"ADF Milano Salone Design Award 2022" Winners Interview and Project Introduction

Hosted by NPO Aoyama Design Forum(ADF), the "ADF Milano Salone Design Award 2022" has awarded Lisa Ogawa and Tomomi Kawashima the Best Performance Award, and Futa Kobayashi and Gaurav Wali /Yashika Munjal the Outstanding Performance Awards. We would like to introduce you the exceptional award winning pieces and prove why they deserve the awards, based on evaluation from the judges and the interview from the winners.

Best Performance Award

"The beauty of wasting"

The duo, Ms. Ogawa and Ms. Kawashima conceive this work as "a work that explores the charm of the natural world. Stones are hard, cold, and inorganic, even though they have been familiar to people since ancient times. However, by combining the act of consumption, we have designed a figure that can be placed near people." Receiving the highest rating from the judges, the outstanding piece have won the best prize. The duo's work will be exhibited at ADF's venue in Fuori Salone during the Milano Salone, which has been rescheduled for June.

Comments from the judges

Piet Boon （Studio Piet Boon）: This is an impressive design for sustainable consumables. It exudes a timelessness in its simplicity and functionality. There’s a great potential for extending the product into additional forms / objects. We appreciate that it doesn’t participate in a throw away society by creating an object that can break and be reformed into something new.

Kota Bando (Bando x Seidel Meersseman)：The works I highly appreciate all have good design in common (beauty of form, functionality, choice of materials, usability and uniqueness).
I selected the work that I think is good, that I want to use, and that I want to have from the user's point of view. Among them, this work was evaluated as the idea, and the answer of "RE" was by far the smartest. Without being fooled by the superficial impression of the theme "re-" or being at the mercy of the vague and elusive, this work came up with a clear and solid answer. I found it to be a profound work, which is not satisfied with not only the interesting points of view, wonderful creativity and inspiration, but also think that it embeds these things firmly in a beautiful and refined form. Multiple variations, not CG prototypes and beautiful presentations are very compelling. I didn’t not quite get the title "The beauty of wasting", but was it sarcasm?

Magnus Gustafsson （Yarō Studio）: By interpreting the "re_" concept in the most literal way, Lisa Ogawa's and Tomomi Kawahima's project reflects all elements of the ADF Salone Award's brief in one. The idea of creating objects of product design, that are re-CYCLED and re-BUILT (hence re-BORN) by their owners is both innovative and original as it is opposed to our current mindset of possessing everlasting objects. In a period where solutions against climate change is one of the world's top priority, it is important to understand that our way of living must change, starting from our way of consuming. At the same time, the project invites to communicate about each element's personal history.

Eric Clough （212box）: While most products don't want to be damaged, broken and disintegrated, the allure of 'The beauty of wasting' proposal is conceptually strong and very thoughtful, in addition to having very simple, beautiful designs. Knowing that you can remake your product is also a very attractive feature.
Because of the above high rating, this work was selected as the highest award.

Lisa Ogawa/Tomomi Kawashima Biography

Both, born in Tokyo in 1997 and graduated from Tama Art University, Product Design Department in 2020. Their design ideas and policies are, "Carefully untangle the tangled threads and carry out a single line (Ogawa)"/"Find an interpretation of the little discomfort in your life with your own sensitivity. (Kawashima)". Representative works are "flexible series lamps that expand the possibilities of space production" and "unit-type kitchen dining created from the act of sitting".

Flexible series lamps: Housing without hallways or walls, as in Scandinavian houses, is on the rise in Japan. Open floor plans are ideal for shortening the distance to family but should be considered securing personal space. By gradually irradiating the room with soft and dim light, you can create your own space under the light. "Fami" aims to create both a relaxing space for the family and a personal space. (Ogawa)

Unit-type kitchen dining: By combining a low kitchen and a dining table that matches the wheelchair, family members can come together and create a space that is central to communication. When you have some kind of sequelae, your relationship with the family changes to the roles of "caregiver" and "caretaker" when you carry a handicap. When one becomes attached to others, it is difficult to use for them, and awkwardness and reluctance often remain at the end. The work wants to change such relationships and therefore focuses on "people living together with different conditions". Instead of just making it comfortable, we want the house to be a space where the whole family can spend time with a smile as they imagine the future. (Kawashima)

Their dreams for the future are, "The elation when we see a wonderful movie, and the small excitement when we come across something fascinating. I want to create a design that is someone's energy.(Ogawa)" / "I want to create something and a space where I feel a small unconscious feeling of happiness, such as when I use my favourite tool or when I fall back to sleep on my days off(Kawashima)".