Launched in 2023 by Global Design News and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design for a second year after its inaugural success, Prize Designs for Modern Furniture + Lighting drew an amazing number of submissions by some of the best and most innovative designers and manufacturers from over 24 countries.
In 1949, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) organized the Prize Designs for Modern Furniture to encourage the best of contemporary design by exhibiting the most notable examples in the furniture industry thereby stimulating production by manufacturers for the mass-produced market.
Seven decades later, Global Design News and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design have relaunched this historic event to spotlight the latest design thinking for new, cutting-edge furniture, lighting, textiles, and floor and wall covering from Europe, Asia, Australia, and North and South America.
“With the rise of Modernism,” states Christian Narkiewicz-Laine, President/CEO, The Chicago Athenaeum, “new techniques and new technologies emerged to create brilliantly simple, stackable, functional, comfortable furniture and new advanced lighting solutions that could be licensed and produced everywhere and available to anyone in the mass consumer market.”
“In the 1950s, the concept of Democratic Design brought forth a harmonious fusion of novel materials and techniques, such as tubular steel and wood-bending. This infusion breathed new life into furniture and furnishings, while simultaneously sparking a wave of experimentation with lighting, textiles, as well as, wall and flooring designs, unlike anything seen before.”
“The aim of the International Prize Design competition is to redefine the concept of “iconic” by recognizing and honoring the absolute finest designs and creations from the most influential design and manufacturing firms worldwide,” Narkiewicz-Laine continues.
“The modern revival of Prize Designs for Modern Furniture + Lighting aims to reclaim the vibrant essence of innovation and exploration embodied by the world’s foremost architects, designers, and manufacturers, reminiscent of MoMA’s groundbreaking design program the 1950s” states Pavlos Amperiadis, Publisher of Global Design News.
For 2023, Prize Designs for Modern Furniture + Lighting awarded product design in the categories of furniture and lighting from the following 24 nations: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam.
The Prize Designs Jury Members for 2023 are distinguished architects and designers from around the world that made a selection of the best design products that stood out for their cutting-edge design, sustainability, and new technological advances.
The 2023 Jury
Erik Behrens, AECOM
Chen Min, Chen Min Office
Irene Kronenberg and Alon Baranowitz, Baranowitz + Kronenberg Architecture
Piero Lissoni, Lissoni&Partners
Sotiris Lazou, Sotiris Lazou Design Studio
Yiannis Ghikas, Yannis Ghikas Design
More impressive is the list of visionary companies and industrial design firms producing state-of-the-art furniture and lighting, floorcovering, office furniture, storage units and seating by such leading global firms as:
• Amorim Cork Flooring • AN.ONYMOUS • Anastassiadis Arquitetos • arge2 studio for design • Atelier Borella • B&B Design • bea interiors design • Braco&Gos • Claudio Silvestrin Architects • Collective Ten • DANIEL OROZCO ESTUDIO • DARK • David Trubridge Ltd • Designplan Lighting, Inc. • Dirk Wynants Design Works • Erno Dierckx • FurnitureSmith • gherardi architetti • Herrmann&Coufal • Humanscale • Illusory Objects • Impact Acoustic • INODA+SVEJE • Khambatta Designs • Kuzco Lighting • Lamas Design • Lervik Design AB • Martex S.p.A. • mash t design studio • Matteo Thun Milano • New Elegant Co., Ltd. • Orchestra ONE Studo • Pure Design • RAB Lighting • Regular Company • Rottet Collection • samuel wilkinson studio • Signature Design Concepts • SKROLLA Living • STUDIOFORMA • studiooberhauser • Tapio Anttila Collection Ltd • UIAX • Xander Noori • Yonoh Creative Studio
Leading manufacturers, corporations, and furniture specialists include:
• Artefacto • Artisan d.o.o. • Bea interiors design • Braco&Gos • CYRIA • DANIEL OROZCO ESTUDIO • DARK • David Trubridge Ltd • DEESAWAT Industries Co., Ltd. • Designplan • désirée S.p.A. • Drömtrappor AB • Extremis NV • FLOR • FurnitureSmith • gherardi architetti • Grupa Bozzetti sp. z o.o. • Humanscale • Illusory Objects • Impact Acoustic • Innoite • Khambatta Designs • Kuzco Lighting • Lervik Design AB • Martex S.p.A. • mash t design studio • mmcité a.s. • Nahu • New Elegant CO., Ltd. • Noon Light AB • Orchestra ONE Studio • Pátio Brasil Móveis • Pavilion Furniture • Progress 3D Innovation • Promemoria • RAB Lighting Inc. • Regular Company • Sarah P. Fletcher Communications • SKROLLA Living • STUDIOFORMA • Tapio Anttila Collection Ltd • UIAX • Visual Comfort & Co. • Wiesner-Hager Möbel GmbH
You can find the Best in Categories for New Modern Furniture + Lighting 2023 all the Prize Designs 2023 Winners on prizedesignsaward.com.
The deadline for Prize Designs for Modern Furniture 2024 is October 1, 2024.
The 2023 Prize Designs winners are featured in an upcoming book entitled ‘New Modern Furniture + Lighting’ by Metropolitan Arts Press and edited by Christian Narkiewicz-Laine. Copies of the book can be ordered through metropolitanartspress.com.
On Friday, October 6th, Global Design News and The Chicago Athenaeum will open the exhibition ‘New Modern Furniture + Lighting 2023’ at the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies in Athens, Greece.
