Winners chosen in international Marimekko Design Competition
14.09.2011
The winners have been chosen in the international design competition in honour of Marimekko’s 60th anniversary, organised jointly by Marimekko and the Aalto University School of Art and Design. The competition, which started in March, challenged students at the world’s leading design schools to engage on the theme “Why not together?”
The winner chosen by the panel of judges of the 8,000-euro prize in the competition category for products is the social and playful “Kumputie” leisure furnishing by Minna Piironen of the Aalto University School of Art and Design. The judges found “Kumputie” a fresh and strong idea for a new product which was in a class of its own, radiating ingenuity in bringing people together. The object’s scalability and the way it is suited to public and private spaces alike also earned praise.
Two entries were awarded in the category actions, events and encounters. The 8,000-euro prize went to Satu Maaranen and Matti Liimatainen of the Aalto University School of Art and Design for their pleasing concept of a Marimekko “Mobile Shop”, a retail outlet on wheels. The judges felt that the entry reflects Marimekko’s inclusive and unpretentious spirit, and it puts a global brand locally amidst the people in a natural way. The judges also praised the entry’s worldwide practical potential. The other award-winning entry is a concept entitled “Marimarathon”, originated by Iwa Herdensjö and Ida Pettersson of Konstfack, Stockholm’s University College of Arts, Crafts and Design. The winner of the 3,000-euro prize delighted the judges with its uniqueness and its potential to reach new target groups. The idea behind “Marimarathon” is to invite people around the world to run together dressed in Marimekko patterns. Particularly strong in terms of brand communications, the entry also pleased the judges with the way it expresses care for the wellness of self and others as well as the social responsibility that could be associated with the concept.
The winner of the 5,000-euro prize in the category service was “Live Pattern”, by Chinami Oshima, Juri Hayashi and Nitta Keiko of Tama Art University, Japan. “Live Pattern” is a solution that brings company and consumers together around the world, enabling the consumers to play with and tailor their own Marimekko-patterned clothing through an electronic portal. The judges were won over by the entry’s social activation capability and its participatory nature as well as its practicability.
The panel of judges for the first international Marimekko design competition was comprised of Marimekko’s Creative Director Minna Kemell-Kutvonen and Product Director Niina Nenonen, Aalto University School of Art and Design’s Head of Department Professor Pirjo Hirvonen and Researcher Tuuli Mattelmäki, Design Academy Eindhoven’s Curator Ilse Crawford, Tama Art University’s Professor Tadashi Takahashi, Parsons The New School for Design’s Assistant Professor Timo Rissanen, Philosopher Pekka Himanen, and Academician Vuokko Eskolin-Nurmesniemi. The judges were taken by the high quality of the competition and the originality of the ideas.
“The design competition has been an excellent collaboration between the top-class design schools of the world. We have been able to see what’s going on in the minds of the young generation of designers, the makers of tomorrow. Fresh thinking and responsibility are expressed particularly well in doing things together and enjoyment. Everyday things that are close to us in daily life are becoming more and more interesting,” says the chair of the panel, Marimekko’s Creative Director Minna Kemell-Kutvonen.
“The Why Not Together competition has been an inspiring and wonderful opening not only for the students but also for the collaboration between universities and companies. This represents joyful and fruitful collaboration that needs to be continued,” says the Aalto University School of Art and Design’s Head of Department Pirjo Hirvonen.
“This competition provides an insight into what design competitions of the future will likely look like, with its open design briefs and by expanding the definition of design beyond products to also designing services and systems. It has been a pleasure to witness the Marimekko philosophy and spirit being interpreted from a variety of international perspectives. By creating the competition Marimekko and Aalto University have demonstrated that international collaboration between universities will be increasingly important, as many of the problems design needs to solve are shared regardless of national boundaries,” says Assistant Professor Timo Rissanen of Parsons The New School for Design, New York.
The competition looked for solutions which bring people together, fit in with Marimekko’s business environment and work across cultural and geographical borders, in three categories: products for living, not pretending – for good everyday life; actions, events and encounters generated by aesthetic thinking; and service – just to make things run even better. The backdrop to the umbrella theme of the competition was Marimekko’s characteristic tradition throughout the years of doing things together and faith in the notion that everything is possible by doing things together.
Students from six of the world’s leading design schools were invited to take part in the competition: Aalto University of Finland, Design Academy Eindhoven of the Netherlands, Konstfack of Sweden, the Royal College of Art of the UK, Parsons The New School for Design of the US, and Tama Art University of Japan. The finalists of the competition were announced on 24 May.
Further information:
Marimekko:
Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko, Acting Marketing Director,
tel. +358 9 758 7328, tiina.alahuhta-kasko [at] marimekko [dot] fi
Minna Kemell-Kutvonen, Creative Director,
tel. +358 9 758 7301, minna.kemell-kutvonen [at] marimekko [dot] fi
Aalto University School of Art and Design:
Pirjo Hirvonen, Head of Department of Design,
tel. +358 9 470 30603, pirjo.hirvonen [at] aalto [dot] fi
Anne Tapanainen, Communications Manager,
tel. +358 50 434 9711, anne.tapanainen [at] aalto [dot] fi