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The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design are pleased to announce the selection of this year’s most promising and emerging European design talent for 2009. A total of 60 architects and industrial designers from architecture and industrial design and manufacturing firms across Europe were selected by a jury of architects that convened in Chicago June 2009.

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The winner of the Formland Design Award, Josefine Bentzen, was overwhelmed when she received the award during the opening of Formland Autumn 2009 on Friday at MCH Messecenter Herning. The design award was presented to the designer and the ToddlerCompany for a new and modern version of children’s cutlery, which focuses on comfort, functionality and play.

- Winning the Formland Design Award is a great honour. We are here at the Formland fair for the first time and it is here that we begin marketing of our children’s cutlery. We could not have got off to a better start, says Josefine Bentzen, who was presented with the award by the Director of the Danish Design Association, Gitte Just.

Design recognition in 2003

The idea for the product came in 2003, when Josefine Bentzen created children’s cutlery as a study project at the Danish Design School in Copenhagen. In the same year the project was shown at the Formland fair, where it came first in the DesignSpot competition for young design students.

- The children’s cutlery looked a lot different back then, not like it does today. But the idea was the same. To create a product, which makes everyday life easier for families with young children, says Josefine Bentzen.

After Formland the idea was returned to the drawer – and five years would go by before it was taken up again. Josefine Bentzen has spent the past year working on functionality, form and design in cooperation with Fabrikators, who are the company behind ToddlerCompany. Production is now ready to begin in Skive – and from 1 November the product will be shipped to both Danish and foreign stores.

Launch in 30 countries

- ToddlerTable Cutlery is being launched in more than 30 countries around the world and we are expecting a great deal of our children’s cutlery. It has been really well received so far. Japan in particular has been really interested in the product. Now we have won a design award in Denmark and are moreover nominated for an innovation award in Germany, says Peter Andersen, partner in ToddlerCompany.

ToddlerTable Cutlery consists of a knife, fork and spoon in four fashionable colours – orange, blue, green and red. The cutlery is aimed at toddlers and small children above the age of six months. The recommended retail price is DKK 299. From spring 2010 the series will be expanded. ToddlerTable Cutlery will also offer a cup, plate and bowl in the same colours and design.

A new Danish designed children’s cutlery, ToddlerTable Cutlery, was named as the winner of the Formland Design Award – Autumn 2009 on Friday morning. Two Copenhagen-based companies, Fabrikators and ToddlerCompany, have designed the winning product and during the opening of the Formland Fair at MCH Messecenter Herning they were awarded DKK 100,000 as a marketing contribution and an award statuette as the visible proof of the Scandinavian award.

ToddlerTable Cutlery is designed by Josefine Bentzen. The designer has placed emphasis on creating cutlery that supports the children’s development of motor skills. The cutlery was designed on the basis of the special way children grasp things. The Scandinavian Award Committee who are responsible for the choice of winner gave the following reasons:

“This is the child’s own cutlery. The design is good with a handle that fills the whole hand. The design, combined with an anti-slide material on the handle, means that the child has a good grip on the cutlery, which can quickly help to make eating themselves a good experience. The colours are spot on and the expression is unique. The cutlery is playful, practical and very attractive – it looks good on a well-laid table. And it is also made of environmentally friendly material. A new, obvious idea for a christening present.

The recommended retail price for ToddlerTable Cutlery is DKK 299. The children’s cutlery can be seen at stand C2710 at the Formland Fair.

The other nominees for the Formland Design Award were EGO with a bamboo collection, Eva Denmark with Eva Trio kitchenware, PK Design – Design House Stockholm with the Arrow hook and Hornvarefabrikken with the Anines vases. A total of 70 products were submitted for judging at the Formland Design Award – Autumn 2009.

Vipp is celebrating its 70th anniversary with a miniature model of Holger Nielsen’s original Vipp pedal bin – to the delight of design enthusiasts across the world. The Vipp 70th Anniversary Edition has been produced in a scale of 1:5 and in a limited series of 400 numbered copies.

On the occasion of the anniversary, we decided to take a walk down memory lane: the Vipp 70th Anniversary Edition has been produced according to the specifications of the very first Vipp bin, created in Holger Nielsen’s workshop 70 years ago. The miniature bin comes with the original ears, logo and wavy lid.

The first Vipp bin saw the light of day in 1939 when Holger Nielsen created it for his wife Marie’s hairdressing salon. Much has happened over the past 70 years – the Vipp bin has been dressed in a variety of colours, it has been exhibited at the Louvre, and many international personalities in the worlds of fashion, design and music have sprinkled stardust on the Danish design icon. And yet, the Vipp bin remains just the same.

