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The Great Indoors Awards:
The Great Indoors 2011
The third edition of The Great Indoors, a biennial international design event focusing on interior design, took place in Maastricht from 3 until 5 November.
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, Hasselt, Düsseldorf and Maastricht. In this manner, The Great Indoors tries to synchronize a hierarchical model (who is the best!) with a social model (sharing knowledge!).
IN BETWEEN
The subtitle of this edition of The Great Indoors is IN BETWEEN, a name that initially refers to the temporal as a productive strategy for vacancy and re-use. The Great Indoors sees an unexpected quality in this dynamic element of interiors (think of the ever-changing retail interiors) and suggests that in a period of economic stagnancy and growing vacancy the need for durable solutions is not necessarily wasteful but could also result in sustainable solutions. After all, temporary solutions can bring renewed attention to a location or area and may lead to social cohesion thanks to the re-use. By choosing this theme The Great Indoors 2011 would like to join the International Biennale Vacant Properties & Redevelopment.
The award
On 29 and 30 September, the international jury of The Great Indoors Award 2011 met in Maastricht and appointed 20 nominees from 260 submissions, from 37 countries.
An international jury of experts awarded four of the best designs, with a total value of 20.000 Euro, in four categories: Show & Sell, Relax & Consume, Concentrate & Collaborate en Serve & Facilitate. The jury consisted of Mr. Jan Boelen (director Z33, Belgium), Mr. Jurgen Bey (designer studio Makkink & Bey, The Netherlands), Mr. Kozo Fujimoto (general manager, Hermes Japon, Tokyo), Mr. Ilya Oskolkov-Tsentsiper (president, Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design, Moscow) and Timo de Rijk (professor Design Cultures, VU University, Amsterdam).
The winners were announced during the festive award ceremony from The Great Indoors Award 2011 on 4 November at the Timmerfabriek in Maastricht.
The winners
Categorie Show & Sell
- Aesop (shop and pop-up store in Paris, Greville Street and Merci)
designed by March Studio, Australia
Categorie Serve & Facilitate
- Power Toilets (public toilet building, Heerhugowaard, The Netherlands)
designed by Nezu Aymo Architects, The Netherlands i.c.w. SUPERFLEX
Categorie Relax & Consume
- The Merlion Hotel (temporary hotel, Marina Bay, Singapore)
designed by Tatzu Nishi, Japan
Categorie Concentrate & Collaborate
- Tribal DDB (office, Amstelveen, The Netherlands)
designed by i29, The Netherlands
The Great Indoors Award is initiated and organized by FRAME Magazine (Amsterdam), Marres,
centre for contemporary culture (Maastricht) and NAiM/ Bureau Europa (Maastricht).
