Montreal (Canada) 20 November 2013 – At its 28th General Assembly held on 18-19 November in Montreal (Canada), the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) announced the seven projects shortlisted for the World Design Impact Prize 2013-2014 cycle.
In alphabetical order, the shortlisted projects are:
- ABC (A Behaviour Changing) Syringe
- BioLite HomeStove
- Family By Family
- Laddoo Project
- Leveraged Freedom Chair
- Potty Project
- Refugee Housing Unit
The World Design Impact Prize is an award programme that recognises excellence and diverse ways of addressing societal challenges. It leverages Icsid’s vast global membership network to champion possible solutions to global issues like poverty and the effects of industrialisation and consumerism on sustainability and society. “Now in its second iteration, it is bringing attention to some great projects that are promoting an expanded definition of industrial design and that have an enormous potential to address issues of societal significance,” stated Dr. Brandon Gien, Icsid President. “The worlds growing economies are looking for solutions in many areas and the submissions for the World Design Impact Prize can meet these needs.”
An extensive assessment of the projects was overseen by an international review panel that selected the seven projects because of the opportunity they create in recognition of the value of industrial design but more importantly on social wellbeing. These projects are reimagining distribution systems and the role of the designer, as well as are pushing the boundary of what creating an artefact means. Projects such as Family by Family, the Ladoo Project and the Potty Project are creating large impact by being systems based and infrastructure light while ABC Syringe, BioLite HomeStove, the Leveraged Freedom Chair and the Refugee Housing Unit are reimagining how products serving marginalised and at-risk communities can better address the challenges they are attempting to address.
Commenting on the shortlisted nominations, Icsid Senator and Chair of the Review Panel, Dr. Mark Breitenberg said, “We are looking for design that is innovative, that is breaking new ground in the field, that leads to progress, and advances the profession of design. We are looking for the project that has the greatest impact and is thinking about design as a way to solve problems. We want the winner of the prize to plant a seed, and showcase a lot of the extraordinary work that is being done in humanitarian design around the world.”
The finalists will be announced on 24 January 2014 and the award will be presented at the World Design Capital® (WDC) International Design Gala in Cape Town (South Africa) in February 2014.
