BIO 22, Biennal of Industrial Design + Awards Winners

For BIO 22, an international selection committee have chosen products, concepts, and works in product graphics and information design that propose creative and innovative solutions for problems we face in our lives today, solutions that focus on sustainable development and social responsibility and that address the unique needs of different groups of users. After reviewing the 132 exhibits from 24 countries, an international jury of esteemed design professionals presented this year’s BIO Awards. Three BIO Gold Medals, ten BIO Honourable Mentions, seven BIO Quality Concept Awards and Award for a Student Work have been chosen and presented at the opening ceremony at which special guest Philippe Starck was one of the honourable speakers

BIO 22 award-winners and Jury Report
Before the opening of BIO 22, all the selected and exhibited works are once again subjected to the expert scrutiny of a prestigious international jury. Vivian Cheng Wai Kwan (Hong Kong), Luigi Ferrara (Canada), Malcolm Garrett (United Kingdom), Peter Krečič (Slovenia) and Sanna Simola selected the best of the exhibited works and at the opening of the exhibition confered the BIO Design Awards – BIO Gold Medals, Honourable Mentions, Quality Concept Awards and the Award for a Student Work. These awards represent an important international design accolade.

BIO Gold Medal (2009)
Pipistrel Taurus Electro self-launching two-seat glider with retractable electric motor
Design: Ivo Boscarol and team, Ajdovščina, Slovenia
Producer: client Pipistrel, d. o. o. Ajdovščina, Ajdovščina, Slovenia
We chose the sleek, innovative glider because of its supreme beauty and the advanced technologies that are found beneath the surface. This is a design where form truly follows function in the most aesthetically pleasing way. The plane is sublimely attractive, yet its innovations are understated. Its seductive form invites you to touch its surface and awakens the desire to fly. It’s not surprising that the jury jokingly referred to it as “the iPlane”.

BIO Gold Medal (2008)
Sky Planter inverted plant pot
Designer: Patrick Morris, Boskke, Wellington, New Zealand
Producer: Boskke, Wellington, New Zealand
A design that is truly revolutionary. It literally turns the plant pot upside down and makes you rethink your preconceptions about how to grow plants.

BIO Gold Medal (2008)
Logomap and premiere posters for the City Theatre in Žilina
Designer: Emil Drličiak, Žilina, Slovakia, Co-author for logo Pavel Choma
Production: Ateliér Choma, Žilina, Slovakia
Client: Mestské divadlo Žilina, Žilina, Slovakia
This innovative suite of branding tools allows for the exploration of graphic variety while maintaining a cohesive identity. It is particularly appropriate for a theatre, as the identity is like a backdrop for the shifting activity on the stage while the individual components are like the cast in a play.

BIO Honourable Mention (2010)
Twinline 2 bathtub and shower stall
Design: GP Designpartners GmbH, Vienna, Austria, Co-authors Christoph Pauschitz, Christian Rukower
Producer: client Artweger GmbH & Co. KG, Bad Ischl, Austria
While the jury debated the merits of this multifunctional, hybrid bath/shower, they appreciated the flexibility and convenience the product could provide to a family with diverse bathing requirements – from children, to teens, to the frail and elderly.

BIO Honourable Mention (2008)
Piano light
Design: QisDesign, Taipei, Taiwan
Producer: client QisDesign, Taipei, Taiwan
This surprisingly tactile object engages you in a play of light by allowing you to customize your environment with regard to how much light is emitted and from where. The satisfying feeling when playing the light “keys” cannot be adequately captured in words.

BIO Honourable Mention (2008)
Àlpico ice axe
Design: Soluzioninventive, Merate, Italy
Producer: Climbing Technology, Cisano Bergamasco, Italy
This mountain climbing accessory is both lightweight and collapsible while being surprisingly strong and effective. It demonstrates an innovative, and necessary, rethinking of a basic traditional product.

BIO Honourable Mention (2010)
Alpina Promise cross-country ski boots
Design: Jure Miklavc, Jože Carli, Studio Jure Miklavc, Škofja Loka, Slovenia
Producer: client Alpina, d. o. o., Žiri, Slovenia
The understated design of these well-crafted cross-country ski boots are a welcome contrast to the “sports style” industry standard. Their engineering, which uses natural and recycled materials, and their biodegradable construction makes for an honest, traditional appeal.

BIO Honourable Mention (2010)
Orca sofa–resting chair
Designer: Ernest Nograšek, Quadrat Design, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Producer: client Tom, d. d., Mokronog, Slovenia
This simple sofa can be used in a number of ways, allowing you to sit, lounge or sleep on it. The jury was especially impressed that the flexibility of the design was equally effective in each of its different incarnations.

BIO Honourable Mention (2009)
Hackman Flirt pitcher and glass mugs for hot beverages
Design Pentagon Design Ltd., Helsinki, Finland
Producer, client Fiskars Home – Hackman Brand, Helsinki, Finland
This is a simple, attractive, and practical solution for serving hot and cold drinks. The separate components provide efficient thermic isolation, allowing the transfer of liquids from fridge or stove directly to the table. Avoiding the use of composite materials ensures maximum durability and recyclability.

