After three days full of design, we have finally wrapped up this year’s ECO Solidarity, a collaborative project by EUNIC NY, with a lot of success. Numbers of visitors headed to see the exhibition at WantedDesign Manhattan, co-located with ICFF at the Javits Center, NYC. Designers and studios of ECO Solidarity not only introduced sustainable solutions in nowadays product design and architecture, but they were also honored by the ICFF + WantedDesign Editors. Visitors could also take part in creative workshops held by Herrmann & Coufal and Lappa Studio, Czech designer duos who came for the occasion to NYC.
ECO Solidarity, a collaborative project by EUNIC New York, the European Union National Institutes for Culture, was awarded the ICFF + WantedDesign Editors’ Award 2022, one of the design industry’s premier accolades. Presented by WantedDesign Manhattan, the project introduced leading designers and studios from nine European Union countries showcasing transformative solutions as collective response to the global climate emergency through acts of innovation and intervention by design.
“Thanks to the collaboration between the members of EUNIC New York and the support of EUNIC Global, the project presented at WantedDesign Manhattan brought representatives from the emerging generation of European designers who are taking a personal responsibility to climate change by finding innovative and out-of-box solutions to environmental concerns,” said Miroslav Konvalina, President of EUNIC New York and Director of Czech Center New York. “These designers push the boundaries in their respective fields and carefully consider the full life cycle of their products. I am verypleased that the exhibition was recognized for outstanding workand that the two talks found a receptive and engaged audience in New York.”
And it was not only the audience who appreciated the effort, but also professionals. In the yearly ICFF Editors‘ Awards judged by editors from invited design media, which recognize 12 different categories, ECO Solidarity received a prize for the Best Booth. The exhibition was designed and curated by Deborah Wang, architect and artistic director of DesignTO, based in Toronto, Ontario.
“We imagined the exhibition as a choir of voices,” explained Deborah Wang, “It was a challenge and pleasure to assemble the collective voices of visionary designers to address the pressing issues of our time.”
Photo credit © Jenna Bascom
Press Release ICFF Editors’ Award 2022
It was not only Herrmann & Coufal among the Czech designers who introduced themselves to the American public. Though not part of ECO Solidarity project, the Czech Center New York also invited designers Lenka Preussova and Anna Leschinger from Lappa Studio to join the occasion. With them, another workshop in Undercurrent was held. This time participants learned how to make their own acoustic panels.
