Light+Building 2016: Design Plus Awards

The ‘Design Plus powered by Light+Building’ competition, organized by Messe Frankfurt in cooperation with the German Design Council (Rat für Formgebung), showcases lighting products by both mainstream manufacturers as well as students. Products are evaluated on the following criteria:

• Design: design quality, material selection, operability (Universal Design)
• Ecology: energy efficiency, sustainability (use of resources), durability
• Technology: innovation, function, technical quality and ease of integration

The competition is open to all Light+Building exhibitors, along with students and recently qualified graduates of product design, industrial design, architecture or interior architecture.

For the 2016 program, 214 entries were received from 129 exhibitors representing 25 countries. An international jury of design experts selected 25 products for the Design Plus Awards, four of which have also been recognized with a ‘Best Of’ distinction. These luminaires are:

· Unterlinden by Artemide (Hall 3.1/E51);
· Busch-easyCare by Busch-Jaeger Elektro GmbH (Hall 8.0/F50, G50);
· Wink by Modular Lighting Instruments (Hall 3.0/C51); and
· CFT500 Series by We-ef (Hall 3.0/E61)

In the student category, 88 young designers participated and the jury chose 13 luminaires, three of which were selected to receive the ‘Best Of’ designation. They are:

· Viiva by Nathalia Mussi from Finland;
· Bulb Lamp by Renaud Defrancesco from Switzerland; and
· Nod by Simon Frambach from Germany

All the award-winning products are featured in a special catalog and an exhibition at the ‘Design Plus powered by Light+Building’ area during Light+Building 2016 located in Hall 1.2, Stand A51. This is the same location for the Awards Ceremony, which will take place on Sunday, March 13 at 2:00p.m.