Global Grad Show Announces Winner of Inaugural Progress Prize

     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/607622/MIKO__physiotherapeutic_jewellery.jpg )

Designed by Polish design duo, Ewa Dulcet and Martyna Świerczyńska, Domestic Design graduates of the School of Form in Poznan, Poland, MIKO+ is a family of seven pieces of jewelry with one additional value - physiotherapeutic function. The project focuses on the wrist, where pain caused by mechanical injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, have created the necessity for those suffering to wear braces or splints. The MIKO+ jewelry pieces are made from gilded pink brass and mineral acrylic composite, all made by using traditional goldsmith techniques. It demonstrates an innovative combination of physiotherapeutic and aesthetic functions, transitioning the objects from medical to lifestyle products.

The Progress Prize is an international award that celebrates the next generation of design and is awarded to one Global Grad Show exhibitor each year. The winning design is selected by a global jury from fields of journalism, design, manufacturing, innovation and investment. The multidisciplinary nature of the jury is intended to reflect the varied assortment of partners necessary to take a project from prototype to market.

For the 2017 Progress Prize, the jury members are:

• Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum -Vice-Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Head of the Jury)
• Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi - CEO of Dubai Design District (d3)
• Edwin Heathcoate - Architecture and Design critic, The Financial Times
• Noah Murphy-Reinhertz - NXT Space Sustainability Leader, Nike
• Aric Chen - Lead Curator, Design and Architecture, M+ museum
• Petra Janssen - Owner and designer, Studio Boot and Social Label
• Hugo Macdonald - Design Critic and Consultant
• Jessica Bland - Head of Research and Foresight, Dubai Future Foundation

Noah Murphy-Reinhertz, NXT Space Sustainability Leader at Nike says, "It was a real honor to participate in the jury for this show. With such a fantastic range of ideas and designs on display, I spent as much time being inspired as I did critically evaluating the designs. Most compelling was a subtle new approach to sustainability in much of the work, that of shifting the mindset of consumers by elegantly extending the life of products. Whether by transforming old bikes into electric ones, creating children's clothing that grows with them or treating the afflictions of too much computer use with timeless analog jewelry, these designers are shaping my kind of future; one that is more fun than today and also more sustainable."

The following projects were highlighted as honourable mentions:

Nonliving stakeholders, Sungmy Kim - a program that encourages people to view objects as people and considering their experience, designed at Parsons School of Design - The New School, New York. 

Folks, Kevin Chiam - a system of kitchen utensils designed to aid the blind, designed at National University of Singapore, Singapore.

The Reagiro, Reto Togni - a manual wheelchair with a novel steering system that allows the user to control the movement of the chair through the upper body rather than through breaking and pushing, designed at Royal College of Art / Imperial College London, London

For more information about Global Grad Show, please visit http://www.globalgradshow.com . Supporters can also keep up to date with the fair on the following social media channels: Instagram, Facebook and via regular newsletters (sign up on website).

@globalgradshow | #GGS2017

@dubaidesignweek | #DXBDW2017

ABOUT DUBAI DESIGN WEEK 

Dubai Design Week is one of the world's newest and most ambitious international design events, conceived to shine a spotlight on Dubai as a leading design hub, and share the UAE's thriving design scene with the world at large.

Established in 2015, it is owned and managed by the Art Dubai Group and is held under the dedicated patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Chairman, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority.

The third edition of Dubai Design Week takes place 13-18 November 2017, in locations across the city. Staged in association with Dubai Design District (d3), which acts as the hub venue, the six-day event will attract designers, architects, educators, thought-leaders, influencers and significant public audiences, through a varied and comprehensive programme of contemporary design.

By engaging and showcasing design talent in Dubai, from across the region and around the world, Dubai Design Week's activity is carefully balanced to support and stimulate Dubai's design economy and to engage the Design Week's diverse audience. With a substantial marketing & communications campaign aimed at audiences locally and beyond, Dubai Design Week's goal is to engage through inspiration, visitor experiences and networking to celebrate the positive impact and potential of design in Dubai and beyond.

