Design Miami/Basel & The 2018 Swarovski Designers of the Future AwarDS

From the 12th to the 17th of June, Basel, in Switzerland will host another edition of Design Miami/Basel, an exhibition of international design that’s one of the most important and influential design fairs in Europe.

Several exhibitors will present this creative innovation, design and furniture creations for the fashion and retail, including Swarovski. In fact, Swarovski and Design Miami/Basel have announced the three winners of the 2018 Swarovski Designers of the Future Award: Frank Kolkman, an experimental dutch designer specializing in robotic technology; Study o Portable, a research-based dutch-japanese practice making objects about the environment; and Yosuke Ushigome of Takram, a Japanese technologist specializing in emerging innovations.

This year’s winners, selected for their ability to implement pioneering concepts, have responded to the theme of ‘smart living’ through the use of crystal technologies — including psycho activation techniques, touch crystal and energy crystal. in developing their project, the winning designers were invited to use Swarovski’s diverse resources to create a prototype or statement that illustrates new ways of existing with each other and our environment. swarovski worked closely with each designer in supporting their creative process.

Presented as a complete installation at Design Miami/Basel, the winners are unveiling their projects within a holistic environment. the installation explores the relationships between human behavior and smart living technologies, questioning if crystal innovations can make the way we live our lives smarter, more interactive, sustainable, immersive and accessible.

Talking to designboom, nadja swarovski, member of swarovski’s executive board, mentions, ‘it’s always so exciting to see these seemingly random ideas, but then see how beautifully and realistically they are converted into reality.’ while swarovski notes that the designs are meant to be exhibition pieces, not created for commercial purposes.

She explains that ‘the technology that is implemented within a certain design will be commercial.’ on the topic of artistic freedom, Swarovski points out that there is complete acceptance of the designers’ ideas, followed by ensuring that the ideas can be linked with the brand’s technology. ‘coming from the art world, we totally respect the source of the creation, we are only trying to make the crystal the medium of their creative expression,’ she notes.