Shape-shifting furniture, casts on skin: Dutch Design Awards honour three talents
As Dutch Design Week closes, the emerging talent prize goes to Jun Fujisaku, Ori Orisun Merhav and Esmay Wagemans – €10,000 each for experimental design.
Archive image · Photo: AnandChowdhary0 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The Dutch Design Awards have honoured three young designers with the Emerging Talent Award. The prizes were presented on 17 October at Piet Hein Eek's workshop in Eindhoven during Dutch Design Week, which closes today, Sunday. Each award carries €10,000, supported by the Keep an Eye Foundation, plus a trophy made by former winner Vera van der Burg.
US designer Jun Fujisaku comes from architecture and cabinetmaking and builds furniture that changes shape. His pieces question how a home is organised and make the hidden labour of household routines visible; the jury praised "next-level modularity". Israeli designer Ori Orisun Merhav works with an insect-derived lacquer, combining traditional craft with additive manufacturing. Dutch designer Esmay Wagemans sculpts and casts directly on the body, exploring its cyborg potential on the skin.
Jury chair Borre Akkersdijk said the winners "open the potential for transformation" because they reject predetermined commercial paths, according to DDW. The jury also awarded a residency with a €5,000 stipend to Rotterdam-based Studio ACTE, led by Estelle Barriol and Fanny Bordes. The studio researches resilient architecture using local materials and reuse, and will now work with SolidNature, a supplier of natural stone for architecture and interiors.