Down-to-earth and practical – timeless, elegant and designed to last the next 70 years.

The Vipp 70th Anniversary Edition is available in selected shops.

Retail price: GBP 80 / Euro 95

Meet Jette Egelund – the woman behind Vipp

Jette Egelund grew up with Vipp, and even as a little girl, she loved to watch the production of the bin – at first by looking over the shoulders of the employees and later by taking part in the production herself. It was a tough job in a man’s world, but she managed to get by. And so began the love for her father’s business, which she has headed since 1993.

The Vipp collection has been expanded significantly in recent years and now comprises everything from pedal bins through laundry bins to a complete series for the bathroom with a towel bar, toilet roll holder and much more. Find out more at www.vipp.com.

Price: £ 80 / EUR 95

Design: Holger Nielsen / Vipp Design Lab

Dimensions (cm): Ø 6 x H 10,4

Materials: stainless steel, rubber

Vipp has created the perfect bed buddy. A multifunctional Mini Table with collapsible frame designed to embody the classic Vipp virtues of functionality, uncompromising quality and a streamlined look. Just fold out the frame, swing up your legs, sit back and enjoy your new companion.

The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies jointly announce the winning buildings and product designs from a special edition of the GOOD DESIGN™ Awards program for 2009.

Founded in Chicago in 1950 by Eero Saarinen and Charles and Ray Eames, GOOD DESIGN remains the oldest and most established awards program for the most innovative and visionary new product design worldwide. For almost 60 years now, the Award has been given to everything and anything from a NASA space ship to a paper clip. In 2008, over 500 new product designs and graphics from over 33 nations were recognized with the distinguished GOOD DESIGN Award. The world’s most prominent FORTUNE 500 companies use the GOOD DESIGN logo in the branding of their products, which has become a strong and effective mark of public recognition of Design Excellence globally.

Past winners of the Museum’s historic program can be viewed at The Chicago Athenaeum’s website: www.chi-athenaeum.org.

In 2009 and on the eve of the 60-year anniversary of GOOD DESIGN, The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies (based in Dublin, Ireland) initiated a special edition of GREEN GOOD DESIGN AWARDS 2009.

GREEN GOOD DESIGN to focus on the most important new international products and buildings and construction and planning projects that are leading the global way to a design that is fully sustainable and compatible with the highest standards of good environment.

Landscape architecture, urban planning, architecture, and industrial and product designs from over twenty-three (23) nations were awarded in this first-year program: “Build A Better World Now.” Designs for buildings and products that emphasize the most advanced “Green Approach” and the most sophisticated methods and technology to make the most positive impact on the environment were cited and awarded.

The 108 awarded buildings and products for 2009 are to be exhibited at The European Centre’s Contemporary Space Athens (46-48 Megalou Vassilias, Rouf-Athens, Greece) July 8-August 31, 2009 and then form a traveling exhibition in Europe and The United States through 2010. The European Centre will publish the results in a special catalogue available in fall.

All 108 GREEN GOOD DESIGN awarded building and product designs for 2009 can be viewed at The European Centre’s website: www.europeanarch.eu.

Buildings and products from those nations include: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, and The United States.

The United States and Germany led with greatest number of awards for the best “Green Design” followed by Japan, Canada, and Belgium.

Some of the world’s most advanced corporations leading the “Green Revolution” are recognized: Bosch und Siemens Hausgërate GmbH., BMW AG., Daimler AG., Grohe AG., Asko Cylinda AB., Johnsonite/Tarkett, Herman Miller, Gaggenau Hausgërate GmbH. adidas, Ford Motor Company, Microsoft Corporation, Steelcase, Inc., Electrolux AG,. Electrolux Zanussi Italia SpA., Coca-Cola, Mohawk Group, Timberland, Royal Caribbean International, Ernst & Young, Kimball International, and Whirlpool Corporation. Designs by the world’s most important international architecture and product design firms are also cited: Benisch Architkten, Richard Rogers, Yves Béhar, Philippe Samyn, Dominique Perrault, Bjarke Ingels, Kengo Kuma, Richard Meier, Jo Crepain, Peter Latz, Gorden Wagener, Peter Pfeiffer, Souto Moura Arquitectos, Christopher Bangle, Arup Group, HOK, Martin Ballendat, Gensler Architecture, Gustafson Porter, Niels Diffrient, NKS Architects, Dirk Linke, Robert A.M. Stern, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for such buildings and planning projects and product designs as Westergasbabrik Park in Amsterdam to South Waterfront Greenway Development Plan in Portland, Oregon and the World Wildlife Fund Headquarters in Zeist in The Netherlands to the stunning, energy-efficient Mercedes-Benz F700 Concept Car.

