The Graduation Show (October 2014) will feature the first edition of the Gijs Bakker Award for excellence in design research.
As of this year the honour will be awarded annually to the most outstanding master student graduating at Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE). It complements the long-established René Smeets Award for the best bachelor student project.
Each of the three master departments – Contextual Design, Social Design and Information Design – nominates two candidates. An expert jury then selects the winner who will receive a prize certificate and 2.000 euros. The jury selects the student whose thesis research and design project demonstrate outstanding skill and imagination, tenacity and originality, personality and relevance to the profession and the outside world. These criteria reflect the foundations of the DAE master programme that was initiated by designer Gijs Bakker.
The 6 nominates are:
Contextual Design:
Wiktoria Szawiel
Govert Flint
Social Design:
Gabriel (Ann) Maher
Silvia Neretti
Information Design:
Tanne van Bree
Kim Costantino
Gijs Bakker has been a driving force behind the human-centered and contextual approach to design, which has established DAE’s reputation as one of the leading international schools of design. He first headed the bachelor department Man and Living (1987-2003), before he took on the task of setting up the master’s course in 2000. Bakkers prolific design practice and his dedication to teaching soon attracted ambitious master students from all over the world. He stimulated students to look beyond the boundaries of their own cultures, tastes and experiences. Through his teaching he positioned design as a form of cultural research and research as an integral part of design. This legacy still characterizes the programme today, two years after he said his final farewell to the academy. The award pays homage to Gijs Bakkers lasting contribution to DAE’s master programme and to the careers of its past, present and future students.