Excellent! The winners of the interzum award 2017 have been named
Every two years, “interzum award: intelligent material & design” awards the best designs in the international supplier industry for the furniture and interior decorating industries. The winners were announced and celebrated on 15 May 2017 during the award ceremony in Theater am Tanzbrunnen in Cologne. The event thus marked the start of the “interzum” trade fair, where representatives from the global furniture supplier industry convene until 19 May 2017.
Participants from 28 nations
The free design competition was organised by Koelnmesse in cooperation with Red Dot for the ninth time already. In 2017, numerous international exhibitors of the “interzum” entered the contest to win the respected industry label. The “interzum award” received a total of 244 entries from 28 countries as well as an increase in diversification and internationalisation. With their high quality standard, the competition entries once again confirmed the great potential of the furniture supplier industry and the fact that design as an economic factor is established and exploited in the industry.
International jury of experts
All competition entries for “interzum award 2017” were examined by five respected and independent international experts from design and architecture. They assessed the design quality of the products live and on site at Koelnmesse on the basis of criteria such as the degree of innovation, material quality, shape and functionality.
Alongside founder and CEO of the Red Dot Award Professor Dr. Peter Zec, architect and designer Dr. Luisa Bocchietto from Italy as well as Martin Darbyshire, founder and CEO of London-based design advisory firm tangerine, decided who would receive the industry award. Dutch designer Dick Spierenburg and Professor Dipl.-Ing. Martin Stosch, lecturer on the Wood Technology degree programme at Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences, also contributed their expertise to the decision-making process as members of the expert panel.
Award ceremony: winners of interzum award 2017 honoured
Together the jurors awarded the title of “High Product Quality” to 40 products which stand out significantly from comparable products thanks to their excellent design. In addition, 12 outstanding design achievements that set new standards in form and function in their industry were awarded the “Best of the Best”.
These achievements were celebrated on the evening of 15 May 2017 at the award ceremony in Theater am Tanzbrunnen in Cologne. As part of an exclusive reception in the Parksaal room, Arne Petersen, Vice President Trade Fair Management of Koelnmesse, and Professor Dr. Peter Zec, founder and CEO of the Red Dot Award, handed over the well-deserved certificates to the winners of the “High Product Quality” prize.
The high point of the award ceremony was the awarding of the “Best of the Best” by Katharina C. Hamma, COO of Koelnmesse, and the jurors Dick Spierenburg, Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Martin Stosch and Prof. Dr. Peter Zec. This top award in the competition went to manufacturers Actiforce International from the Netherlands, Organoid Technologies from Austria, peka-metall from Switzerland and OBE Hettich from Spain. Other “Best of the Best” title winners were OVVO from Ireland and Salice from Italy. In Germany, the products of out for space, Häfele, OKE Kunststofftechnik, KRALL + ROTH, Covestro Deutschland and Vöhringer were awarded with the sought-after industry label.
In addition, in a discussion with the presenter Anne Rothäuser, the jury members spoke about their personal experiences, trends that they observed in the competition and the challenges that design will face in the future.
Exhibition of the winning products
During the “interzum” trade fair, the award-winning products will be presented to the international specialist audience at an exhibition on the trade fair boulevard until 19 May 2017. Additionally, the online exhibition includes the winning designs at www.interzum-award.com long after “interzum 2017” has finished.
