The winners of the international make me! 2022 competition
Urban Coolspot Project, CRN_01 “Hummingbird” swabs and Urban Clay – these are the winners of the international make me! 2022 design competition for young designers. The winners of this year’s edition received prizes with a total worth of PLN 60.000, which were awarded during an official gala on May 13th as part of the ongoing Łódź Design Festival.
The competition, held since its second edition, has grown into one of the most important international competitions for designers of the young generation. Its main objective is to forecast upcoming trends and bold ideas, and also to support creators aged 20-35. This year the jury composed of: Izabela Bołoz, Krzysztof Kornas, Joanna Krokosz, Tomek Rygalik, Agata Kiedrowicz, Maurizio Burrato, and Michał Piernikowski selected 26 finalists out of 147 submissions. They competed for the total prize pool, which, thanks to the Festival’s organizer, Łódź Design Festival, sponsors INTERPRINT Polska and LPP, and partner Cosentino, amounted to as much as PLN 60.000!
In the second stage of the competition, the best ones were awarded with a prize. However, this was not an easy task.
“Due to the extremely equal level of all submissions, the jury deliberations were particularly heated this year. All projects were characterised by great awareness of the challenges we face at the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century, as well as particular social sensitivity.” – this is how Michał Piernikowski, a jury member and the director of the Łódź Design Festival, described this year’s edition of make me! competition. And he added: “Therefore, after many exciting discussions, we decided to select three designers and, on the part of the Łódź Design Festival, to award each of the winners with the same prize amount – PLN 10.000.”
The work URBAN CLAY, by the duo of Michalina Zadykowicz (Poland) and Sabrina Haas (Austria) was awarded a third place. “It is a design project of critical importance that faces the issue of depletion of natural resources in an extremely insightful way, and at the same time it is an interesting reflection on urban identity, on life in the city.” – this is how Michał Piernikowski justified his choice.
The second prize was awarded to Maciej Glowacki (Poland), author of the CRN_01 “Hummingbird” SWABS design project. “The pandemic has also significantly contributed to the worsening of the climate crisis. Huge amounts of disposable hygiene and medical equipment and supplies ended up in landfills. The SWABS project directly addresses this problem. The disposables available on the market are normally produced in two stages, and are made from two material groups that are inextricably linked with one another. And here we have an object inspired by nature, consisting of one part, with a simplified one-step production process – faster and cheaper, which carries the same highly important diagnostic function. At the same time, it meets all the expectations made for this type of project.” – Tomek Rygalik from DesignNature argued, one of the jury representatives argued in favour of this design project.
“The first prize for recognising the problem of sealing the landscape for urban infrastructure and proposing a solution that is both functional and visually appealing goes to URBAN COOLSPOT PROJECT by Julia Sulikowska (Poland).” – announced Michał Piernikowski.
The festival partners also decided to award special prizes. LPP, the brand that joined the group of sponsors of the Łódź festival this year, distinguished the project EGG SHELL CERAMICS by Laura Van De Wijdeven (the Netherlands) with an award of PLN 10.000.
The last distinction awarded during this year’s edition of make me! competition were two prizes of PLN 10.000 each, funded by event partners Cosentino brand and INTERPRINT. They went to the same author: Julia Sulikowska (Poland), the winner of the first prize in the make me! competition for the URBAN COOLSPOT PROJECT.
– make me! has always been an opportunity to find out what the youngest designers are interested in. This is a unique competition, which shows how our thinking about design keeps changing.
For several years now, we have clearly seen a change in the interests of young artists. They are less and less eager to think about creating more chairs. Now, themes related to the climate crisis keep emerging. Young people also want to design for rituals – e.g. brewing and enjoying coffee, as well as small devices, tools, objects that will allow us to shape better behaviours, change our habits, e.g. in the search for closeness and tenderness.
There are also a lot of design projects related to many illnesses, e.g.: civilization diseases. Designers do not necessarily want to design for the masses in order to achieve success with yet another great piece of furniture, but instead they address various marginalised groups in need: the elderly, the disabled. – this is how the director of Łódź Design Festival summarised this year’s edition of the make me! competition.
The exhibition of the finalists of the international make me! competition for young designers can be seen free of charge at the Art_Incubator space in the Art Factory (ul. Tymienieckiego 3) during the 16th edition of Łódź Design Festival (May 12th-22nd, 2022).
THE LIST OF WINNERS OF THIS YEAR’S EDITION OF THE INTERNATIONAL MAKE ME! COMPETITION:
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1stplace – URBAN COOLSPOT PROJECT, author: Julia Sulikowska (Poland)
_see the project -
2nd place – CRN_01 “Hummingbird” SWABS, author: Maciej Głowacki (Poland)
_see the project -
3rd place – URBAN CLAY, author: Michalina Zadykowicz (Poland) and Sabrina Haas (Austria)
_see the project
A special prize of PLN 10,000 founded by festival sponsor LPP: EGG SHELL CERAMICS, author: Laura Van De Wijdeven (the Netherlands)
_see the project
Two special prizes of PLN 10,000 each, sponsored by the festival’s partners, Cosentino and INTERPRINT brands: URBAN COOLSPOT PROJECT, author: Julia Sulikowska (Poland)
_see the project
The organization of Łódź Design Festival is possible thanks to the support of Łódź Events Centre and the City of Łódź. ŁDF is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Fund for Cultural Promotion.
Ceramika Paradyż has become the patron of the festival for the 16th time already. The sponsors include INTERPRINT Polska and LPP. The festival partners are: Mazda, Cosentino, Manufaktura, Porta, Rado, Art_Incubator at the Art Factory.
Media patronage over the event has been provided by: Architecture Snob, Architektura&Biznes, Architektura-murator, Architekt Wnętrz, BIZNES meble.pl, Bryla.pl, Czas na Wnętrze, DesignDoc, Dezeen, Design Alive, designteka.pl, Dobre Wnętrze, Domosfera.pl, Elle Decoration, Label, MAGAZIF, M jak mieszkanie, Onet, Vogue, WhiteMad, and Urządzamy.pl.
