The Porter House in New York by the 2009 National Design Award winners SHoP Architects.
The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum has announced the winners of its 2009 National Design Awards. These ten winners represent an interesting cross-section of the design world, and this was one year in which the work of the runners-up was often just as compelling. The Walker Art Center — which has championed design for decades — won the Corporate Achievement Award, but the other two finalists, Dwell Magazine and Heath Ceramics, are no slouches in that department, either.
SHoP Architects, the winners in the Architecture Design category, had serious competition from Architecture Research Office and the Los Angeles architect Michael Maltzan. Francisco Costa, the creative director of Calvin Klein Collection, won the Fashion Design award over Rodarte and Thom Browne, a three-time nominee (wanna bet the fourth time will be the charm, and he’ll win next year?)
The Product Design award went to the provocative, witty work of Boym Partners, over Salvor Projects and Smart Design. HOOD Design beat out Andrea Cochran and Rios Clemente Hale in the Landscape Design category. Perceptive Pixel, Inc. won the Interactive Design Award (Lisa Strausfield and Potion were runners-up), while Bill Moggridge, the IDEO co-founder and designer of the first laptop computer (remember GRiD?) got the Lifetime Achievement award, and the energy guru Amory Lovins won for Design Mind. The New York Times Graphics Department won the Communications Design award, over Hofler & Frere-Jones and Project Projects.
And now for the inevitable quibbles. The NDA has categories for both Architecture Design and Interior Design, but the latter always seems to go to an architecture firm anyway — and often to an architecture firm that has completed many freestanding buildings. This year’s winner, Tsao & McKown Architects, does sublime interiors, but it has also done a six million-square-foot development in Singapore. Why not give two architecture awards and eliminate the distinction? And why were all of this year’s jurors past NDA winners? All props to their talent and expertise, but this arrangement looks a bit too cozy and insider-ish. Time to bring in more outsiders — some (I think it’s safe to use the word again) mavericks.
Pilar Viladas is the design editor of The New York Times Magazine.
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