Eidgenössische Förderpreise für Design 2008

Das Bundesamt für Kultur Schweiz und das Museum Bellerive präsentieren 19 prämierte Arbeiten von 22 Preisträgerinnen und Preisträgern des Eidgenössischen Wettbewerbs für Design 2008. 210 Designer haben sich um die Förderpreise beworben. Die Eidgenössische Designkommission unter dem Vorsitz von Lorette Coen hat in der Schlussrunde 19 Werke /Projekte von 22 Designerinnen und Designern prämiert. Die ausgezeichneten Arbeiten und Projekte werden ab dem 7. November 2008 in der Ausstellung Eidgenössische Förderpreise für Design 2008 im Museum Bellerive in Zürich gezeigt.

With these awards the ministry promotes the work of young, creative designers in the whole of Switzerland. As in recent years, graphic design is once more strongly represented, with seven prizes going to designers who impressed the jury with their graphic design skills. The band width is a wide one, ranging from experienced book designers with orders for publications from major cultural institutions or publishing houses, right down to experimental works created as part of a degree project at a university. Everything can be found here, from prototypes to the finished article which is already in series production and on sale. Four prizes were awarded in the field of industrial, product and furniture design, two awards in the areas of photography and jewellery, three awards for fashion and one for stage design.

The winners can decide between a money prize of 20 000 Swiss francs, a six-month period of work experience at one of the companies Matthew Hilton, London (furniture and product design), Fredrikson Stallard, London (product design), Value and Service, London (graphic design), BC, MH, London (graphic design), or a six-month stay at a studio in London or New York.

The setting has been created by stage designer Alain Rappaport from Zurich. As an analogy to the encyclopaedia and the 'tree of knowledge' on which it is originally based, in the design a network of paths is laid out across the entire site of the exhibition within the walls of the museum. The result is a spatial distribution which reflects the content of the exhibition itself. The nineteen geometrical shapes which are formed by the walkways and walls represent the exhibition area for the individual works, which are displayed on tables and podiums thematically grouped in terms of colour and space.

Exhibition catalogue: "Eidgenössische Förderpreise für Design. Bourses fédérales de design. Swiss Federal Design Grants 2008." Bundesamt für Kultur (ed.), Published by Birkhäuser. ISBN 978-3-7643-8807-2. CHF 39.90

The design of the exhibition catalogue by Bonbon and Esther Rieser plays with the graphic vocabulary of the encyclopaedia: from Aho to Zim the award winners are listed in terms of their immediate and more general context – the arts, (meta-)physics, animals, the everyday, poetry, institutions, mountains, design, fiction, sport and celebrities. From A to Z the richly illustrated award-winning objects are documented, commented on and explained, accompanied by the remarks of the jury in three languages, together with photographs and scientific illustrations.

Swiss Federal Design Grants 2008 – the award winners

Ahoulou Joy Dressmaker Basle
Bonzon Jean-Philippe Designer Ecublens
Eigenheer Nicolas Designer Carouge
Fulguro Decroux Cédric/Fidalgo Yves Designer Lausanne
Gianocca Graziano Goldsmith Sementina
Le Moigne Nicolas Product designer Lausanne
Lehmann Aude Graphic artist Zurich
Leutenegger Catherine Photographer Lausanne
Meldem Emilie Designer Basel
Moser Anita Designer Bern
Pasqual Olivier Photographer Genf
Prill & Vieceli Prill Tania/Vieceli Alberto Graphic artist Zurich
Schalcher Katja Graphic artist Zurich
Sterzinger Ivan Project manager Zurich
Trüb Alex Graphic artist Zurich
Usel Julie Jewellery designer Troinex
Von Allmen Raphaël Designer Corcelles
Zimmer Lukas Visual designer Zurich
Zimmermann & de Perrot
de Perrot Dimitri/Zimmermann Martin Musician/choreographer Zurich

Swiss Federal Design Grants 2008 – the jury

Swiss Design Commission:

Coen Lorette (president) - curator, Lausanne
Cattaneo Claudia - art historian, co-director of the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur, Winterthur
Herrmann Hans-Ulrich – attorney and notary at Bildung Kultur Recht, Bern
Hürlimann Annemarie – exhibition curator and art historian, Praxis für Ausstellungen und Theorie Berlin/Zurich, Rüschlikon
Reymond Patrick - architect, designer, Atelier Oï, La Neuveville
Windlin Cornel – graphic artist and typographer, Zurich
Zelic Erika – textile designer, owner of the Maud fashion shop, Zurich

Events accompanying the exhibition

Guided tours

Sunday, 9 November 2008, 15 hrs
From Aho to Zim and back again
Esther Rieser and Diego Bontognali, graphic designers responsible for the exhibition catalogue and graphics

Saturday, 15 November 2008, 15 hrs
BLICKFANG Spot: Design with dots
Guided tour of the exhibition with Anita Moser, award winner in the Swiss Federal Design Grants 2008 competition, and Renate Menzi, teacher and curator of the ZHdK design collection

Sunday, 11 January 2009, 15 hrs
Award-winning designs
Aurelia Müller, exhibition curator, Federal Ministry of Culture

Sunday, 18 January 2009, 15 hrs
Between dream and reality
Eva Afuhs, chief curator, Museum Bellerive

Sunday, 25 January 2009, 15 hrs
The tree of knowledge
Alain Rappaport, exhibition designer

Lectures

Thursday, 13 November 2008, 18.30 hrs
Lightweight design, miniaturisation and low-emission production: aspects of sustainable design
Nicola Stattmann, product designer, Frankfurt am Main

Thursday, 20 November 2008, 18.30 hrs
Living in an atmosphere of change – skills and stories for designing experiments:
New technologies in design
Matthias Gmachl, Rachel Wingfield, Loop.pH – Design Research Studio, London
In English

Thursday, 27. November 2008, 18.30 hrs
Playing with randomness: the creative process
Aurel Aebi, Armand Louis, Patrick Reymond, Atelier Oï, La Neuveville

Film

Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 18.30 hrs
Ecological design: Inventing the future
Director: Brian Danitz, 1994
In English

Panel discussions

Wednesday, 21 January 2009, 18.30 hrs
The designer as researcher: Old boundaries and new territories
With: Max Lamb, Designer of the Year, Design Miami/Basel 2008, London; Dr. Norbert Kopytziok,
Office for environmental sciences, Berlin; Philippe Rahm, architect, Paris; award winners in the Swiss Federal Design Grants 2008 competition: Yves Fidalgo/Fulguro, Nicolas Le Moigne, Emilie Meldem
Chairperson: Karianne Fogelberg, design publicist, Frankfurt am Main
In English.

Workshops
Friday, 14, 21 and 28 November 2008, all day
With Nicola Stattmann, Loop.pH and Atelier Oï
Venue: Zürcher Hochschule der Künste / Departement Design,
Ausstellungsstrasse 60, 8005 Zurich


Open House
Sunday, 16 November 2008 and Sunday, 1 February 2009; entrance free


Public guided tours
every Sunday 14 hrs, private guided tours on request


Educational
Guided tours and workshops for young people with Ursina Spescha, museum educational officer
Detailed information on request: Tel. +41 43 446 44 69 or christina.wellinger@zhdk.ch