The winner of the 2009 Rotterdam Design Prize is studio Joost Grootens! The panel of judges unanimously described his entry, Four Atlases, as world class. His attitude delighted the panel: ‘Grootens places great importance on the clarity of the information. His design is clearly intended to serve the reader. Design for Grootens is not an egotistic activity nor is it the promotion of a particular vision. The result is both brilliant and functional.’
The panel of judges explained the social relevance of Grootens’s works as follows:
Grootens’ atlases make clear the relationship between geography and politics. For example, atlases legitimate an empire’s ambitions or claims. Every atlas takes up a position in relation to a world in flux. We live in a period of economic crisis, a period of worldwide turmoil, a period that calls for new choices. Grootens’ atlas designs help us to understand and assess certain aspects of these changes at a variety of scales.
‘As a designer Joost Grootens combines various graphic-design capabilities. He conceives strong visual and editorial concepts for the books he designs. In this sense his can be seen as a designer/editor. In visualising data he has breathed new life into the tradition of visual statistics developed in the 1920s and 1930s by Gerd Arntz and Willem Sandberg. But there is more to his work than simply these analytical and conceptual qualities. In everything that he designs, Grootens is first and foremost a craftsman with a strong sense of colour and appreciation of materials, who works with great precision, skill and intuition. His designs are distinguished not only by his signature use of certain colours but also by the systematic way in which he employs concepts and rules.’
The panel of judges explained the social relevance of Grootens’s works as follows:
Grootens’ atlases make clear the relationship between geography and politics. For example, atlases legitimate an empire’s ambitions or claims. Every atlas takes up a position in relation to a world in flux. We live in a period of economic crisis, a period of worldwide turmoil, a period that calls for new choices. Grootens’ atlas designs help us to understand and assess certain aspects of these changes at a variety of scales.
‘As a designer Joost Grootens combines various graphic-design capabilities. He conceives strong visual and editorial concepts for the books he designs. In this sense his can be seen as a designer/editor. In visualising data he has breathed new life into the tradition of visual statistics developed in the 1920s and 1930s by Gerd Arntz and Willem Sandberg. But there is more to his work than simply these analytical and conceptual qualities. In everything that he designs, Grootens is first and foremost a craftsman with a strong sense of colour and appreciation of materials, who works with great precision, skill and intuition. His designs are distinguished not only by his signature use of certain colours but also by the systematic way in which he employs concepts and rules.’
‘The jury believes that Grootens’ design practice can or at least should provide a new direction for the future of design.’
Alice Rawsthorn presented the prize at 5.00 p.m. on 29 November in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen pavilion. You can download the international judges’ written report from this site.
She also awarded the Public Prize to the designers collective Gorilla. The collective (comprising Herman van Bostelen, De Designpolitie and Lesley Moore) was responsible for a daily visual column on the front page of De Volkskrant from 2 October 2006 until 4 April 2009. Gorilla comments on the daily news using existing signs and symbols. The visual columns of Gorilla are currently published in Adformatie and De Groene Amsterdammer.
The Rotterdam Design Prize was awarded annually from 1993. Since 1997 the prize has been awarded every two years. The previous winners were:
2007 — Thonik
2003 — Hella Jongerius
2001 — Jop van Bennekom, Erik Wong and redactie Forum
1999 — NL Architects
1997 — Maatschappij voor Oude en Nieuwe Media
1996 — Bob van Dijk/Studio Dumbar
1995 — Jan Erik Baars, Caroline Brouwer and Jan Paul van der Voet / Philips Corporate Design
1994 — Diek Zweegman / BRS Premsela Vonk
1993 — Roelof Mulder
See archive for more information on previous editions.
Alice Rawsthorn presented the prize at 5.00 p.m. on 29 November in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen pavilion. You can download the international judges’ written report from this site.
She also awarded the Public Prize to the designers collective Gorilla. The collective (comprising Herman van Bostelen, De Designpolitie and Lesley Moore) was responsible for a daily visual column on the front page of De Volkskrant from 2 October 2006 until 4 April 2009. Gorilla comments on the daily news using existing signs and symbols. The visual columns of Gorilla are currently published in Adformatie and De Groene Amsterdammer.
The Rotterdam Design Prize was awarded annually from 1993. Since 1997 the prize has been awarded every two years. The previous winners were:
2007 — Thonik
2003 — Hella Jongerius
2001 — Jop van Bennekom, Erik Wong and redactie Forum
1999 — NL Architects
1997 — Maatschappij voor Oude en Nieuwe Media
1996 — Bob van Dijk/Studio Dumbar
1995 — Jan Erik Baars, Caroline Brouwer and Jan Paul van der Voet / Philips Corporate Design
1994 — Diek Zweegman / BRS Premsela Vonk
1993 — Roelof Mulder
See archive for more information on previous editions.