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The Great Indoors Awards:
The Great Indoors 2009
The second edition of The Great Indoors Award, an international award in the field of interior design, took place from November 27 to 29.
Marres, initiator and partner of The Great Indoors
The Great Indoors is a biennial initiative that aspires to stimulate the discussion on interior design through the use of various media. Next to Frame and NaiM/Bureau Europa, Marres has a specific involvement in this project. The Great Indoors aims to visualize ‘best practices’ through its awards, but aspires to more; the initiative also wants to confront the knowledge and information residing within the nominated design bureaus with students from the Euregio, namely Eindhoven, Genk and Maastricht. In this manner, The Great Indoors tries to synchronize a hierarchical model (who is the best!) with a social model (sharing knowledge!). Thanks to additional support by the City of Maastricht it was possible to strengthen and expand the program of workshops this year, as well as providing it with a special student prize: The Great Expectations Award.
The Great Indoors
Edition 2009
During the 2007 edition of The Great Indoors, the workshops were linked to a congress. For this years edition, the choice was made to directly link knowledge, research and the transfer of information, replacing one day of lectures for a select group and one day of master classes with a so called 'real experiment', in which students with different backgrounds from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands are confronted with a practical assignment, a commissioner and a physical location.
The tutors
In the course of three weeks, the community of students from the Academy of Visual Arts Maastricht, Design Academy Eindhoven and Media & Design Academy Genk will be guided by a staff of tutors and renowned designers from various disciplines such as Jurgen Bey, Alexander van Slobbe, Daniel van der Velden, Vinka Kruk, Wieki Somers and Chris Kabel.
The commissioners
The commissioners are asked to propose a clear question to the students, directly addressing a changing practice and the theme of 'Changing Ideals', which is the overarching perspective of the 2009 edition of The Great Indoors. The commissioners are Camille Oostwegel (ChateauHotels & Restaurants), Kiki Niesten (Kiki Niesten and Shop Daughters) Paul Rinkens (Conceptisch and Qbic), Hans van Wolde (Beluga) and the Salvation Army.
The assignments
The entire community of students is divided over five groups, each of which will be confronted with one specific commissioner and one location. During the so-called 'kick-off', the students are briefed by their commissioners. Subsequently, the five groups will have three weeks to mould this question into an innovative perspective on interior design.
Camille Oostwegel asked the students to come up with an innovative concept for a guestroom of the future, which has to be temporary and autonomous in a way that it can function independently from the structure of a hotel. Kiki Niesten is searching for a physical environment for the project 'shop daughters', which initially started online and questions the idea of value within fashion. Paul Rinkens wonders what the office of the future will look like now that it has become clear that during times of recession we do not work from home. Hans van Wolde, Beluga's star chef, aims to reinvent the classic snackbar. He is looking for an integral concept ranging from the name of the snackbar and the clothing of its personnel to the necessity of local food production. The Salvation Army, which by its very nature employs a social ambition, is confronted by the problem of a growing group of homeless that need to be provided with temporary shelter. What are the requirements for such a place and in what ways do these differ from, or conform to, the requirements of a 15m2 hotel room, of which it is said that it offers a so-called basic service?
The Great Expectations Award
The workshops end with a visit by the several designers, both from the Netherlands and abroad, who have been nominated for The Great Indoors Award. They have been asked to contribute to the transfer of knowledge and information by providing the final designs of the students with critical comments and honouring the most promising student project with the 'Great Expectations Award', a prize which will be presented for the first time this year, thanks to the City of Maastricht. The following day, some of the nominees for The Great Indoors Award will give master classes to design students and other interested parties.
Come and join
The workshop program has two parts that are open to the general public: on Saturday, November 28, the final results of the program will be publicly accessible through a designroute. The general audience is given the opportunity to visit the five locations, guided by designer Maurice Mentjens (Witloof, boardroom DSM, Stash). Later that afternoon, a lecture will be offered by Beatriz Colomina, professor and historian of architecture at the Princeton University School of Architecture in the United States, as well as author of, among others, the book 'Domesticity at War'.
What, where and when?
Saturday, November 28, 11.00-17.00
Various locations in Maastricht
Visit the final result of The Great Indoors workshops. The locations of the designroute can be found in the enclosed map.
13.00
Start at Bassin 100
Free guided tour visiting all five locations by designer Maurice Mentjes, nominee for The Great Indoors Award in the category Design Firm of the Year. He has won several design awards with his designs for, among others, Witloof and Stash in Maastricht.
Saturday, November 28 15:00
NaiM/Bureau Europa
Lecture by Beatriz Colomina, Professor and historian of architecture at the Princeton University School of Architecture in the United States, as well as author of, among others, the book 'Domesticity at War'.
Sunday, November 29
Master classes by the nominees for The Great Indoors Awards. For further information and registrations, go to www.the-great-indoors.com or mail to info@the-great-indoors.com
The Great Indoors is an initiative by Frame magazine, Marres Centre for Contemporary Culture and NaiM/Bureau Europa, and is financially supported by the City of Maastricht and the Province of Limburg.
