Awards 2008

Each year, Design Flanders presents the Henry van de Velde Awards & Labels.

I. The Henry van de Velde Awards honour designers and companies in Flanders.
The 2008 Henry van de Velde Career Award goes to jewellery designer and silversmith Siegfried De Buck.
Jewellery in Belgium in the 1970s was a rather conservative and bourgeois fact, but that mentality changed at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s. Siegfried De Buck was a pioneer of this movement. After studying to become a silversmith at IATA in Namur, he started his own studio based on the contemporary vision that he was taught during his studies. It was a choice which became a determining factor in the further course of his career and to which he has remained true up to this very day. A career that is still going strong and that has been awarded the Henry van de Velde Career Award. Siegfried De Buck was, by the way, the silversmith who designed the first trophy for this award. And this had consequences for the evolution of his work.
A love for technique is a guide throughout his entire oeuvre. Technique as a concept is the bearer of his artistic thought, his vision. Siegfried De Buck loves mechanics, well finished and refined, beautiful lines and shapes. Engines, a hot sports car, etc. are reflected in his jewellery, and are in turn associated with the virtually perfect female human body. Beauty formulated in a sensual manner.
(from: J. VALCKE, Siegfried De Buck, in the 2008 Henry van de Velde Awards catalogue).

This year, the 2008 Henry van de Velde Young Talent Award goes to Michaël Verheyden.
How does an industrial designer become a creative jack-of-all-trades and designer of handbags and other accessories? Michaël worked as an intern for Piet Stockmans and Fabiaan Van Severen, a designer who also has his own handbag collection. Raf Simons introduced him to the Paris fashion world. In 2001, his final-year project was the clothing concept ATOMIClothing, two ensembles which can be completely transformed with just the flick of a wrist.
The handbags and accessories (diary, placemat, wallet) can be both rigid and organic, but they always remain clearly “Michaël Verheyden”. Three aspects are important in designing: the construction, the finish and the materials.
He himself takes the full responsibility for all of these aspects, from the rough draft to the product on the shop floor. He creates the prototypes himself. He chooses the materials. Only the production, which takes place in Morocco, is outsourced. However, he inspects every single product before it is allowed to leave.
(from: C. OOSTERLINCK, Michaël Verheyden, in the 2008 Henry van de Velde Awards catalogue).

This year the 2008 Henry van de Velde Company Award goes to the firm theo.
It was not in the least bit their ambition to become an important player in the niche market of designer eyewear when Patrick Hoet and Wim Somers decided to launch their own line of glasses in 1987. They actually just simply wanted to make glasses for their optician shops in Antwerp and Bruges. Being their own showcase for their glasses was not just a statement, it also turned out to be a great strategy.
Theo knows its public well, among others due to the good input provided by their customers; it has a very unique identity, delivers quality and has a loyal following of fans, including a number of BVs (Famous Flemish).
After all these years, theo has become an important player in a small market, a brand not just in Flanders, but far away as well, which, thanks to the successful mix of good, daring design and well thought-out business insight, has changed the face of the optic world in the past 20 years.
(from: B. LUYSSAERT, theo, in the 2008 Henry van de Velde Awards catalogue).

There are 2 categories in the OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO 08.

A. OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO 08 product on the market
This award goes to Wave, signal lighting for parking garages, designed by Fosfor.
Ecodesign was applied very strongly and in a well thought-out manner in this signal lighting for parking garages: an innovative lighting technique (LED in combination with “Elit” Plexiglas plate), which only uses one-seventh of the traditional system; well thought-out material use (aluminium and PMMA/PET/PP plates); integration of functions; hinge which turns when a car approaches, thus preventing the signal sign from breaking; modular construction (thus, only a small amount of waste); and quick dismantling, which helps in the recycling. A plus point is that this signal lighting can be manufactured locally in Belgium.
The OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO Product on the Market has a cash value of EUR 2,000.00.

B. OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO 08 product not on the market
The winning product that is not yet on the market is the Canvas bench, designed by Cides.
Canvas is convincing through the playful design of the bench. It is functional, outdoor furniture. The bench can be placed in various forms by turning the benches 360°, 180° or 90°. Recycling plastic is nothing new, but with Canvas, all of the characteristics of the recycled material are clearly evident. The design is proof that you can do a great deal with design using recycled plastic!
The OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO Product not on the Market has a cash value of EUR 1,500.00.

Two products so appealed to the jury that also received an Ecodesign Award PRO 08 label in the category of product on de market:
a. Ecover Refill, designed by Pars Pro Toto
b. Basic 3, a bench designed by Bart Baccarne

The 2007 Henry van de Velde Public Award goes to Frederik Aerts and Wim Segers with the Bryce radiator for Vasco.
The Bryce radiator is constructed out of vertical aluminium profiles pressed to form a complete whole. It is thus no longer the sum of a number of pipes, but an optimally heated volume with a refined structure. This unique structure offers an important contribution to its design. The lighting is different from every angle. Frederik Aerts and Wim Segers were inspired by the “structured chaos” that can be found both in nature and contemporary architecture.
The Bryce is a completely closed radiator. Attachment points and other visually disruptive elements have been concealed. The aluminium ensures not only aesthetic value, but also a light weight product and high heat production.

II. The Henry van de Velde Label is a quality label which may be granted to the product for as long as it is in production. The label is proof of the authenticity, the desire for innovation, the creativity, the finishing and the added value of the product. There are no costs connected to the label. It is a quality label which may be granted to the product so long it is in production.

In 2008, 15 products received the Henry van de Velde Label 2008:
1. Bake Porter Line, Baking tins and boxes, by Enthoven Associates for PrepCo - ExtronInt. LTD;
2. Branch, Outdoor lighting by Rotor Group nv for Modular Lighting Instruments;
3. Brocante de salon, Rug, by Atelier Blink (Emilie Lecouturier & Céline Poncelet);
4. Etude Géometrique, 5 dishes, by Ann Van Hoey;
5. Flow, Indoor / outdoor seating, by Xavier Lust for Indera;
6. Iris, Coffee table, by Michael Bihain for Metal Concept;
7. Neo Cookware, Cooking pots, by Frederik Aerts for Berghoff Worldwide;
8. Sentido, Switch, by Sandra Maes & Klaas Arnout for Basalte;
9. Shower, Garden shower, by Danny Venlet for Viteo;
10. Soft Seat, Street furniture, by Roel Vandebeek, Beek Design for Urbastyle;
11. Spot Towel, Collection of kitchen towels and apron, by Roel Vandebeek, Beek Design for Serax;
12. Tectonic, Side table, by Alain Gilles for Bonaldo;
13. Torch Series, Lighting, by Sylvain Willenz for Established & Sons;
14. Tram Jerusalem, Tram, by Enthoven Associates for Alstom;
15. Wilnest, Birdhouse, by GBO Design-Engineering (Eric Dumortier) for Wildkamp.