On Friday, May 24, the winners of the National Design Award of Latvia (NDAL) 2024 were announced at Rīgas Cirks, honouring the best design works in five categories: products, services, communication, environmental, and digital solutions. The Grand Prix and the prize of 2000 euros from the Ministry of Culture were awarded to designers Sarmīte Poļakova and Māra Bērziņa for the biotextile Pre-Loved. The jury also awarded five special recognitions, and the Latvian Patent Office also presented their award.

«Design is a problem-solving competence that uses design methods and aesthetics to integrate people into the development process and the solutions themselves. When we talk about the responsibility of design, the design phase accounts for around 40% of all accessibility issues in artefacts. Design, with science and engineering, has the lever to support and create circularity as well as climate positivity. Hence the challenges we face and which design is facing start with sustaining a human, flora, and fauna-positive climate, with the threats imposed on every citizen by the attacking war of Russia against Ukraine, and end with the changes related to the accelerated progress of AI. With this in mind, the ethical dimension of design is becoming more and more relevant,» the final jury stated.

In this light, the evaluation of the entries, and in particular the final decision on the Grand Prix, was the subject of a passionate debate among all the jury members. Chaired by Regina Hanke, the jury discussed the full bandwidth of possible perspectives on the diverse and inspiring projects handed in. «The decisions we took in this competition did not come naturally; they were driven by the quality of the artefacts and the challenges not only for Latvia but also for Europe and our living environment,» said Regina Hanke.

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Link to the original article on the Latvian Design Award website