Dubai Design Week 2017 is supported by Meraas, who are responsible for a unique portfolio of urban destinations in Dubai and Audi, the long supporter of Dubai Design Week that will announce the second winner of the Audi Innovation Award as part of Dubai Design Week 2017.

From 2018, Design Days Dubai will be moved from March and held during Dubai Design Week under a new format. The dates will be announced in January 2018.

ABOUT GLOBAL GRAD SHOW 

Global Grad Show is an exhibition of student works from the world's leading design schools, held each November as part of Dubai Design Week. Since launching in 2015, the show has grown to become the world's largest student gathering. For its third edition, the exhibition is set to include works from 92 universities from 43 countries. The projects presented take many forms. Some are conceptually simple, some technically complex. Many are physical; some are purely virtual. There are products intended for infants and for the elderly, for athletes, office workers, fruit vendors, and families displaced by war. The purpose of Global Grad Show is to bring together, in a single space, highlights from the degree shows of the most innovative technology and design programs in the world. The show's diversity is its greatest attribute. The 200 projects exhibited comprise a kind of collective intelligence, channeled through the various schools and pointed at the most pressing issues of our time: how to increase access to education, food, and shelter; how to encourage exchange and build community; how to reduce waste and generate clean energy.

ABOUT BRENDAN MCGETRICK 

Brendan McGetrick is an independent writer, editor, and designer. His work has appeared in publications in over thirty countries, including The New York Times, Wired, The Financial Times, Art Review, Der Spiegel, Domus, and Vogue Nippon. His projects include the books MAD Dinner (Actar), Urban China: Work In Progress (Timezone 8), and Who is Architecture? (Domus/Timezone 8). From 2002-2006, he was head writer at Rem Koolhaas's research studio AMO as well as Koolhaas's personal editor. McGetrick is the editor and author of six books, including Content (Taschen, 2004), MAD Dinner (Actar, 2010), and Urban China: Work In Progress (Timezone 8, 2011). In 2011, he curated Unnamed Design, a component of the 2011 Gwangju Design Biennale, in collaboration with Ai Weiwei. The exhibition received over 200,000 visitors and was named the year's best contemporary design exhibition by the New York Times. In 2014, he co-curated Fair Enough in the Russian pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, for which he received a jury prize. In 2017, together with Justin McGuirk, he curated California: Designing Freedom at the Design Museum in London. Since 2015, he has served as director and curator of Global Grad Show.

ABOUT DUBAI DESIGN DISTRICT 

Dubai Design District, better known as d3, is a home for the region's growing community of creative thinkers. It plays a key element in Dubai's vision to transform into an innovation-led economy, and it aims to engage, inspire and enable emerging talent, as well as providing a platform to showcase Arab creativity to a larger, global audience. As a dedicated creative destination, d3 answers a growing need for the regional design industry, ensuring that this important sector is able to develop and thrive. It provides businesses, entrepreneurs and creatives from across the design value chain with an ideally located, purpose-built and sustainable ecosystem, which leverages technology to integrate 'smart' solutions throughout the development. d3 is the newest of TECOM Group's vibrant creative communities, with 11 buildings making up the core of the site already delivered and being handed over to tenants. To support its many creative partners, d3 offers individuals and businesses the choice of operating either as a free-zone entity or as an on-shore business, each with its own merits. As d3 evolves so will its facilities, to include everything from cutting-edge workshops and renowned design institutes, to high-end homes, hospitality, retail and office space. Its public spaces will be distinct and characterized by unique street furniture and shaded walkways. By 2018, d3 will feature a one million square foot Creative Community, which will act as the site's cultural epicentre, inspiring emerging designers and artists, and attracting tourists to the area. By 2019, d3 will also boast a bustling, 1.8km esplanade running alongside Dubai Creek where international and design led hotels, a pop-up shop area, and an amphitheatre will all be located. All these elements have been carefully designed to ensure that the creative thinkers using and visiting d3 every day have an energized and culturally rich environment.

http://www.dubaidesigndistrict.com