Marva Griffin, Founder of the Legendary SaloneSatellite, and Norwegian Sustainability Pioneer Vestre Honoured at the ICONIC AWARDS 2023: Innovative Interior
Frankfurt am Main, April 4, 2023
The ICONIC AWARDS 2023: Innovative Interior are an important indicator for trends in the interior design industry and current developments in interior, product, and furniture design. The German Design Council honours ground-breaking product solutions and iconic design approaches from around the world annually with this award.
Approximately 500 submissions competed for the coveted award and demonstrated that it isn’t only the big brands that fuel that sector; numerous hidden champions also determine innovation within the furniture industry. This year, the international jury selected 18 landmark submissions to win the much sought-after ‘Best of Best’ title.
The gamut ran from formal, unique ideas to exceptionally intelligent connections and manufacturing solutions to holistic, circular models. The winning projects united the visual power of unique typologies with an integrated understanding of sustainable production strategies.
Two special awards from the categories of ‘Brand of the Year’ and ‘Creator of the Year’ hold an iconic appeal in an overarching sense; they honour the outstanding achievement of a single person, as well as a company that has established a strong brand in the field of interior, product, or furniture design and provides valuable inspiration to the industry.
With the award “Creator of the Year”, the jury honoured Marva Griffin for her unparalleled commitment to nurturing young design. Marva Griffin has given more than 13,000 design talents visibility on the international stage of the Milan Furniture Fair since 1998, with the establishment of the SaloneSatellite, and has become indispensable in the interior design community as a “Creator of Creators”.
The jury honoured the Norwegian company “Vestre” as “Brand of the Year” for their contemporary furniture design and exceptionally sustainable brand development. Vestre has produced furniture for public spaces for 75 years. Their furniture factory, The Plus, has set a new standard in sustainable manufacturing since it opened in 2022. Created in collaboration with BIG, the factory claims to be the most environmentally friendly furniture factory in the world.
Responsible for selecting the winners were Monica Förster from Monica Förster Design Studio, the design journalist Barbara Friedrich, Piero Lissoni, Tobias Lutz, founder of Architonic and Sebastian Wrong from Established and Sons / Wrong Shop
A comprehensive overview of all the winning projects can be found here: bit.ly/3nARJqN
The Most Important Trend in the Furniture Industry — Conserving Resources Responsibly
The winners of the ICONIC AWARDS 2023: Innovative Interior represent the entire spectrum of contemporary product design: furniture and lighting, household textiles, outdoor furniture, and bathroom products create a comprehensive picture. In addition to quality, ease of use, and ground-breaking ideas, the focus is also on the selection of materials, sustainability, and intelligent approaches to solutions. Smart technology is as important as simple modular systems and clever craftsmanship.
Sustainability in design has become imperative for both manufacturers and designers and is an integral element of the design process in the manufacturing industry. Innovative products are long-lasting, repairable, and recyclable. The energy and resource efficiency of products is also largely determined by their design.
The new challenges for the furniture industry in the form of climate balances and CO2 savings make it necessary to invest in research and development. Companies and research institutes everywhere are working on directing material flows and feeding regionally available recycled materials back into the cycle. The result is new and improved production processes and innovations in material.
Important aspects of resource preservation include avoiding creating new waste, conserving new materials, and recycling already used materials. An example of that is Meditri by the young designer Johannes Müller. As well as the flexible kitchen J*GAST, created by the founders of Holzrausch, Tobias Petri and Sven Petzold, in collaboration with the designers Ana Relvão, Gerhardt Kellermann and Jan Heinzelmann. The kitchen uses up to 45 percent less material than a conventional kitchen.
Furniture should be be reused, shared and repaired for as long as possible and able to be reabsorbed into a circular system in its individual parts. The jury of the ICONIC AWARDS 2023: Innovative Interior honoured multiple projects that fulfilled these requirements. One example is the BoddLitt sofa from the manufacturer Monoliving. The modular sofa uses 65 percent recycled material during production and is also completely recyclable.
This development is also visible in the carpet industry: the first one hundred percent circular fitted carpet, NEOO , a product by OBJECT CARPET, consists of pure, partially recycled polyester and does not need to be unravelled before further processing.
A comprehensive overview of all the winning projects can be found here: bit.ly/3nARJqN
The most important information at a glance:
- Award ceremony: June 3, 2023, Design Post Cologne
- Winners Exhibition: June 4 – 7, 2023, Design Post Cologne
- Detailed information about the award: innovative-interior.com
German Design Council
The German Design Council has served as the leading international centre of excellence for communication and knowledge exchange in the fields of design, brand, and innovation. It is a part of the global design community with its international services, support for young talents, and memberships, and has always contributed to establishing communication and networks worldwide. The German Design Council provides networking opportunities to its members and numerous other international design and brand experts in the form of events, conferences, awards, jury meetings, and expert panels; promotes discourse; and delivers important stimuli to the global economy. Its members currently include more than 350 companies.
Contact
Alexandra Sender, Vice President Communications and Marketing
Tel +49 (0) 69 24 74 48 633
E-Mail presse@gdc.de