilst also dispersing washing detergents

The design has been extended to also package fruits and meal-kits, which are also typically washed before use

Do you have a favorite innovation from the four LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2023 winners? Participate in Your Choice Award – vote here.

exhibition info:

brand: Lexus

competition: LEXUS DESIGN AWARD

judges: Paola Antonelli, Karim Rashid, and Simon Humphries

mentors: Marjan van Aubel, Joe Doucet, Yuri Suzuki, and Sumayya Vally

winners: Pavels Hedström, Temporary Office, Jiaming Liu, and Kyeongho Park & Yejin Heo

location: Superstudio Più

address: Via Tortona 27, Milan