Cited governments and institutions for GREEN GOOD DESIGN 2009 include: Town of Nachod in Czech Republic; Government of Greece; Government of The Netherlands; Chicago Park District; City of Amsterdam; International Polar Foundation in Brussels; World Wildlife Federation in Rome and Zeist, The Netherlands; Dublin City Council; University of Cork; U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency; U.S. General Services Administration; U.S. National Park Service; City of Seattle; and Tulane University.

“We initiated this special Green Edition of the annual GOOD DESIGN program to emphasize the most profound and enlightening developments in this new world era of design for sustainability,” states Kieran Conlon, Director/COO, The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies from his office in Dublin, Ireland.

“In partnership with The Chicago Athenaeum, the idea is to bring into the international forefront the most important advances, pioneering design, management, manufacturing and building processes that can improve the world’s environmental quality and product quality while lowering the world’s environment and toxic discharges, minimizing the use of non-renewable resources, and reducing the use of renewable resources to sustainable levels,” Mr. Conlon added. “This is a public education outreach program of paramount purpose at a time when countries like the United States are changing their environmental perspective. We specially were interested in on focusing on industry, new technology, government, and the public.”

Hundreds of submissions from around the world were submitted for this first edition of GREEN GOOD DESIGN by architects,

developers, product designers, manufacturers, organizations, foundations, and general public. The submissions were reviewed and awarded by a jury comprised of the European Centre’s International Advisory Committee—leading experts in the fields of architecture, design, real-estate, and manufacturing from Europe, the United States, and Japan.

For GREEN GOOD DESIGN 2009, the entire nation of Sweden was awarded as the most “Green” country in the world and for the country’s lead in policies concerning energy consumption, waste management, green design research, life cycle impacts, commerce and industry, carbon footprinting, corporate responsibility, and public education.

The Headquarters for the Council of The European Union by Philppe Samyn and Partners in Brussels and Studio Valle Progettazioni Architects in Rome is a superb extension and refurbishment of the Residence Palace Building built between 1922 and 1927 that converts the L-shaped building into a glass “cube.” The new double façade, made of a harmonized patchwork of re-used wooden windows with simple crystal like single glazing becomes an acoustic barrier that offers thermal insulation while providing sustainable regeneration. Philippe Samyn’s International Polar Foundation Belgian Antarctic Base Prince Elisabeth takes a sustainable development approach with the intergration of renewable energy sources, optimsation of energy flows, optimization of materials and total waste management integrated into the design for the new research station located at 72° S 23E on the northern ridge of the Utsteinen Nunatak in the Sør Rondane Mountains of Antarctica.

Other prominent Green buildings awarded in clude new skyscrapers , corporate headquarters, museums, universities, educational buildings, research facilities, showrooms, libraries, apartment buildings, bus shelters, recycling centers, and private homes in

Dublin, Milan, Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Seoul, Paris, Santiago, Vancouver, Antwerp, Brussels, London, Calgary, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans, New Delhi, Sao Pãolo, and New York.

Leading the awarded Green Products are new designs for furniture, lighting, washing machines, refrigerators, overs and cooktops, dishwashers, floorcovering, and packaging design that forward the principals of regeneration, energy efficiency, ecological

consequence, deforestation , and renewable energy while providing the latest and most innovative design.

“GOOD DESIGN” is not about color, style, impression, or trends but instead about thoughtfully considering the use and user of the product or building, the experience, the social and environmental context, and the impact a building or object has on the surrounding environment,” states Christian K. Narkiewicz-Laine, the Finnish architect and architecture and design critic and curator of the

historic GOOD DESIGN program. “Green Design is GOOD DESIGN. No design can be considered good design unless it attempts to address all these concerns. We believe in the original modernist ideology of the original GOOD DESIGN program as forwarded by Saarinen and Eames in 1950 that form and function are intertwined in design. Style and substance are not mutually exclusive.

Buildings and products are environmental,” he adds.

“Our current civilization,” states Mr. Narkiewicz-Laine, “is on the verge of the next revolution, larger than the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century, in order to find and make our world the most sustainable and more energy-efficient and to eliminate negative environmental impact completely through skillful, sensitive design. GREEN GOOD DESIGN will blazon that international path.”

The deadline for submissions for the 2010 GREEN GOOD DESIGN Awards is November 1, 2009.

Applications for 2010 and more information is available on line at The European Centre’s website: www.europeanarch.eu

For more inforation contact Lary Sommers at The Chicago Athenaeum at +1/815-777-4444 or by email

at lary@chicagoathenaeum.org

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