Winner of Northern
Design Award Announced

A vase made entirely from recycled glass has been awarded first prize in this year’s Northern Design Award.

 

Created by Finnish designer and postgraduate student at the Aalto University, Anne Hirvonen, the winning ‘Column’ vase combines the traditional craftsmanship of glassblowing with innovative ideas that will also benefit the environment.

 

Tasked with designing a sustainable interior accessory, our independent jury of leading industry experts, were unanimous in their selection of the winner.

 

Held every second year, the Northern Design Award is our way to give something back: a space for upcoming designers to showcase their talents, as well as an opportunity to challenge our own creative thinking and to take a closer look at how we can change the world around us for the better.

Tasked with designing a sustainable interior accessory, our independent jury of leading industry experts, which included Tonje Madsen, Editor-In-Chief at Bo Bedre Magazine, Interior Architect for Sane, Ine Tokka and Lead Designer at Gjensidige, Kristian Trengereid, were unanimous in their selection of the winner.

The Column vase combines the traditional craftsmanship with innovative ideas that will also benefit the environment.

 

Made from reusable waste glass, which is hand blown into a mould, each Column vase will be truly unique thanks to the colour variations produced during the manufacturing process. But like all potential new Northern products, there is more to this winning design than meets the eye, as when the two parts are separated it also cleverly provides smart space-saving storage inside.

‘The challenge set in this competition fitted me perfectly as I always emphasise the importance of sustainability in my projects and wanted to highlight the ancient craft of glass making as a skill that has long been endangered. I really appreciate this opportunity with Northern and very much look forward to working with their team of product mentors with the view of developing my winning design further.’ Anne Hirvonen , designer

 

This year we had our highest ever number of participants and the quality of the contributions were outstanding.

Also shortlisted for prizes was Berlin-based designer Joa Herrenknecht for her contemporary carpet collection ‘The Grid’, as well as Spanish architect and designer Omayra Maymó for her family of multi-use stainless steel containers called, ‘Grasp’.

‘Being a global competition with few limitations, the Northern Design Award is always a source of great excitement and inspiration for our team. This year we had our highest ever number of participants and the quality of the contributions were outstanding. I love all three final designs our highly professional jury selected. I think they all represent objects that the world needs and that Northern followers will cherish.’

Ove Rogne, Founder and CEO of Northern