Nippon Paint Reveals the Winners of the Asia Young Designer Awards 2019/20

Manila, 10 July 2020 – Following the 13th installment of the Asia Young Designer Awards (AYDA), Nippon Paint has crowned Lin Honghan, from China and Greta Elsa Nurtjahja, from Indonesia the grand title of being the Asia Young Designers of the Year 2019/2020, beating other participants across 15 geographical locations, in a rigorous selection process to represent their countries for the prestigious title in the Architectural Category and Interior Design Category respectively.

The winning design by Greta Elsa Nurtjahja from Indonesia embodied the theme with “Rumah Kopi” while Lin Honghan from China complemented the theme well with his design, “Sweet Dream in the Garden” where he incorporated traditional culture with modern design concepts.

Winners of Special Awards in Architecture

“Sweet Dream in the Garden” aims to explore zen culture, integrating traditional culture with modern design concepts. The project emphasizes the journey between “Real Life and Passed LIfe” with the five themes, ‘Buddhist Realm’, ‘Tasting Tea’, ‘Smelling’, ‘Enjoying Chinese Guqin’ and ‘Listening to the Rain’. The design aims to express the true meaning of life with inspiration from art forms such as traditional Chinese painting.

‘Rumah Kopi – A Communal House of Coffee’, derives from the perspective that humans have a natural instinct to be close to nature. Inspired by a local house in Indonesia, the project focuses on sustainability and collaboration as the communal house is based in a secluded village. With an emphasis on contextual dwelling, where being mindful of the history, culture, and beliefs of its surroundings is paramount to preserving the essence of the surrounding, Rumah Kopi hopes to achieve maintaining sustainability as well as prospering the inhabitants of the village.

Best Design Impact Award

With the ‘Gem Promotional Center’, Gawarammana aims to reveal the real treasure of the gem industry that is not known to many. In the city of Rathnapura, the project aims to rehabilitate the gem mines as a tribute to the community and their culture.

This design provides a modern solution to the industry in the form of a facility, revitalizing the traditional techniques used in the gem mines that have been passed down through generations.

Best Sustainable Award

‘We Shall Stay’ focuses on reusing water at the very source, in efforts to stop desertification, of which the city of Zabol is susceptible to, due to the mass immigration it faces from its dwellers.

Ghadiri’s design takes into account the environmental challenges that Zabol faces, aiming to improve their lives with the least amount of investment. He also notes that this design could easily be adapted to other areas with a similar climate.

Nippon Paint Colour Award

“Painters’ Glass House” holds the belief that painting color is not only limited to setting the mood of an environment but also to establish certain areas while also creating and building new relationships with surrounding environments.

Iwasaki plays with six elements in her design: physicality, framing, uncovering of history, overlay, and resonance which culminates into a new spatial model that can exist both as a stand-alone or even as a new language of interior space. As colors are born, colors begin to change all throughout the space.

This design reinforces the idea that the act of ‘painting’ is synonymous with living.

Winners of Special Awards in Interior Design

Best Design Impact Award

‘Plasticube’ aims to re-imagine the plastic recycling process by creating a space for the community to recycle their plastic wastes directly into a new product, giving their plastic a second life. This urban recycling hub utilizes 3D printing technology in the recycling process, letting people produce desirable products from their plastic waste.

The design focuses on delivering a seamless experience, with boundary-less space that can be adjusted based on function or activity, as both convenience and practicality are key to forming recycling behavior.

Best Sustainable Award

‘Farmers’ Family Hub’ was inspired by temporary buildings in Thailand, often used to house farmers for various purposes such as rice cottages, observatories, and rice husks. This temporary structure originated from Thailand’s rural traditional lifestyle.

This project aims to bridge new innovations with old traditions, relating back to farmers’ origins, to create a sustainable living space.

Nippon Paint Colour Award

‘Exchange’ plays on the importance of physical interaction, especially in this digital era. This project re-thinks typical tea stalls and encourages conversations between new people over a simple cup of tea.

