• The luxury brand continues its support of next-generation creators on this new platform
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  • Grand Prix Winner to be announced on 1 September 2020
Today, Lexus announced that the luxury brand is adapting their Grand Prix judging for the Lexus Design Award 2020 to a virtual environment in August with the Grand Prix winner to be announced on the 1st of September. “We were presented with a unique set of circumstances this year,” said Brian Bolain, Lexus International, General Manager of Global Marketing & PR, “but Lexus remains focused on the Award's original mission of supporting tomorrow's creators with a new launchpad for their careers.”

Out of 2,042 entries from 79 countries, a record for Lexus Design Award, only one Grand Prix winner will be selected. The Virtual Grand-Prix Selection will link the six finalists and the esteemed judging panel of Paola Antonelli, Jeanne Gang, John Maeda, and Simon Humphries. The judges' decision on the Grand Prix winner will be based on three key principles of the Lexus brand: Anticipate, Innovate, and Captivate, with an emphasis on design that leads to a better tomorrow.

“Great designers thrive in difficult situations, and help individuals and society deal with unexpected change,” said Paola Antonelli. “This year's finalists have already passed the first important test by continuing their good work despite complex circumstances. We will miss meeting them in person, but we look forward to their experiments and to the new wisdom that they will bring to the virtual Grand Prix Selection.”.

January, the six finalists participated in a momentous workshop experience in New York City. The workshop put the finalists face-to-face with four acclaimed mentors: Joe Doucet, Bethan Gray, Philippe Malouin and Shohei Shigematsu, each of whom shared their own distinctive wisdom and expertise. INTERSECT BY LEXUS-NYC, the brand’s unique lifestyle space, served as the workshop venue. In the ensuing months, the finalists have benefited from their mentors’ ongoing guidance and support via one-on-one online mentoring sessions, which continue to stimulate their creative evolution in preparing their works for the final judging process. The four Mentors will also join the virtual Grand Prix selection

LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2020 FINALISTS
  • Biocraft by Sutherlin Santo (USA)
  • Feltscape, by Théophile Peju & Salvatore Cicero (France, Italy / Based in United Kingdom)
  • Flash Pak, by Yaokun Wu (China / Based in USA)
  • L.I.C.K., by Irina Samoilova (Russia)
  • Open Source Communities, by BellTower (Kenya)
  • Pursewit, by Aqsa Ajmal (Pakistan)
A Grand Prix trophy, designed by Hideki Yoshimoto, will be unveiled when this year’s Grand Prix winner is announced in September. Yoshimoto was a winner in the first Lexus Design Award in 2013 and has become a successful designer based in London working with a number of global brands. The trophy design will incorporate his engineering background and commitment to Japanese takumi-craftsmanship and will continue to be used for all future Lexus Design Award events.

Call for Entries for Lexus Design Award 2021 begins today and will close on October 11th. The Judges and Mentors will be announced this fall.

ABOUT LEXUS DESIGN AWARD
First launched in 2013, the Lexus Design Award is an international design competition that targets up-and-coming creators from around the world. The award seeks to foster the growth of ideas that contribute to society by supporting designers and creators whose works can help to shape a better future. It provides a unique opportunity for each finalist to work with a globally recognized designer as a mentor to create prototypes of their designs, and then exhibit them at one of the design calendar's most important events.