Designblok awarded diploma projects of young designers
9. 10. 2021
International competition Diploma Selection has revealed this year’s winners. Last year students presenting their diploma projects in Product and Fashion Design were awarded on Saturday, 9 October. A jury of professionals made of curators, gallerists and editors voted for the best projects at Designblok. The winner in the product design category is Dávid Valovič, while Natalie Nepovim’s fashion collection attracted the jury’s attention in the category of fashion design. Finalists in both categories were selected among 143 participants from 16 countries and included many Czech students.
Diploma Selection, a competition of Designblok organised in cooperation with EUNIC Cluster ČR, announces the winners from among graduates of international universities for the seventh time. In the product design category, Dávid Valovič, a graduate of AAAD in Prague, won the first prize with his project What are you standing on? The project explored geological transformations of the landscape of Valovič's native Hrádek in Slovakia and the surroundings of the village of Vižina in the Central Bohemian Region. The result is a three-metre high monument in the shape of a column, composed of ten rings. The inspiration came from geological boreholes. Made from clay pushed into a mould, the column is a monument to the almost mined-out clay deposits in Vižina. "David Valovič created a manifesto of a geological structure of the earth on which we stand, honouring material hundreds of thousands of years old. A simple form made of batches of clay in different colours with a hint of glass "bleeding" out. Despite its harshness, it is a powerful and at the same time moving object that reminds us of the basic elements that humanity should respect," said Tulga Beyerle, Director of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, on behalf of the jury. Second place went to Filip Krampla (CZ) for his LI_CHAIR chair and third place went to Alessio Ramundo (IT) for his project Natura.
The winners in the fashion design category were chosen by the jury after the shows at Sacre Coeur Church. Natalie Nepovim with her project Exuviae scored the most points. In her collection, she develops a complex view of our relationship to the clothed and naked body. It teeters on the edge of speculative design, analysing situations of undressing or changing clothes and asks questions about what happens when we take off our clothes and gradually shed these individual layers. Second place went to Nikola Fedak (PL) and third to Agata Seeháková (CZ). "First of all, I would like to say on behalf of the jury that it is a great happiness to meet again after two years and to view, thanks to Designblok, European collections that represent not only the view on the current state and future of the fashion industry but also the general mood in the society. As a jury, we especially appreciate the graduates' ability to find their theme and to balance on the border between wearable fashion and conceptual art, while remaining true to their signature," sums up Patrik Florián, journalist and stylist at Dolce Vita magazine, on behalf of the fashion design jury.
The winners receive 1,000 EUR and the opportunity to have an independent presentation at the next edition of the festival.
Winners from among the graduates were also chosen by Diploma Selection partner, Levi's. The choice fell on Filip Krampla for his LI_CHAIR chair and Natalie Dufková, the fashion section finalist, and her HER collection. Both win a prize of 1,000 EUR from Levi's and the opportunity to collaborate on a capsule collection and store design for the collection.
Diploma Selection 2021 Juries
Product Design: Tulga Beyerle, director, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (D); Giulio Cappellini, art director, Cappellini (IT); Stephan Hamel, consultant in design (IT); Agnieszka Jacobson, art director, School of Form, Poznaň (PL); Lina Kanafani, curator and gallerist, MINT shop, London (GB); François Leblanc, consultant in design (F); Alice Stori Liechtenstein, curator and founder of Schloss Hollenegg for Design (IT, AT); Gilles Massé, Wallpaper Store, Milan (IT); Rossana Orlandi, galerist, Spazio Rossana Orlandi, Milan (IT); Annalisa Rosso, co-founder of Mr. Lawrence Studio and director of digital projects of Salone del Mobile (IT); Adam Štěch, curator and theoretician of design, Okolo (CZ)
Fashion Design: Patrik Florián, journalist and stylist, Dolce Vita magazine (CZ); Danica Kovářová, curator (CZ); Jan Králíček, creative director, Vogue (CZ); Anna Nosková, editor, Forbes magazine (CZ); Veronika Ruppert, journalist, editor and dramaturge, Czech Radio, Radio Wave (CZ); Noémie Schwaller, fashion editor, textilrevue (CH)
