Press Release: Ornamo Award winners chosen – leading designers forecast change in design
Free for publication on 25 August at 8 a.m.
The winners of the Ornamo Award have been chosen for Design Progress, Design Pioneer, and Design Utilizer from over 50 candidates. In addition, two awards were given in recognition of a high-quality master’s thesis. The prize-winners will be participating in the Designers of Change discussion held at Think Corner on 8 September at 1–3 p.m.
The Design Progress Award was awarded to interior architects Yuki Abe and Anna Salonen for their work with the Luomoa enterprise that focuses on circular economy thinking. The pair are awarded an award of €5,000 from the Ornamo Foundation. The Design Pioneer Award was awarded to industrial designer Antti Pitkänen for his contemporary work as a design leader. The Design Utilizer Award was awarded to the Finnish Tax Administration for its exemplary new utilization of design in customer-oriented development. The award is accepted by Director General at the Finnish Tax Administration Markku Heikura.
In addition, the design universities chose the most outstanding theses. The master’s theses of Irene Purchachit from the Aalto University, and Marjaana Sivonen from the University of Lapland were awarded the Ornamo Award in the Design Thesis Award category.
A multidisciplinary jury was responsible for selecting the theses from a group of fifty candidates. The winner was chosen by the prize jury headed by Ornamo’s Chairperson of the Board, Design Director Katja Soini from AFRY (formerly Vahanen Group).The members of the multidisciplinary jury were strategic and circular design consultant Tapani Jokinen,Inventure Oy partner Lauri Kokkila, professor Pirjo Kääriäinen from Aalto University, and service designer Outi Ugas. They made their selection amongst a group of fifty member candidates.
Design Progress: Anna Salonen & Yuki Abe
Luomoa is a new age enterprise at its best. The company’s founders, interior designer Yuki Abe and Anna Salonen, receive the Ornamo Award for their design philosophy of flexible adaptability, where eco-friendly thinking is combined with the promise of internationally renowned business. According to the jury, Luomoa Oy used its innovation to resolve significant sustainability challenges faced by the construction industry, thereby facilitating change in the multi-layered practices and processes of spatial planning and construction.
Luomoa’s modular interior construction system comprises, e.g. ceilings, floors, and a variety of partitions that are integrated with the technology required by the space and customers. The system makes it possible to adapt interior spaces and can be updated and edited. The jury paid special attention to feedback-based customer orientation and product development. The company favours its domestic subcontracting network for acquiring raw materials and ready-made components. The products are assembled in Savonlinna.
The Design Progress Award is €5,000 from the Ornamo Foundation.
Design Pioneer: Antti Pitkänen
Industrial designer Antti Pitkänen is awarded the Design Pioneer Award for his insightful work as a design director and his humane grasp on applying design in the work environment of different sectors. The jury felt that Antti Pitkänen is a true pioneer in his sector as a developer of work environments at a time when work is undergoing a societal change. The jury felt that Antti Pitkänen’s company Agile Work integrates design methods with digitalisation possibilities in a particularly commendable way. With his design work, Pitkänen has accelerated company growth through comprehensive enhancement of employee, work environment and customer experiences.
The Design Pioneer Award is €1,500.
Design Utilizer: Finnish Tax Administration
The Finnish Tax Administration was awarded the 2022 Ornamo Globe for its creative and profound application of customer-oriented service and design on the various levels of the organisation. The Finnish Tax Administration is a Finnish authority that has utilized digital possibilities in the design of customer-oriented, convenient services. This operator acts as an authority, but has successfully managed to become a service organisation that makes it easy to pay taxes, even enjoyable. The services provided by the Finnish Tax Administration impact every Finn, and the jury thinks that the organisation has applyed the benefits of design in a way that improves the trust of citizens, enterprises, and organisations towards society.
According to the jury, the Finnish Tax Administration displays an exemplary way of utilizing design in enhancing the efficiency of its operations and people-oriented design. In the Finnish Tax Administration, designers worked on improving services. The authority also utilizes design-driven technology enterprises in user orientation. The award is accepted by Director General at the Finnish Tax Administration Markku Heikura, who has been leading service development in the Finnish Tax Administration since 2018.
The winner of the Design Utilizer Award will be awarded the Ornamo Globe.
Design Theses: Irene Purchachit (Aalto University) and Marjaana Sivonen (University of Lapland)
Irene Purchachit The designerly approach in material development: a design-led exploration of surplus flowers as raw material, Aalto University, Department of Design, Contemporary Design Programme
In her thesis, Purchachit studies the use of surplus flowers for utilizing in the design process of a new bio-based material. As an outcome of the thesis, Purchachit developed flexible sheets made from rose and carnation petals. This revolutionary material can be used in applications such as for the making of bags.
According to professor Tuuli Mattelmäki, the work highlights the changing areas of expertise covered by design. It combines the taking hold of local problems and the new possibilities of the circular economy, as well as the innovative study of materials and the role of the designer as the problem solver. The master’s thesis represents the field of design study where design seeking and doing are interlinked in research literature, critical contemplation, and design research traditions.
Marjaana Sivonen: “Natural illustrations that represent nature”, University of Lapland, Master’s Thesis 2022
Sivonen examines the special characteristics of nature illustration in the field of professional visual design and what the nature illustrations are like as representations of nature. The photograph is an established form for showing nature-themes publications. Hand-made nature illustration has not really been studied before, and there is actually no existing definition for nature illustration. According to professor Satu Miettinen, the thesis enters into an interesting discussion about the essential differences between photographs and drawings. As an outcome of the thesis, Sivonen created a definition for the existence of nature illustration by combining existing perspectives from fragmented fields in different scientific disciplines.
Photobank for press
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fYtLYFTfhwdUhAJqGljZMoHka_tVic76
Invitation for the Media: Designers of Change panel discussion at the Think Corner on 8 September 2022 at 1–3 p.m.
The 2022 Ornamo Award Ceremony culminates at the Think Corner during the Helsinki Design Week, where winners are challenged to engage in discussion about how to design change and how change design can achieve good business. Members of the media are warmly welcome to join the Designers of Change discussion. Muutoksen muotoilijat.
Tiedekulma/Think Corner
Yliopistonkatu 4, 00100 Helsinki