11. 3. 2015
The winners of the 2014 Czech Grand Design Awards have been announced. The prestigious awards were distributed to designers of the best projects in eleven categories. Michaela Tomišková and Jakub Janďourek, a.k.a. Dechem studio, were the overall winners claiming the Grand Designer of the Year Award.
Directed by Czech-German theatre director Thomas Zielinski, the gala evening took on a Japanese theme this year. Its host Roman Zach played the roles of geisha, Japanese school girl and samurai! Designed by fashion designer Monika Drápalová, the award – in the form of a kimono – was presented to the winners in eleven categories by prominent guests including Dominik Hašek, Klára Issová, Daniela Peštová, Jan Mládek, Minister of Industry and Trade and many others. Thomas Zielinski, director of the gala evening for the ninth time, explains: “Why did we choose Japan as a leitmotif for this year? We love Japanese culture and its symbols, its minimalism and sense of beauty. So Japan was our source of inspiration this year, following previous themes which have included opera, Italy, Little Red Riding Hood and the theatre of ancient Greece.”
Consisting of more than fifty members – theoreticians, curators, journalists and designers from the Czech Republic and abroad, the Academy of Design of the Czech Republic chose winners in the following categories: Designer of the Year – The Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic Award, Fashion Designer of the Year, Jewellery Designer of the Year, Graphic Designer of the Year, Photographer of the Year, Producer of the Year – The Ministry of Industry and Trade Award for Industrial Design, Discovery of the Year, Store of the Year, the Hall of Fame and Grand Designer of the Year – Erste Premier Award. The Public Award was presented to the designer who obtained most votes on the Internet and at the exhibition in the National Technical Museum.
Česká spořitelna has been the general partner of the Czech Grand Design Awards since 2006. Its Erste Premier brand, which provides leading banking services, is the general partner for the fourth year running. Petra Ondrušová, Regional Director of Erste Premier at Česká spořitelna, explains why the bank has engaged in long-term support of Czech design: “We are happy to be involved with the Czech Grand Design Awards once again and we are proud to lend our support to the Grand Designer of the Year category. We have a lot in common with the design world – unique details, outstanding design, originality and that timeless quality – as well as our shared goal of delivering exceptional service to our most valued clients. I am happy that this Czech Grand Design Awards event has been a huge success and I would like to wish the organisers the best of luck with their work at the next event.” Erste Premier also presents the Grand Designer of the Year with a cheque for CZK 100,000 to design the award for the following year. We can look forward to next year’s award, which will be designed by the DECHEM studio, winners of not only the Grand Designer of the Year Award but also Designer of the Year – The Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic Award. As winners, they were also presented with a cheque for CZK 70,000. Michaela Tomišková and Jakub Janďourek won the awards for products they designed for Kavalierglass, for their collection for their own brand DECHEM and for the Material Vase made for Czech brand Křehký, which won Best New Product Award at the Ambiente trade fair in Frankfurt. The Producer of the Year – The Ministry of Industry and Trade Award, presented to Kavalierglass for their Laboratory Lights collection and designed by DECHEM, added to their long list of awards.
First-time finalists, LaFormela, a trio of fashion designers won in the Fashion Designer of the Year category. Previous finalist Janja Prokić won the Jewellery Designer of the Year Award for her impressive Hidden Place collection inspired by three classic Disney fairytales – The Wizard of Oz, The Little Mermaid and Alice in Wonderland.
The Discovery of the Year Award went to Tadeáš Podracký and Markéta Kratochvílová from the AAAD in Prague whose work has recently won much acclaim. They won the award for their graduation work and glass collections presented at Designblok last year.
This year, the Czech Grand Design Awards saw several changes. New features included the gathering of expert juries to choose winners in individual categories. Czech Television broadcasted the gala ceremony live from the Estates Theatre for the first time. And visitors to the Czech Grand Design: 2014 Finals exhibition got the opportunity to see works designed by three finalists from all categories (in previous years this exhibition displayed works from all nominees). The ninth year of the Czech Grand Design Awards presented the best from the world of fashion and design. Thanks to adjustments to the voting system and the participation of the expert panel, the Czech Grand Design Awards maintained their high standards, proving a hit with the public.
Czech Grand Design 2014 Results:
Winner of Designer of the Year – The Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic Award: DECHEM – Material Vase (Křehký), Vase study, Bandasky, Laboratory Lights (Kavalierglass)
Winner of Fashion Designer of the Year: LaFormela - S/S 2015 collection
Winner of Jewellery Designer of the Year: Janja Prokić - Hidden Place collection
Winner of Graphic Designer of the Year: Tomáš Celizna, Adam Macháček, Radim Peško – concept and visual style for the 26th Biennial of Graphic Design in Brno
Winner of Photographer of the Year: Adam Holý - The Overview Effect publication (Polansky Gallery and VICE)
Winner of Producer of the Year – The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic Award for Industrial Design: Kavalierglass - Laboratory Lights collection (DECHEM)
Winner of Store of the Year: Kurator – selection of clothes, fashion accessories, jewellery and designer objects
Winner of Discovery of the Year: Tadeáš Podracký and Markéta Kratochvílová - Dioscuri graduation work (Tadeáš Podracký), Enfant Terrible graduation work (Markéta Kratochvílová) and Skywalker, Pineapples and Finland Objects collections
Public Award: Milan Pekař - Crystalline Vases
Grand Designer of the Year – Erste Premier Award: DECHEM
Hall of Fame: Prof. Jan Solpera