2016.11.11
The Hajime Narukawa Laboratory at the Graduate School of Media and Governance has won the 2016 Good Design Grand Award (Prime Minister's Award).
The Good Design Grand Award, which corresponds to the Design of the Year for 2016, is presented to a design that was highly acclaimed in the Good Design Award screening and also gained the support of many consumers.
The six candidates for the Grand Award were selected by the screening committee from the 100 entries in the "Good Design Best 100," which are recognized as particularly outstanding designs among all 1,229 winners of this year's Good Design Award. The committee's selection was based on factors such as pioneering spirit in exploring new relationships between people and things and creating new societal systems. The Good Design Grand Award winner is chosen from these six candidates based on the highest total number of votes from visitors to the "Let's Choose the Good Design Grand Award Together" exhibition, the Good Design Award screening committee, and this year's Good Design Award recipients.
Comments from Associate Professor Hajime Narukawa
I am greatly honored.
Unlike a straightforward design product, the world map projection method that won this award is unassuming and requires at least a few minutes of explanation. I am surprised that such a design, which is not immediately understood, could win the Grand Award.
The "Exhibition to Choose the Grand Award Together," held in Marunouchi, Tokyo, prior to this award also served as a public vote. At the venue, students from the Narukawa Lab enthusiastically acted as guides, explaining the project to visitors.
As the screening results show, the final selection was a close contest. The margin with the runner-up, "Tokyo Bosai," was a mere 11 votes. This implies that the votes of 11 people from the general public, who understood the project's intent thanks to our students' explanations at the exhibition, were what decided the outcome. I am truly grateful.