Sofia Lagerkvist, Charlotte von der Lancken and Anna Lindgren are members of the Swedish design group Front and are known for their high-impact design that centres on exquisite workmanship with modern tweaks. This can be seen in Mikado, a unique display unit with a characteristic volume-defining constructive solution. Raised on a thin but sturdy wooden frame, the doors and sides of Mikado consists of slanting and overlapping wooden stats, placed in an apparently random order, just like we would see in a game of pick-up sticks. The idea with pick-up sticks is, of course, to pick out a stick without upsetting the others; the Mikado display unit, meanwhile, is all about governing the relationship between the order and disorder of the wooden slats, and the transparent/opaque nature of the structure in relation to the inner contents of the unit. The design process seems to be guided by a sense of randomness which can be seen elsewhere in Front's work and Porro brings this back to a purely industrial process.
Other winners in 2014
Wall covering Another Colour by Tracy KENDALL for TRACY KENDALL WALLPAPER
Kitchen VIPP Kitchen by Morten BO JENSEN for VIPP
Floor covering Mews by Edward BARBER & Jay OSGERBY for MUTINA
Fabrics Ready Made Curtain by Ronan & Erwan BOUROULLEC for KVADRAT
Bathroom Kartell by Laufen by Ludovica & Roberto PALOMBA for KARTELL by LAUFEN
Seating RO by Jaime HAYON for FRITZ HANSEN
Bedding Husk bed by PATRICIA URQUIOLA for B&B ITALIA
Lighting String Lights by MICHAEL ANASTASSIADES for FLOS
Tableware Silver Time by Jean-Marie MASSAUD for CHRISTOFLE
Outdoor Folly by Ron ARAD for MAGIS
