Dutch Design Awards 2023

Tailors & Wearers

The winners of all 8 categories of this year’s Dutch Design Awards (DDA) are strong researchers, skilled makers and they work closely with other disciplines.
On Thursday 21 September, DDA presented the awards to the winners during the celebratory DDA Award Night. During this year’s Dutch Design Week from 21 to 29 October 2023 all the award-winning and nominated entries will be displayed at the DDA23 exhibition.

The boundaries between disciplines have become increasingly blurred in recent years. The expert juries assessed more projects this year than ever before that would not have looked out of place in a different category. So the question is: can design still be categorised in the same way? The majority of the design projects that were submitted are crossovers. Apart from makership, research and collaboration, other themes this year are: taking the personal as a starting point, offering a wide range of perspectives and the need for meaning and connection.

Expert juries
Every year, the Dutch Design Awards are presented to the best designers in the Netherlands with the most groundbreaking design projects. Various disciplines, viewpoints and solutions are assessed in light of the impact they have on our society. Expert juries consisting of independent design experts choose the winners in the following categories: Product, Habitat, Communication, Fashion, Design Research, Data & Interaction, Best Commissioning and Young Designer. They assess projects based on the following criteria: impact, distinguishing features, expressiveness, production method and sometimes additional criteria specific for a category.

Under the supervision of the main jury’s chair Dymphie Braun, the 8 winners were selected by the chairs of the expert juries: Chris Kabel, Femke Bijlsma, Mieke Gerritzen, Iris Ruisch, Daniëlle Arets (on an ad interim basis for Angelique Spaninks), Merel van Helsdingen (on an ad interim basis for Daniël Sytsma), Tijn van Elderen and Evelien Reich. This year, under the chairmanship of Timo de Rijk, the BNO Piet Zwart Award for lifetime achievement was awarded to Karel Martens.

The winners of the Dutch Design Awards 2023 are:

PRODUCT
FROM THE HIMALAYAS | SUPER LOCAL
“From the flow of materials to local processing, and from object design to circular financing, From the Himalayas is super Super Local: groundbreaking in its processes, complete and holistic design.”

The expert jury: Chris Kabel (Studio Chris Kabel), Amanda Pinatih (Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam), Kristina Andersen (Technische Universiteit Eindhoven), Chequita Nahar (Maastricht Institute of Arts, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences) & Floris Schoonderbeek (Studio Floris Schoonderbeek).


HABITAT
BOSK | ARCADIA x MUNICIPALITY OF LEEUWARDEN
“Bosk is a clever, nature-inclusive protest with protesters who you will start to love. The entire project is exemplary, with trees as star players.”

The expert jury: Femke Bijlsma (Kossmandejong), Caro van Dijk (OOSTWEST), Arna Mačkić (Studio LA), Cees van der Veeken (LOLA Landscape Architects) & Jan Nauta (Studio Nauta).


COMMUNICATION
MODEM RESEARCH PAPERS | MODEM
“The Modem Research Papers are hyper relevant, and they are presented in a way that we don’t often see from research agencies: attractively and accessibly.”

The expert jury: Mieke Gerritzen (The Image Society), Thecla Schaeffer (brand & communication consultant), Karen van de Kraats (Wieden+Kennedy), Bas Koopmans (Studio Bas Koopmans) & René Toneman (Silo).

Lisa Konno

FASHION
TAILORS AND WEARERS | TAILORS AND WEARERS – PLATFORM FOR AFRO-SURINAMESE FASHION AND HERITAGE
“Tailors and Wearers puts Afro-Surinamese fashion and cultural heritage powerfully into the spotlights with a multitude of shapes and forms, and modern interpretations for and by different generations.”

The expert jury: Iris Ruisch (State of Fashion), Mehtap Gungormez (fashion & design journalist, trend forecaster), Marga Weimans (Fashion house Marga Weimans), Branko Popovic (Fashionclash) & Rachid Naas (RCHD).

DESIGN RESEARCH
HET WATERWERK VAN ONS GELD (THE WATERWORKS OF OUR MONEY) | STUDIO CARLIJN KINGMA
“Very strong illustrative and journalistic work by Carlijn Kingma. The visual storytelling power and the clever animations spark Het Waterwerk van ons Geld to life for a broad audience.”

The expert jury: Angelique Spaninks (MU Hybrid Art House), Daniëlle Arets (design researcher, journalist, moderator), Jop Japenga (A/BZ) & Eric Klarenbeek (Studio Klarenbeek & Dros).

DATA & INTERACTION
VOICES FROM THE FRONTLINE - AFRICA CLIMATE “CLEVER°FRANKE clearly shows the impact of climate change with Voices from the Frontline. Once again they prove to be a master in making data understandable.”

The expert jury: Daniël Sytsma (Code d’azur), Liza Enebeis (Studio Dumbar/DEPT®), Merel van Helsdingen (Nxt Museum), Bas van der Poel (Modem) & Gavin Kempenaar (MediaMonks).

BEST COMMISSIONING
DE ZACHTE STAD (THE SOFT CITY) | ROTTERDAM CIRCULAIR x CHRISTIEN MEINDERTSMA “With De Zachte Stad, the city of Rotterdam is effectively using the power of excellent design to explain the circular economy with a practical example to its citizens.”

The expert jury: Tijn van Elderen (Brabantia), Rita van Hattum (BNO), Milou Pikaart (HEMA), Tatjana Quax (Studio Aandacht) & Eelco van Collenburg (Valtech).

Marcos Kueh

YOUNG DESIGNER
MARCOS KUEH
“Marcos Kueh manages to incorporate a digital beauty in his expressive visual style with the ancient crafts he uses to tell a story that is screaming for attention.”

The expert jury: Evelien Reich (ELLE Decoration NL), Aynouk Tan (journalist, curator, lecturer, activist), Liv Vaisberg (Liv Vaisberg Office for Art & Design) Gabrielle Kennedy (DAMN° Magazine) & Thomas Clever (CLEVER°FRANKE).


BNO PIET ZWART AWARD 2023
KAREL MARTENS
“With his timeless craftsmanship he seamlessly matches form and function. Karel Martens has made an exceptional contribution to the field of graphic design – both in terms of meaning and prestige.”

The jury of the BNO Piet Zwart Award 2023: Timo de Rijk (juryvoorzitter), Pieke Bergmans, Gert Franke, Joost Grootens, Ed van Hinte en Shahar Livne. Secretaris: Diana Janssen (directeur BNO).


DUTCH DESIGN AWARDS The Dutch Design Awards (DDA) has been leading in celebrating excellent Dutch Design for many years now. The purpose of the organization is much wider than simply rewarding the best design: DDA is keen to encourage an ongoing dialogue about Dutch design. With plenty of openness and curiosity, DDA facilitates the exchange of knowledge and expertise between designers and curators, the general public and professionals. DDA continues to emphasize the impact of design on society, to contribute to continuously developing the field of design and to build a strong design community. 

www.dutchdesignawards.nl