The Hublot Design Prize was launched in 2015 by Jean-Claude Biver and Pierre Keller to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Big Bang model. It was set up to create a springboard for young, up-and-coming designers, enabling them to gain visibility and notoriety, as well as offer them a significant cash prize to further their work. The competition aims to highlight innovative projects that break away from conventions either in terms of the materials used or the subjects that they present.
And the Winner is…
This year’s Hublot Design Prize was awarded to Nigerian designer Nifemi Marcus-Bello during a ceremony at London’s Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park. An industrial designer based in Lagos, Nigeria, Nifemi Marcus-Bello is known for his community-led, ethnographic-conscious design approach. His strengths lie in the exploitation of materials to pursue new forms and typologies, allowing him to create truly unique products, forms, and experiences. In 2017, he founded his eponymous design studio focusing on furniture, product, and installation design.
The Jury
The jury, composed of Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director of the Serpentine Gallery; Marva Griffin, Founder and Creator of Salone Satellite; Samuel Ross, previous Hublot Design Prize winner, and Alice Rawsthorn, Design Critic, shared its appreciation of Marcus-Bello’s passion for design and how human engagement and interaction is at the crux of his art. They also loved his sense of optimism, empathy and joy which provides the axis point from which he operates.
About the Artist
Marcus-Bello was overwhelmed with emotion when accepting his prize of CHF 80,000. “I would like to thank everyone. When I started my practice, I thought it would be barely impossible to create projects that would engage the community like I have done. So, this award is not really for me, I feel that it is for all the people I am collaborating with and who I have collaborated with in the past, and for the young designers that look up to me in Lagos. A huge thank you to Samuel and the jury; this is life-changing.”
The Nominations
Marcus-Bello was chosen from a shortlist of seven artists from around the world, including Sun Xiaoxi from China, Hiroto Yoshizoe from Japan, Sasha (Oleksandra) Anisimova from Ukraine, Maya-Bird Murphy from the U.S, Luigi Alberto Cippini from Italy, Connor Cook from the U.S., and Kusheda Mensah from Ghana, who presented an eclectic mix of design disciplines and styles.
Pierre Keller Prizes
In addition to the Hublot Design Prize, the jury awarded two Pierre Keller awards. One went to Maya-Bird Murphy for creating the Chicago Mobile Makers, a nonprofit organization bringing design and skill-building workshops to underrepresented communities, and the other was awarded to Connor Cook for his unique art form called computational performance.
Over its seven editions, the Hublot Design Prize has helped shine a light on numerous artists and give them an opportunity to showcase their work to a wider audience and make the world a better place through design.
