NATIONAL DESIGN AWARDS 2023

THIS YEAR’S RECIPIENTS OF THE COOPER HEWITT, Smithsonian Design Museum, National Design Awards range from “a handcraft-focused fashion designer to one of the early pioneers of digital design.” Established in 2000 as a project of the White House Millennium Council, the National Design Awards are accompanied annually by National Design Week, which takes place this year Oct. 2–8. Here are tidbits on several of the ten winners and their categories. 

Climate Action: Biocement Tiles by Biomason. “Founded in 2012,” Cooper Hewitt recounts, “Biomason’s mission is to reduce CO2 emissions generated by global cement manufacturing, which accounts for approximately 8% of global CO2 emissions. Inspired by a study of coral structure, a very hard cementitious material created by nature in ambient sea temperatures with low energy and material inputs, Biomason has developed a scalable and sustainable biological approach to the production of cement and concrete materials.”

Cooper Hewitt describes, “Biomason’s current product, the Biolith tile consists of 85% natural locally sourced aggregates and 15% Biocement and can be used in various construction applications, including walls, floors and facades. Biomason has partnered with Danish concrete manufacturer IBF to open the world’s first Biocement manufacturing facility to commercially produce Biolith tile in 2023.”

Architecture: nARCHITECTS. The term “socially engaging” describes architecture that advances the understanding of spacial experiences, the “mutual positive impact between communities, buildings, public spaces and their environment.” 

nARCHITECTS was founded by Eric Bunge and Mimi Hoang in 1999, with the goal of addressing urgent issues through socially engaging architecture. Teresa Nowakowski notes in Smithsonian Magazine, August 17, 2023, “nARCHITECTS’ projects have included popular public spaces, such as a redesign of Chicago’s Navy Pier that aesthetically mirrors the nearby water to create social and recreational space while enhancing visitors’ connection to Lake Michigan. The firm has also worked on private projects like House Between Forest and Field, a residence in Dutchess County, New York, that incorporates elements of the two kinds of environments it straddles.”

Emerging Designer: Beatriz Lozano. Cooper Hewitt says, “Lozano is a designer, typographer and educator exploring how technology can push typography to exist at the intersection of the physical and digital world. Originally on the path to becoming a mechanical engineer, Lozano shifted to graphic design as her involvement in immigrant rights activism exposed her to the power of visual communication. She is dedicated to using design to create social change and bridge the gap in access to resources and knowledge.”

Lorano says, “Merging typography with technology unlocks an entirely new level of communication where the work is capable of reacting to the audience, expanding beyond the static nature of traditional design. With generative typography or [augmented reality], the work we create has the capacity to animate and change appearance based on the physical input of a viewer, such as the sound of their voice or touch of their screen.”

For those finding themselves (like me) a vast continent away from the Cooper Hewitt Museum at 2 East 91st Street, New York City, New York, there’s a neat Shop Cooper Hewitt online. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2023