mischer'traxler Wins World's Newest Design Prize: The BE OPEN Young Talent Award

mischer'traxler was selected from a shortlist of ten candidates, from an original long list of thirty-seven, put forward by a leading international design industry jury.  The Austrian duo win €24,000 to support their living expenses for a year and a unique egg trophy designed by Barber & Osgerby.  Three, egg-inspired trophies have been created for the Awards by members of the jury, the egg symbolising nascent talent ready to hatch.

The jury said of their selection "The work of the ten shortlisted candidates is of exceptional quality, but we felt that mischer'traxler's methods best reflect the spirit of this new, important design prize. Matching experimental research and vanguard attitudes with industrial production, they clearly indicate how much further manufacturing can be developed from where it is now. Their talent for introducing creative interaction into everyday objects and humanising every aspect of design reflects their incredible ability to synthesise the future of design."

The criteria for this prize, and indeed the award itself, are unique: the selection is made on the basis of potential, rather than work achieved; the prize money supports the winner's living expenses for a year, so that they can continue to work at their own pace, without any obligation to create new product or exhibit their work.

Founder of BE OPEN Yelena Baturina said "The Young Talent Award is yet another example of how we try to see things differently and how we encourage people to look at the world with an open mind: we're not asking for tangible results at the end of the year's work; we're not demanding commitment, although we'd like the winner to become an active part of our network.  We do, however, want them to keep developing their thinking; we want to glean inspiration from these talented young minds, because they are the leading minds of the future."

An additional prize was announced at the awards ceremony in Milan: Dennis Parren was selected as the Yelena Baturina prizewinner.   He was presented with a replica dinosaur egg, the trophy created especially for the awards for the Baturina prize by Front Design.  The founder of BE OPEN had announced her intention to make a personal choice from the shortlist that reflects her belief in the business potential of the selected candidate.  

BE OPEN will announce a further Web Choice award, based on the public's overall level of social media activity for each candidate through BE OPEN's facebook page https://www.facebook.com/beopenawards.  The closing date for the online vote is 17 May 2014 and The Web Choice winner's trophy is a wooden egg in a wooden eggcup, designed by Raw Edges.

The egg theme was carried through to BE OPEN's installation in the cloister of Milan's Università Statale, where footage about the shortlist is being screened in birdcages, suspended from the ceiling, to suggest fledgling talent about to break free from the constraints of daily life, thanks to the financial support of the Young Talent Award.

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