These conversations foster a positive exchange of new ideas, experiences as well as a way for people to network, challenging implicit assumptions that everyone holds the same views and experiences in a community.

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This year’s competition marks the Asia Young Designer Awards’ first virtual event in light of COVID-19 restrictions, establishing Nippon Paint’s steadfast passion in fostering the next generation of designers. Following the virtual competition, both winners walked away with more than US$10,000 worth of prizes, including the opportunity to attend a fully-funded 6-week Design Discovery program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

The international competition theme this year, “Forward: A Sustainable Future”, posed a unique challenge to its participants to showcase designs immersed with functional and social sustainability elements. In an effort to break the boundaries of current design concepts, Nippon Paint and AYDA aim to nurture the next generations of architects and interior designers to conceptualize more sustainable designs in their projects that will reduce negative impacts on the environment and eventually improve quality of life.

“Participants of this year’s virtual competition showed great innovations, strong concepts, and social interactions especially during this time of uncertainty. Not only did their designs showcase technical skill, but most importantly, a deep understanding of environmental sustainability and what it takes to change the future of design, which is the essence of the year’s theme. The judges had a difficult but rewarding experience deliberating the participants’ entries but above all, we are proud of the impressive work from designers across the region. Greta Elsa Nurtjahja exceeded expectations in this competition with the level of detail and vision in her design,” said Lea Aziz, one of the judges from the Interior Design category and Founder of PT Elenbee Cipta Desain.

“This year’s entries, to me, were very interesting and diverse. Some of the entries were very poetic, historical, and proves that the participants dived deep into researching the environment and how to address different environmental issues. So, it was rather difficult for us to judge with the variety of entries but we thought the final entries from different countries were very diverse and exciting,” said Paul Noritaka Tange, one of the judges from the Architectural Category and Chairman & Senior Principal Architect, Tange Associates.

In light of the Covid-19 outbreak, Nippon Paint made the decision to present this year’s awards via a virtual ceremony, where the finalists from the Interior Design Category and Architectural Category were judged on 8th and 9th of July respectively and engaged in an insightful Q&A session with the esteemed international judges. All of which then culminated in a live broadcast awards ceremony via Zoom on 10th July at 6:00 pm.

“Over the past twelve years, the Asia Young Designer Awards stayed true to our commitment to innovation and sustainability. By instilling a deep sense of responsibility and accountability in these young budding designers, we believe that in time, they will contribute to social and environmental advancements in society through their professional achievements. We are proud of the network that we’ve built, connecting industry professionals and talented designers from across the region,” said Wee Siew Kim, Group CEO of NIPSEA Management Company Pte. Ltd. (Subsidiary of Nippon Paint Holdings Co.).

AYDA by Nippon Paint will be organizing international webinars where professionals from the industry and young designers will bring their knowledge and talents together, in August and October this year. Nippon Paint and AYDA have announced 2020’s theme; Forward: Human-Centred Design and encourages submissions from the world’s budding talents. For more information and to participate in this competition, visit: https://www.asiayoungdesignerawards.com/.

About NIPSEA Management Co Pte Ltd (Subsidiary of Nippon Paint Holdings Co.)

NIPSEA was founded by entrepreneur Mr. Goh Cheng Liang in Singapore in 1962. NIPSEA has established its position as one of the largest coating and paint specialists in Asia, known in the marketplace by its brand as “Nippon Paint” and is responsible for expanding its operation and development of Nippon Paint in Asia. It has become the best coating partner for architectural, automotive, industrial, marine, O&G, specialized clients, and millions of families across the world.  The brand is recognized for its dedication to quality, dazzling innovation, and excellent customer service.

With more than 70 NIPSEA companies spread throughout Asia, NIPSEA understands the local needs of its customers in every community. The company embraces diversity and operates as a multinational corporation. NIPSEA Group has over 23,000 employees with over 80 manufacturing facilities and operations in 17 geographical locations with its headquarters in Singapore, efficiently serving all aspects of the business, from production to customer satisfaction.

For more information about NIPSEA Group http://www.nipponpaint.com/.