Awards 1999

These awards were presented at the preview on 28 January 2000 in the VIZO Gallery.

This year, the “Career Award” goes to Philippe Neerman. This architect is one of the founders of industrial design in Flanders. Throughout his rich career, he was active in many areas. He was responsible for the interior design for public buildings in Belgium and abroad, as well as designing furniture and other interior objects himself. But he gradually began to specialise in the development of transport systems. The impulse for this was the major assignment appointed to him for the design of the Brussels metro. His most recent assignment is the metro in Barcelona.

The “Young Talent Award” goes to Tine Vindevogel, jewellery designer. As a graduate of the Sint-Lucas Institute and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, she is particularly fascinated by archetypical forms, such as the circle and the oval. Therefore, she wishes to emphasise those shapes, now in a piece of jewellery, and then again in a monumental piece of work.

The West Flanders company Obumex, specialised in kitchens and washbasins, is the laureate for the “Company Award”. They very often work together with renowned Flemish and international designers and are therefore continually rediscovering the kitchen. The minimalist kitchen from John Pawson has earned them a great deal of awards, both in Belgium and abroad.

Finally, Sylvie Vandenhoucke takes home the “Henry van de Velde Award for Best Product”. She was able to dazzle the jury with her pâte de verre and silver vase. The porous pâte de verre is wrapped in the most ingenious way with a veil of fine silver thread.

In the exhibition, we also display selected products from the category “Award for Best Product”. During the exhibition, visitors can give their preference for “their” best product. At the end of the exhibition, the votes will be tallied and the product with the greatest amount of preference votes will win the “Public Award”. This year, Wim Segers wins with the Natal stackable chair.

The jury that made all of this happen consisted of: Jef Claerhout (sculptor), Anita Evenepoel (textile designer), Pierre Misseghers (manager design gallery), Roger Seldeslachts (Director Academie Leuven), Francis Smets (art philosophy teacher at the Limburg Catholic University College), Jan Van Broeckhoven (producer VRT), Luk van der Hallen (product development teacher at the Limburg Catholic University College), Rik Sauwen (producer VRT), Ludovicus De Vlam (Flemish Community Commission), Inge Vranken (VIZO), Johan Valcke (VIZO), Jan-Willem van Zijst (Award for Best product 1998) and Jean Wauters (Company Award 1998).