DFA Lifetime Achievement Award conferred to Sir Terence Conran

DFA Design Leadership Award awarded to Dr. Andrew Dent

DFA World's Outstanding Chinese Designer goes to Mr. Lyndon Neri & Ms. Rossana Hu

 

HONG KONG, CHINA - - 1 November 2018 - Today, the DFA Awards of Hong Kong Design Centre announced the 2018 recipients of the DFA Lifetime Achievement Award (DFA LAA), DFA Design Leadership Award (DFA DLA), and DFA World's Outstanding Chinese Designer (DFA WOCD), the highest and most prestigious design honours of DFA Awards in the year. The DFA LAA is conferred to Sir Terence Conran, one of the world's best-known designers, retailers and restaurateurs. 

 

Concurrently, this year's DFA DLA will honour Dr. Andrew Dent of Material ConneXion, a leading global expert in sustainable and advanced material research and development. The DFA WOCD will go to Mr. Lyndon Neri and Ms. Rossana  Hu, architects and co-founders of Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. The three esteemed awards will be presented at the Business of Design Week Gala Dinner on 7th December in Hong Kong.

 

Founded in 2003, the DFA Awards are widely known in the industry as one of the most important and prestigious honours stemming from the region. The Awards encompasses five-major programmes, with three pillars that recognise individual contributions to the advancement and development of design. The awardees of the 2018 edition are global titans who embody the power of design and whose forward thinking practices have indelibly impacted living in the 21st century. 

 

DFA Lifetime Achievement Award 2018 (DFA LAA)

 

The DFA Lifetime Achievement Award signifies the design community's respect for individuals who have made life-long contributions to design profession, education and the society. Sir Terence Conran (United Kingdom) is one of the most successful and influential figures in the design world. As the recipient of the DFA LAA, he is recognised for his lifelong contributions to the design profession and his visionary approach that has shaped designs across a variety of fields. 

 

His business empire encompasses a furniture-making business, an architecture and planning group, a design company, a book publishing company, and over 50 restaurants. Sir Terence has created a global footprint of influence with business interests from London to Tokyo. Brands developed at his helm include Habitat, the homeware store that revolutionised mass access to the stylish home design; and many others. He also spearheaded the founding of the Design Museum. An established force in the international business community, Sir Terrance's exceptional achievements have shaped a better future for humanity.

 

DFA Design Leadership Award 2018 (DFA DLA)

 

The DFA DLA is presented to a corporate leader who consistently demonstrates outstanding business performance and leadership, whilst supporting the development of design in his organisation and the international community through strategic and innovative design solutions. This year's recipient, Dr. Andrew Dent (United Kingdom) is a leading expert in the field of sustainable and innovative material strategies. He is the Executive Vice-President & Vice-President, Library and Materials Research, Material ConneXion, Inc., and Chief Material Scientist at SANDOW, where he plays a key role in the expansion of their technical knowledge. 

 

He also directs the implementation of consulting projects as well as the selection of innovative, sustainable and advanced materials for Material ConneXion's library. In his current role Dr. Dent has helped hundreds of clients--from Whirlpool and Adidas to BMW and Procter & Gamble--develop or improve their products through the use of innovative materials. At the vanguard of his field, his insights continue to play an important part in creating a new generation of more sustainable products.

 

DFA World's Outstanding Chinese Designer 2018 (DFA WOCD)

 

DFA WOCD awards designers of Chinese origin who have significant design achievement and international recognition. Renowned design practitioners Mr. Lyndon Neri and Ms. Rossana Hu (Mainland China) are founding partners of Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, a multi-disciplinary international architectural design practice based in Shanghai, China. Their design philosophy is founded on a passion for showing that Chinese creativity exists, which has been built upon to deliver acclaimed projects across the globe. 

 

Spanning the fields of architecture, interiors, master planning, product design and installations as well as branding and graphics, they are one of most recognisable design practitioners working from Mainland China today. Looking forward, they want to work on socially engaged projects that will allow for greater engagement with general communities. (mor/*).