The Henry van de Velde Awards showcase and applaud Flemish designers, enterprises, products, projects and services which, through design, offer solutions that have a positive impact on society and the economy. The Henry van de Velde Awards are widely supported thanks to the shared vision of a professional and international jury with considerable expertise in the sector. The official award ceremony at BOZAR, the exhibition and the book make the Henry van de Velde Awards a real platform for Flemish design. 

The architect and designer Vincent van Duysen wins the Lifetime Achievement Award. The jury appreciates Vincent's broad vision, who views architecture, interior and furniture design as a single whole, and praises his refined and timeless, read durable, aesthetic. He also immediately clicked with Italy's Molteni & C, which quickly appointed him creative director after a few stand-alone collaborations, above all due to his overall vision. Not a single designer outside Italy has repeated that feat. 

Discover everything about the work and vision of Vincent van Duysen in this article.

This award goes to De Zetel. In recent years, they have consistently and emphatically combined their craftsmanship with a striking design in which they, together with the designers, thoroughly examine the possibilities of wood, a quality that really appeals to the jury.

Discover more about De Zetel in this article.

The jury honors not one designer this year, but by awarding BRUT Collective, no less than six young talents: Ben Storms, Bram Vanderbeke, Cédric Etienne (Studio Corkinho), Charlotte Jonckheer, Linde Freya Tangelder (Destroyers/Builders) and Nel Verbeke. It was impossible for the jury to ignore the number one revelation of Milan 2018. The presentation of the brand-new BRUT Collective immediately had a major international impact. The strength of this collective stems from the individual strengths of the six young designers who make up the group. Each with his or her own oeuvre, each with a refined design language, each with his or her specific materials, insights and vision and together so much more than their sum.

In this article you can discover the story behind Brut Collective and reason why the jury chose them.

With the Barco Unisee®-platform, Barco has completely redesigned and optimised every part of a LCD video wall solution. During a design-driven innovation process, in which — at every step — all that was superfluous was omitted and the necessary simplifications made, the design team came up with a solution which has a superior picture quality which, moreover, is self-aligning and easy to install and operate.

Barco UniSee®, LCD-videowall platform. Design Barco designteam, Client Barco

The two other winners in this category are: 

• SAM, module for utilities (Studio Dott., BAO Living)
• Xeikon CX500, digital printing press for high quality labels (Achilles Design, Xeikon Manufacturing)

The Sint Jozef building of PC Caritas in Melle has unexpectedly been given a second life as a monumental outdoor space open to patients, staff, visitors and local residents. The monumental outdoor space was given the name Kanunnik Petrus Jozef Triest Plein to emphasise that it is not an empty building, but a space of possibilities for patients, personnel and residents alike.

Kanunnik Petrus Jozef Triest Plein. Concept & Design: Architects De Vylder Vinck Taillieu, in collaboration with architects BAVO & work groups doctors, management, staff and patients for KARUS

The two other winners in this category are:

• Peacecraft - Play to Change, PeaceCraft is an initiative by !DROPS and U Move 4 Peace. The game is developped by Poppins & Wayne and !DROPS. The participative play is a creation by U Move 4 Peace.
• Rope (Ief Spincemaille, LOOGCV)

Acacia is a compact, asymmetric parasol that provides you with shade wherever you want it. Like the African tree of the same name, thanks to its eccentric shape, it manages to capture as much sunshine as a larger specimen despite its small textile surface.

Acacia, parasol. Design Dirk Wynants Design Works. Client Extremis

The two other winners in this category are:

• Escape, smart hand luggage (Studio Gooris, Rollogo Limited)
• Handbag label Lies Mertens 

The innovative, sustainable HNST jeanscollectie is the result of the collaboration between a creative start-up and many other partners. In an initial phase there was the extraordinary collaboration with textile company European Spinning Group (ESG) that produces textile yarns for different markets and applications. Both partners had previously chosen for open innovation, co-creation and circular design as a business model. The ESG Green yarn used for weaving the HNST jeans collection symbolises this new “design thinking” in classical sectors.

