MUJI AWARD INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION 01

Results

In the three and a half months from 15th May to 31st August 2006, the MUJI AWARD 01 attracted 4,758 entries from 52 countries. Thank you very much for the many entries.
The works addressed the theme ‘SUMI’ from many perspectives.

We now have the pleasure of announcing the following winning works, selected after rigorous examination. I would urge you to look at the judges' comments and evaluations.

Gold Prize / The cast-off skin / Yoh Komiyama(Japan)

Silver prize

Notebook to remember
Satoshi Hasegawa (Japan)

MUJI ROLL
Taichi Ito (Japan)

Their destination, my departure
Chang Yu-Chiao (Taiwan)

Bronze prize

Notebook with corner framesDaiki Yonemori (Japan)
SORI5+2 (Satoru Utashiro / Atsuko Araki / Masaki Kato / Takahiro Taira / Yasuka Mori / Rina Ono / Hikaru Yamaguchi) (Japan)
Room & clinical thermometerSeiichi Boku (Japan)
Extension cord with clipMakoto Nishiyama (Japan)
PEN-PAPER-TRAYDaisuke Ishigami (Japan)

Nominee

KUMO WO TSUKAMUSachiko Watanabe + Atsushi Suzuki (Japan)
Tateoki tissueKei Nishikawa + Takeshi Miyazaki (Japan)
HOLE TOWELShinji Sadamatsu (Japan)
COVER ITTeruhiro Yanagihara (Japan)
edge denchiGyotoku + Kanetsuki (Tatsuyuki Gyotoku/ Naoe Kanetsuki) (Japan)

*Only 5 entries were finally selected for the Bronze award instead of the originally intended 6.

Comments by the judges

  • Kazuko Koike(MUJI adviser, creative director)View This Comment
  • Takashi Sugimoto(MUJI adviser, interior designer)View This Comment
  • Kenya Hara(MUJI Adviser, graphic designer)View This Comment
  • Naoto Fukasawa(MUJI Adviser, product designer)View This Comment
  • Jasper Morrison(Special Judge, product designer)View This Comment

First of all we would like to thank all those who have sent us their designs. We were very astonished to receive 4758 works from 52 countries around the world. We are also delighted to see people around the globe showing their expectations from MUJIRUSHI RYOHIN and MUJI.

During the first and second rounds of selections made by our product development staff, they were lost in a sea of entry designs and sometimes had but to smile at bewildering ideas, which gave them the energy to continue with the assessment and selection. We believe that through this serious selection for winners we were able to gain new abilities in product development.

In the words of the late graphic designer Ikko Tanaka, “Simplicity should not be made inferior to extravaganza. Rather, it should be that in such world of simplicity, where unspoken sensibility and sensitivity are its pride, by expanding such value system one can enrich life with as little resources as possible.” We believe that the examination of ‘places that evade the conscious eye’ as part of the theme of this first MUJI Award, ‘SUMI (corner/edge/end)’, is a foundation of better living for people on Earth, and is vital in the search of universality, In this way we have been given great courage through the quest for such foundation and universality by many people around the world, and we aim to seek a better relationship between the human race, nature and ‘goods’.

We sincerely thank everyone who has sent in their designs.

Masaaki Kanai
(President, Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd.)

Judging Scene