“Design is the human capacity to shape and make our environments in ways that satisfy our needs and give meaning to our lives.”
INDEX: Jury member, Professor John Heskett
INDEX: Design to Improve Life
INDEX: is a Danish-based, non-profit organization that was established in 2002 and coined the concept “Design to Improve Life”. We work globally to promote and apply both design and design processes that have the capacity to improve the lives of people worldwide.
INDEX: is widely recognized for its global biennial design award, the INDEX: Award. It is the largest monetary design prize in the world, worth €500,000, and encompasses the five categories of INDEX:: Body, Home, Work,
Play and Community. Nominations for INDEX: Award comes from all over the world, and more than 2,500 projects
have been nominated since the first award in 2005. The finalists are chosen by an international jury, who also selects the five winners.
Created by Denmark, INDEX: Design to Improve Life is essentially what made Danish design widely renowned in the last century, focusing on humanism, social awareness and democratic thinking.
INDEX: promotes the application of designs and design processes to improve vital areas of people’s lives worldwide. INDEX: challenges the traditional concepts and stereotypes of design while highlighting the complexity of the design field, demonstrating very different solutions to problems such as HIV/AIDS, scarcity of potable water, and carbon emissions. We inspire, collect, advocate, communicate, evaluate, connect and discuss Design to Improve Life on a global scale.
—————————— Kan udelades hvis der mangler plads ————————
INDEX: Award Exhibition 2011
The exhibition is a presentation of the INDEX: Award finalists. This year INDEX: has come up with a brand new exhibition design in collaboration with American architect Greg Lynn and Danish architect Christian Ditlev Bruun. The new design is far from the minimalistic traditions of Scandinavia and features several 12-foot black, organic shapes with square, golden insets containing the displayed designs. INDEX: Award Exhibition features the finalists for INDEX: Award, representing about 6 percent of the total number (966) of nominations for the world’s biggest design award.
From the 1 – 25 September 2011 the INDEX: Award Exhibition will be shown at Kvæsthusmolen. Afterwards the exhibition will tour the world.
INDEX: Award Ceremony 2011
Staged before a black-tie audience led by INDEX: royal patron HRH the Crown Prince and HRH the Crown Princess of Denmark, INDEX: Award Ceremony names the winners of the world’s largest design award, the INDEX: Award. The INDEX: Award carries a total purse of €500,000 and takes place at the Copenhagen Opera in front of an audience of more than 1,000 Danish and international designers, politicians, business leaders and celebrities, who are all invited to the ceremony to celebrate design that makes a difference in people’s lives.
1st of September 2011 at The Opera House in Copenhagen.
Contact:
Karl Malling Granov
Communications Director
Mob: +45 2011 3806
Tel: +45 3389 2005
kmg@indexaward.dk
designtoimprovelife.dk