The jury found the collaboration between ESG and HNST worthy of a Henry van de Velde Award as a positive and inspiring signal that the entire value chain is important in the design process and that co-creation and collaboration between the creative sector, the social economy, the local textile industry and partners in education and research pays off in all areas.

HNST jeanscollection & ESG Green, Collaboration between a start-up and traditional industry. Development & Design of the HNST jeans collection HNST. Development & Production of ESG Green European Spinning Group. Visual identity Pinkeye.

The two other winners in this category are:

• ecoBirdy, children's furniture (Vanbriel Yuan Design Company, ecoBirdy)
• Velda Resleep, circular sleep system (Veldeman Bedding)

Frieke Janssens' images are sumptuously beautiful, but touch upon subjects that aren't: death, smoking, drinking, and the battle between the sexes. During the briefing of The Sweetest Taboo Frieke Janssens gave an extensive explanation of the detailed method her style of photography requires. The generous format of the book enables details of Frieke's photography to be shown in full glory. Typography is chosen and set in such a way that it feels very detailed and well chosen, such as the work of Frieke Janssens.

The Sweetest Taboo, book. Design Superset. Client Lannoo

The two other winners in this category are:

• Surf & Stay, book (author Veerle Helsen, design MAFF, client Lannoo)
• The Island of the Colorblind, book (author  Sanne De Wilde, design Tim Bisschop, client Hannibal)

When you have a single connection point in combination with suspended lighting, you almost never have the possibility to orient the light source. On top of that, adjustable spots mounted on the ceiling can often be very glary. Marbul Suspension Adjustable solves these problems in a very elegant way through an ingenious rotation system that is partly in the spherical lamp housing and partly in the cylinder or the built-in connection point. Hereby the suspended light source achieves an inclination of 45° and a rotation of 360°, so that after installation you can still direct the light to any desired location.

Marbul Suspension Adjustable, Architectural lighting, adjustable hanging lamp. Design Jeffrey Huyghe. Client Modular Lighting Instruments

The two other winners in this category are:

• Collage Tableware, tableware (Giel Dedeurwaerder and Brent Neve, collective design studio, Serax)
• N° 0, outdoor seating furniture (Luc Bossuyt, THE {FORM} NATION)

The Belun ring is a non-invasive solution that monitors the sleep quality of its user. It analyses the amount of oxygen in your blood, your stress level, and provides a picture of the different phases in your sleep. An important target group is formed by those people who suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea (OSAS).

Belun Ring, Pulsoximeter to measure sleep quality. Design Studio Dott. Client Belun Technology Company

The two other winners in this category are:

• MySleeve, sleeve for the hand grips of crutches (Marie Van den Broeck, My Add On)
• Two, combination door handle for dementia care (pilipili design)

Addax Motors developed the Addax MT10, a 100% electric, green, compact, manoeuvrable and pleasantly quiet vehicle, which is available with an open or closed body and with many other options. Thanks to the size and flexibility of the chassis in combination with a considerable carrying capacity of up to 1000 kg, the Addax MT is perfectly adapted for short distance transport and specially developed for the professional market.

ADDAX MT, Electronic truck. Design Eduardo Gonzalez. Client Addax

The other winner in this categorie is:

• NMBS M7,  double-decker train (Yellow Window (Axel Enthoven & Eric Govers), Bombardier, NMBS)

When we launched the 23 Henry van de Velde Winners last fall, the public at large was asked to vote for its favourite design. 5.318 persons did so and voted. Out of the 23 Henry van de Velde Winners, the NMBS M7, the new double-decker train designed by Yellow Window, (design: Axel Enthoven & Eric Govers) for Bombardier and the NMBS-SNCB was the clear winner.

M7 of Yellow Window for NMBS. Producent: Bombardier

The catalogue of the Henry van de Velde Awards 19 presents all the winners. This bilingual (NL-EN) publication has 136 pages and was designed by Geoffrey Brusatto. You can order the catalogue (10 euro) in our webshop.