Lexus has announced the Grand Prix winner of the Lexus Design Award 2016, “Agar Plasticity” by AMAM.
It is a project exploring how agar, a gelatinous material obtained from the marine algae, can be used as an environmentally friendly packaging materials alternative to plastic. «This is a bold and ambitious experiment, which aims to address one of the biggest pollution problems of our time. The designers have made tremendous progress during the course of the award cycle, particularly in devising a wide range of possible practical applications for the material. Their success in doing so gives us confidence in their ability to tackle the many challenges and complexities they will face in continuing the development of the project», said Alice Rawsthorn, Lexus Design Award 2016 judge.
The award was delivered to the winner by Tokuo Fukuichi, President of Lexus International, during the opening cocktail of the annual design exhibit of the brand at the 2016 Milan Design Week, “Lexus – An Encounter with Anticipation”. AMAM is a design group formed in 2015 by Kosuke Araki, Noriaki Maetani and Akira Muraoka who studied at Product Design Department, Tama Art University during same period. Also, Araki (Design Products) and Maetani (Innovation Design Engineering) have acquired a Master at Royal College of Art in the same year.
The Lexus Design Award provides an opportunity for twelve finalists and their works to receive an introduction to the design community and beyond at Milan Design Week. This year’s Lexus Design Award drew 1,232 submissions representing a wide variety of highly innovative ideas from 73 countries. In keeping with the theme of “Anticipation”, many submissions were designed as yet unseen or undefined concepts that are likely to be realized in the near future.
Four finalists, including AMAM, produced prototypes of their designs under the mentorship of globally recognized creators. The Grand Prix work is displayed, from Tuesday, April 12 to 17at Spazio Lexus in Milan (Via Tortona 32) together with the other 11 finalists’ projects.
