THE JOURNEY

LDA 2023

The 2023 Winners undertook a transformative journey to take their world-changing designs to the next level.

In this four-part series, we invite you to relive their remarkable experience, from being announced as winners, to working with the Mentors to evolve their skills and their designs, and finally to presenting their final designs at Milan Design Week.

01: THE WINNERS
02: THE CHALLENGES
03: THE LAST PUSH
04: THE FINAL DESIGNS

For the first time in LEXUS DESIGN AWARD, the Your Choice Award asked the public to vote for their favorite design that best represents the theme of "Design for a Better Tomorrow." Please check the vote result from the link below.

YOUR CHOICE AWARD WINNER (NEW)

PART 01: THE WINNERS

A NEW JOURNEY BEGINS

From 2,068 entries originating from 63 countries and regions around the world, Lexus is pleased to introduce the four chosen LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2023 Winners.

Pavels Hedström
Sweden, Based in Denmark
Jiaming Liu
China

Temporary Office
Singapore (Vincent Lai) & Canada (Douglas Lee), Based in USA
Kyeongho Park & Yejin Heo
Republic of Korea

The world-class panel of Judges comprising Paola Antonelli, Karim Rashid and Simon Humphries made their selections based on Lexus' fundamental principles for creating a prosperous society and a better future: Anticipate, Innovate, Captivate, and Enhance Happiness.

THE CHOSEN PROTOTYPES

Designer: Pavels Hedström, Sweden / Based in Denmark

See the winners, their designs, and insight from the LDA 2023 judges.

Winning entries continue the tradition of addressing issues and trends of the times with a view toward a better future for all. The four vigorous winning proposals aim at tackling particular social issues to help prepare for the decades ahead.

Speaking about the selection, Judge Paola Antonelli commented, “The Winners impressed us jurors because they were really striving to make the world a better place. That’s something many of the participants have in common, but they were doing it with even more elegance than the others.”

Judge Simon Humphries added, "I think the four Winners this time, perhaps the overriding factor for me personality was that they had a real simplicity about them. Wasn’t something that they were over designing, overthinking. They were simple, but they were also very emotive as well."

PART 02: THE CHALLENGES

New challenges, new possibilities

Pavels Hedström (Fog-X): "I think 'management' was the most challenging ... I need to coordinate everything and make it on time."

Their innovative prototypes made them Winners, but their stories are just beginning. Each Winner now faces the formidable challenge of taking their already innovative designs to the next level, transforming them from prototypes to final designs.

Elevating the stakes even further, the Winners have learned their final designs will be exhibited at Milan Design Week - a prestigious event that attracts global attention, making this an incredible opportunity to showcase their talent on an international level.

To prepare, they must overcome various challenges beyond aesthetic design including solving technical challenges, sourcing materials, and time management, while also ensuring the core functionality and uniqueness of their work are preserved.

Yuri pointed out about my storytelling which is actually my weakness...I need to brush up the narrative to tell the story behind the work.
Jiaming Liu
Designer of "Print Clay Humidifier"

Vincent Lai and Douglas Lee of Temporary Office (Touch the Valley), had online sessions with Sumayya and Yuri. "The sessions were like two wake-up calls for us that reminded us of a lot of important things, and we really appreciate them."

Fortunately, they aren't alone.

Leading up to Milan Design Week, they are receiving guidance from four world-class creators serving as this year's LEXUS DESIGN AWARD Mentors: Marjan van Aubel, Joe Doucet, Yuri Suzuki, and Sumayya Vally.

The workshops have already begun, and the Winners have started to gain new insights and perspectives.

Vincent Lai and Douglas Lee from Temporary Office commented: "When we think about 'research', we think really a lot about Sumayya Vally's past works and how she had organized everything to argue her position. She starts from her personal background and her personal background leads to her practice... and that's exactly the way we try to work on our current project as well."

Kyeongho Park & Yejin Heo reflected on advice from Yuri Suzuki: "Yuri pointed out it’s really important to show the identity of Zero Bag again. The concept of Zero Bag is very different from what people are familiar with, so for the coming few weeks, we are going to work on how to tell people about the uniqueness of Zero Bag to make a strong identity for the work."

MORE FROM BEHIND THE SCENES

Kyeongho Park & Yejin Heo (Zero Bag):

"After the session with Sumayya, we are sure about the three directions of usage but not sure if they will persuade consumers. So we would like to see how other people react to see how Zero Bag works, especially from professionals."

PART 03: THE LAST PUSH

PREPARING THE FINISHING TOUCHES

Jiaming Liu (Print Clay Humidifier): “After the session with Yuri, I have made a lot of tests mainly about water absorption, tried many different ratios of materials, structures, temperature to fire etc.”

As the unveiling of their final designs draws near, the Winners are putting the finishing touches with guidance from their Mentors.

After an inspiring session with Sumayya Vally and Yuri Suzuki, the Winners are now focusing on overcoming their final challenges. With the pace toward completion accelerating, the pressure is on to ensure that every detail is just right.

Jiaming Liu, the designer of Print Clay Humidifier, shared his excitement about the progress of his project after receiving valuable feedback from Mentors Joe Doucet and Marjan van Aubel. He stated, "Marjan's insights on materials and engineering were essential in developing the final design. Joe's suggestion that the product should fit seamlessly into a room's design was also invaluable. I'm thrilled to showcase my completed project at Milan Design Week."

Marjan’s words gave us confidence about the direction; we are on the right track now.
Kyeongho Park & Yejin Heo
Designers of “Zero Bag”

Pavels Hedström (Fog-X) : “At Milan Design Week, I would like to show that we are working with vitals, and approaching really urgent global challenges which will affect everybody including all visitors of Milan Design Week. “

Similarly, Pavels Hedström chose to travel to Chile for testing his prototype, and reflected on the valuable insights he gained during his session with Marjan. He shared, “Marjan opened up my mind to see the whole picture of what I wanted to design, and what is the possible approach to the future with the design. She raised some potential risks that might arise and pointed out the importance of having a Plan B. Her guidance has been incredibly valuable to me, especially as I prepare to experiment and film the project in Chile. I feel more confident and ready to take on this challenge.”

As the Winners continue to work through their final challenges, they are determined to push the limits of innovation and creativity to create designs that will captivate and inspire a global audience. With the support of their Mentors, they are honing their skills and developing the expertise necessary to bring their ideas to life.

PART 04: THE FINAL DESIGNS

DESIGNS FOR A BETTER TOMORROW

The Winners have evolved their prototypes through the mentorship process, transforming them from already beautiful ideas to practical, scalable, and ambitious designs.

The culmination of months of hard work and dedication by the Winners is here. Guided by their Mentors, the initial prototypes have been transformed into magnificent and practical designs that are poised to shape the future.

Sumayya Vally, one of this year's four LDA Mentors, reflected on the Winners' journey, "The hard work of the Winners manifested in the final designs presented was incredible. Each of the projects is poetically and pertinently posing meaningful and urgent questions about our present world. And bringing into being a more beautiful and responsible future."

The exhibition at Milan Design Week invites visitors to witness the Winners' transformative journey come to life in their final designs. The evolution of these compelling ideas, driven by the contributions of the Mentors through the three-month mentorship program, is showcased in breathtaking detail.

I feel honored and proud to guide the winners through this progress. I am sure for many of them this is just the beginning of a larger mission.
Marjan van Aubel
LDA2023 MENTOR

THE FINAL DESIGNS