World-renowned British architect David Adjaye and industrial designer Kenneth Grange has beed selected as the winners of this year's London Design Festival Medals. Now in its fourteenth year, the London Design Festival pays tribute annually to designers who are making or have made a significant difference to our lives through their innovation, originality and imagination. 

The London Design Festival has announced four individual Medals which have become highly coveted accolades in the world of design. This year the British Land Celebration of Design will again recognize designers, each renowned in their own fields, in four different categories: Lifetime Achievement, Design Innovation, Emerging Talent and the overall London Design Medal. 

David Adjaye was awarded the Panerai London Design Medal- is the highest accolade bestowed upon an individual who has distinguished themselves within the industry and demonstrated consistent design excellence over a number of years, while Kenneth Grange has been given the Johnson Tiles Lifetime Achievement Medal -honours an individual who has made significant and fundamental contributions to the design industry over their career. 

''David Adjaye is a leading British architect and designer, with a significant project about to open in Washington – the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He is an inspiration for the younger generation,'' the judges praised David Adjaye.

Past winners of the Panerai London Design Medal include Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Peter Saville, Rosario Hurtado, and Roberto Feo of El Ultimo Grito, Ron Arad, Thomas Heatherwick, Sir Paul Smith, Marc Newson and Zaha Hadid.

Kenneth Grange has won The Johnson Tiles Lifetime Achievement Medal -honours an individual who has made significant and fundamental contributions to the design industry over their career. Previous winners include Ken Adam, Richard Rogers, Sir Terence Conran and Vidal Sassoon. 

After art school and as a technical illustrator in National Service, Kenneth Grange was an architectural assistant for seven years before starting his own practice as an interior and exhibition designer in 1956.

The judges commented: “Kenneth Grange is the Godfather of UK product design, every household in the UK must have a product designed by him – his designs truly are icons that will feature in the history books.”

Bethan Laura Wood has won The Swarovski Emerging Talent medal- recognises an individual who has made an impact on the design scene within five years of graduation. Past winners include Marjan Van Aubel, Roland Lamb, Daniel Rybakken and Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg. 

Bethan Laura Wood obtained a MA in Design Products at the Royal College of Art, under the tuition of Jurgen Bey and Martino Gamper. Since graduating in 2009, Bethan has built a multidisciplinary practice characterized by material investigation, artisan collaboration, and a passion for colour and detail.

Bethan regularly lectures and heads workshops; she currently teaches on the MA in Luxury at ECAL, Switzerland. 

The judges said: “For one so young, Bethan’s breadth of work is extremely impressive. She has a really unique approach to her work and is now being recognized for her talent throughout the world.”

The Airbnb Design Innovation medal celebrates entrepreneurship in all its forms, both locally and internationally. It honours an individual who has built one or more businesses where design lies at the core of its development and success. 

Previous winners include Peter Brewin and Will Crawford, Nicolas Roope, David Constantine and Jane ní Dhulchaointigh. Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde is a creative thinker and maker of social designs which explore the relation between people, technology and space.

Selected by Forbes and Good 100 as a creative change maker, Daan Roosegaarde shares his visionary ideas frequently at conferences across the world such as TED and Design Indaba. 

The judges said: “Daan is a social entrepreneur and innovator who does design in a very different way. His influence is now stretching across the world with projects throughout Europe and now China too.”

Once again the London Design Festival will present an exhibition showcasing work by the winners of the British Land Celebration of Design within a specially built pavilion in Exchange Square at Broadgate. 

This will feature a range of photography, furniture, installations and lighting to illustrate the breadth and achievement of each winner’s work and why the judges chose them. To mark the ten year anniversary of the awards, there will also be an exhibition of retrospective winners at this location within the Shoreditch Design Triangle District.

The Awards Ceremony took place in the new Switch House extension to Tate Modern on Tuesday 20 September.

All images courtesy of LDF

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