Designblok Awards 2025: The international jury awarded the best works of the 27th edition
10. 10. 2025
International experts led by journalist and curator Yoko Choy selected and awarded the most successful projects of the 27th edition of the Prague International Design Festival Designblok in seven categories. The Designblok Awards celebrated a young Polish designer combining craftsmanship with 3D printing, a revived South Moravian glassworks, students from Ústí nad Labem, wooden figurines representing women’s stories throughout history, a traditional Czech toy in a new interpretation, and a book about Kutná Hora. The Grand Prix (Award for an Outstanding Achievement) went to the ceramic objects by Tereza Sluková and Milan Pekař. The Lifetime Achievement Award for an Outstanding Contribution to World Design was presented by the festival director Jana Zielinski to the Spanish designer and architect Patricia Urquiola – the main guest of this year’s Designblok. The awards ceremony took place on Thursday, 9 October 2025, at the multigenre cultural space Nová Spirála at Výstaviště Praha, directed by Adéla Laštovková Stodolová with stage design by Marek Cpin. Public voting for the Audience Award continues until Sunday, 12 October 2025, at 6 p.m. on the website designblok.cz.
The aim of the Designblok Awards is to highlight each year, from among hundreds of exhibitors, the most outstanding achievements across the festival in predefined categories. For the fourth time, the organisers entrusted the decision-making to an independent international jury, which personally reviewed the exhibited projects and met their authors. The role of president, responsible for the jury’s composition and voting process, was assumed by Yoko Choy, editor-in-chief of Wallpaper* China and founder of the platform Cultural Associates. This year’s Designblok Awards jury also included architect Bernard Dubois, Mirkku Kullberg, CEO of Kasthall AB and Chair of the Paimio Sanatorium Foundation, designer and Massproductions co-founder Chris Martin, and design consultant, strategic advisor and founder of Dubai Design Week Cyril Zammit. Exhibitors had a unique opportunity to personally present their works to leading international experts and see how they stand up in international comparison.
“The jury made its decisions based on the authors’ courage to follow their own path despite general trends. We looked for projects that were not created to impress at first glance, but that are shaped by their own identity, story, and inner conviction. Such an approach is more demanding but brings true authenticity. At the same time, design must remain functional and serve its purpose – not everything has to be an artistic or collectible object. Good design retains a sense of utility and real benefit to people,” said jury president Yoko Choy.
In the category Best New Designer Product, the jury awarded the young brand Wontek by Stanisław Stupkiewicz. A graduate of the Faculty of Design of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, he explores new aesthetic possibilities of 3D printing. “The author uses the technique of 3D printing as a tool for an otherwise craft-intensive process that resembles very traditional weaving techniques. It is an ideal combination of tradition and modern technology,” added Dubois. The award partner is KKCG Real Estate Group, which will cover the winner’s exhibition space costs at next year’s festival. “At KKCG Real Estate Group, we give space to domestic creativity, which we actively integrate into our projects, because we believe in its quality and future. We see the partnership with the award as an investment in the future of the European creative scene. We are proud to support excellent design and help promising designers to succeed,” said Pavel Švanda, International Projects Director.
For Best New Manufacturer Product, the jury recognised the Linden glass collection, designed by Rony Plesl for the glassworks Izaak Reich. The jury appreciated not only the story of reviving a two-century-old glassworks in Staré Hutě, but also a highly refined product with carefully crafted branding and a simple yet effective festival presentation.
The Best School Presentation award went to students of the Ceramics Design Studio at the Faculty of Art and Design of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem for the exhibition project MONUMENT. The students reflected on the meaning of scale and the function of monuments as symbols of human stories and embodiments of our values. Each student created their own ceramic monument expressing a personal or collective statement about what deserves a lasting place in our inner or public space. The category partner is Kaufland. “We are pleased that for the second year we can participate in Designblok and support the award for the Best School Installation. We also prepared an installation this year in collaboration with students from UMPRUM, which was mutually very inspiring. Thanks to the students’ perspective, fresh ideas emerge that show retail can also be creative,” said Renata Maierl, spokesperson for Kaufland Czech Republic.
For Best Designer Presentation, the jury selected the installation of wooden figurines Tititi. Its author Tereza Talichová, in her new collection Pioneers, pays tribute to women activists for human rights, artists, and athletes throughout history. Each figurine has an original shape, is hand-turned, and finished with authorial painting. The jury appreciated an installation that is uncomplicated, materially modest, yet very effective and directly responds to the interior of the Queen Anne’s Summer Palace at Prague Castle. The title Best Manufacturer Presentation went to the collaboration between the Czech brand Merkur and students of the Faculty of Art and Design of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. Under the guidance of designer Jan Čapek, students of the Product Design Studio created for the pavilion Designblok for Kids an installation that inspires creativity and demonstrates that even a traditional manufacturer can remain relevant for new generations.
In the category Impact Award, which recognises concepts and projects with social or environmental overlap, the winner was the photographic publication 1318 Minutes in Kutná Hora, capturing one day and night in the city as any visitor might experience it. The City of Kutná Hora invited the photography studio BoysPlayNice, graphic designers Milan Nedvěd and Laura Morovská, and writer Ondřej Horák to collaborate. “We see the need to highlight the trust of public administration in cooperation with designers, as well as the exceptionally high-quality execution of both the book and the installation itself. This project can inspire similar activities by other municipalities,” said jury member Cyril Zammit.
The Grand Prix – Award for an Outstanding Achievement went to the creative duo and heads of the Ceramics and Porcelain Studio at UMPRUM Tereza Sluková and Milan Pekař for their organically shaped ceramic objects. Orrery is a site-specific installation composed of a series of ceramic objects responding to the history of the Queen Anne’s Summer Palace. The authors were inspired by the period when the building served as an astronomical observatory. The form of the objects is based on the connection between the imagination of the cosmic landscape, the starry sky, and the garden surrounding the palace.
Since 2024, the Designblok festival has been awarding a prize to one exceptional figure who has made a significant mark on the history of world design – whether through creative contribution, teaching activities, or theoretical approach to the field. The Lifetime Achievement Award for an Outstanding Contribution to World Design was presented by the festival director Jana Zielinski to Spanish designer and architect Patricia Urquiola. The main guest of the 27th Designblok came to Prague at the invitation of Designblok and the company Konsepti. At this year’s festival, she presents the Insula sofa collection for the brand Kettal and other novelties in the Konsepti showroom in Holešovice. The glass award, designed by Jan Plecháč, was cut from Czech crystal at the Moser glassworks.
The 27th Designblok continues until Sunday, 12 October 2025, at the Křižík Pavilions at Výstaviště, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, the Queen Anne’s Summer Palace at Prague Castle, Galerie Rudolfinum, and other locations throughout Prague. The main exhibitions COURAGE: Women in Architecture, Design and Applied Arts, Jiří Pelcl: Design is My Religion, Zdeněk Vacek: DARK ‘n’ LUSH at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, and Mary McCartney: STRIKING by PLAYCE at Galerie Rudolfinum remain open until 2 November 2025. Read more about the Designblok Awards.
