INDEX: AWARD – THE LARGEST DESIGN AWARD IN THE WORLD In September and October 2005 INDEX: presented three international design events under the header Design to Improve Life: INDEX: Award, including Award Ceremony and Award Exhibition, INDEX: Future Scenarios and INDEX: Views Summit. The events were united by a collective focus on design for the fields of Body, Home, Work, Play and Community.
INDEX: Award 2005 was awarded in the categories Body, Home, Work, Play and Community. The winner of each category received a prize of 100,000 Euros. The presentation of the INDEX: Awards was carried out in three phases: First the nomination and jury process, then the ceremony itself during which the awards were presented to the winners, and thirdly the exhibition of the top nominees’ designs from all over the world in five exhibitions held in central Copenhagen locations.
WHAT IS DESIGN? INDEX: believes that the key competence of designers is to give form to our surroundings. With the development of the knowledge society, the things that surround us are not only industrially manufactured, but also virtual products, services and experiences. At the same time, design has moved up in the value chain both in societies and companies and is becoming ever more important on the strategic level, where designers participate in the design of development programs, systems and strategies. The reason for this is a quiet revolution in the working methods of designers. Modern design methods combine the traditional design values such as user centring, visualization and composition of prototypes with new demands from the knowledge economy such as a high level of knowledge and research, cross-disciplinary approaches, technological insights and analytical approaches.
“INDEX: has taken an enormous step away from the rarefied, even elitist, world of traditional design competitions, instead highlighting the idea that good design is something that has a direct and immediate impact on improving life.” BusinessWeek
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