More than 30,000 visitors passed through the Nikola Tesla Technical Museum which hosted this year’s Zagreb Design Week.
The 5th edition of Zagreb Design Week brought together more than 350 exhibitors from 12 countries, who presented the latest global trends in design. Zagreb Design Week has become the most prominent design, cultural and social event in the country which brings together the best designers, but also a large number of design enthusiasts, reports Večernji List on May 23, 2018.
The event’s main prize is the Zagreb Design Week Award by Julius Meinl. The winner was selected by an international jury, and the evaluation criterion was the relationship between the works and the festival theme. This year’s theme was Contemporary/Timeless and the issue of what makes design contemporary and what makes it timeless.
The international jury was composed of Michael Ani (Great Britain), Tomislav Bobinac (Croatia), Sara Ferrari (Italy), Andrej Filetin (Croatia) and Davor Grunwald (Croatia). The primary award went to Luka Palestrina Mazić for his project “Small Home – a place of temporary being in nature”. “I am a student, and this award will be a very good incentive for me. I would primarily like to thank the whole organization, which has done a truly heroic job,” said Luka.
The second prize went to Studio Tumpić/Prenc, co-owned by Anselmo Tumpić and Sara Prenc Opačić, for their project “Contrada – Catalogue”, which presents traditional games with the aim of preserving them. “We are delighted that the jury has recognized our work since this is a catalogue which presents traditional children’s games in Rovinj and the surrounding areas for the purpose of their preservation. It was commissioned by the Batana Eco-Museum from Rovinj, which has entered the UNESCO register of best practices for the protection of intangible cultural heritage. In accordance with this year’s theme Contemporary/Timeless, the catalogue symbolically displays old games in a modern way, together with the integration of stones which used to be, unlike in today’s highly technological games, the main element of the games,” said Sara and Anselmo.
The third prize was won by Vau Studio for its collection of designer products. “We are glad that the jury has recognized our work. The Contemporary/Timeless theme fits our design and manufacturing approach. We believe in long-lasting products made from quality materials in a sustainable way,” said Marija Ružić Vukmanović.
Andrej Filetin, a jury member, was pleased with this year’s works. “This year’s theme was, in my opinion, very topical and has attracted works of various typologies and approaches. I believe that what is timeless is at the same time contemporary as well, so we gave higher marks to works which do not belong to a particular trend. With elegant answers to fundamental human situations, small or large, the design becomes almost invisible, a part of our experience.”
“We are very pleased with the fifth edition of the festival. We have introduced a lot of novelties, and the visitors have accepted them well. They have recognized the importance of high-quality design, and I think that this year we have selected the theme well since the Contemporary/Timeless topic is more current than ever. In the ever-faster world, we are being asked whether we can slow down the design or whether we should continue to follow the pace which is being imposed on us. I would like to thank all the visitors. Next year, the festival will be even bigger and better,” said Tina Marković and Daniel Tomičić, organizers of the Zagreb Design Week.
Translated from Večernji List.