BIO Honourable Mention (2009)
Packaging for Tatratea spirits
Designers Juraj Demovič, Livia Lorinczova, Pergamen Trnava, s. r. o., Trnava, Slovakia
Co-authors Jan Semanak, Karloff, s. r. o.; Jakub Dvořák, Pergamen Trnava, s. r. o.
Production Slavomir Kalisz, Dekorglass Działdowo S. A., Działdowo, Poland
Client Karloff, s. r. o., Kežmarok, Slovakia
This is packaging that makes you want to sample the contents. With its distinctive shape, intense colour, the texture of the bottle, and visual variety across the range, the packaging is as seductive and intoxicating as the contents.

BIO Honourable Mention (2009)
Packaging for Gogo nutritional supplements
Designers Tomato Košir, Dušan Grobovšek, Kranj, Slovenia
Typeface adviser Lucijan Bratuš, TipoBrda, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Print Gorenjski tisk, d. d., Kranj, Slovenia
Producer, client Fidimed, d. o. o., Trzin, Slovenia
This bold, clear packaging design is practical and easy to understand. The unique box closure snaps shut with a reassuring firmness appropriate to its content.

BIO Honourable Mention (2009)
Labels for Kos wines
Designer Vanja Cuculić, Studio Cuculić, Zagreb, Croatia
Print Etikgraf, d. o. o., Sveti Petar u Šumi, Croatia
Client Željko Kos, Kos Wines, Donja Zelina, Croatia
This elegant series of wine labels provides consistent branding, but with playful variations in the designs for different types of wine.

BIO Honourable Mention (2010)
Corporate visual identity for Matjaž Čuk
Designer Matjaž Čuk, Notranje Gorice, Slovenia
Print R-tisk, Boštjan Rihar, s. p., Ljubljana, Slovenia
Client Matjaž Čuk, Notranje Gorice, Slovenia
This low-tech, universal design solution, with all of a young designer’s stationery requirements on a single sheet, was admired, despite some challenges in material economy.

Award for a Student Work (2009)
TFP 1 Prague tram redesign
Designer Anna Marešová, Prague, Czech Republic
Tutor Jan Tuček; Faculty of Arts, Design and Technology, University of Derby, Derby, United Kingdom; Faculty of Art and Design, J. E. Purkyně University, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
This student design shows maturity and considered study more typical of a professional practice. The focus is on the design for travel rather than on the design of a tram. In referring to the heritage of earlier designs for trams in Prague, it thus draws upon local precedent, resulting in a modern design that fits into the historic context of the city.

BIO Quality Concept Award (2008)
Orientation & Identity – monograph
Designers Ervin K. Bauer, Bauer – Konzept & Gestaltung; Dieter Mayer, Struktiv, Vienna, Austria
This book for a research project is an extremely well-designed and beautifully executed piece of sophisticated publishing with high production values.

BIO Quality Concept Award (2010)
Airbath bathtub and shower for people with disabilities
Designer David Rajchl, Rychnov nad Kněžnou, Czech Republic
Tutor Miroslav Zvonek, Institute of Machine and Industrial Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic.
This intriguing concept for an inflatable, accessible bath design demonstrates creative rethinking about how the needs of disabled people can be accommodated.

BIO Quality Concept Award (2009)
Brick-Stainable brick transformation
Designers Aimilios Michael, Maria Eftychi, Nicosia, Cyprus
This concept for a sustainable and variegated construction block allows for the mitigation of the climate throughout the façade of a building while creating aesthetically pleasing patterns for the building’s exterior.

BIO Quality Concept Award (2010)
Bubble basket
Designers Jana Mršnik, Vesna Štih, BelaBela, Ljubljana, Slovenia
This modern reinterpretation of the craft tradition allows people to create their own personalized products through a modular plastic 2-D pattern sheet that can be reconfigured into 3-D shapes.

BIO Quality Concept Award (2009)
Birdhouse
Designer Metod Burgar, Cerklje na Gorenjskem, Slovenia
Tutor Vladimir Pezdirc, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Client Design for Fair Trade – Edirisa, Kabale, Uganda
This birdhouse design, developed as a social enterprise for Ugandan fair-trade producers, creates a new opportunity for traditional craft.

BIO Quality Concept Award (2010)
Ventus collapsible wind turbine
Designer Sergej Kuckir, Týniště nad Orlicí, Czech Republic
Tutor Alexius Appl, Faculty of Art and Design, J. E. Purkyně University, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
While we were unsure about the real effectiveness of the solution, the concept of a portable lightweight wind turbine that could provide energy when camping captured our interest.

BIO Quality Concept Award (2009)
Zip lighting fixture
Designer Anton Zetocha, Hamuliakovo, Slovakia
Tutor Peter Paliatka, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia
This design uses a simple metaphor to create a clever and playful interaction between user and object.