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Grand designs of 2009
Louise Jury11.02.09
Nearly 100 cutting-edge designs from the Big Brother logo to Heathrow Terminal 5 are featured in a new exhibition this week.
All are in the running for the Brit Insurance Design Awards 2009 and can be seen at the Design Museum, which is organising the prize.
There are seven categories - architecture, fashion, furniture, graphic, interactive, product and transport.
This year's list of 94 contenders includes a poster for the Barack Obama election campaign, which joins the Big Brother logo in the graphic design category.
The Obama Election Poster was designed by American Shepard Fairey, while the Big Brother Logo was created by Daniel Eatock, from London, for the Channel 4 reality TV show.
In architecture, contenders range from Oslo opera house, created by Norwegian design firm Sønhetta, to Westminster Academy, a school designed by Alford Hall Monaghan Morris.
For fashion, the Barbican's retrospective exhibition of Dutch designers Viktor and Rolf is included alongside the writer Linda Grant's blog, The Thoughtful Dresser, as well as clothes by Prada and Duckie Brown.
High Speed 1, the railway running from St Pancras to the British end of the Channel tunnel is listed with green vehicles from electric cars to bicycles in the transport section.
Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum, said: "Design touches every aspect of our daily lives. This exciting shortlist reflects its impact on politics as well as fashion."
The Cloud is a sculpture which was unveiled at Heathrow Airport this month to mark the entrance to the first-class lounge at Terminal 5. It is up for the interactive award.
The work is by London-based arts and design practice Troika and is a shimmering disco ball created out of 4,638 electronic disks that flip from silver to black under the guidance of a computer.
The awards were launched last year, replacing a previous Designer of the Year honour.
The inaugural winner was One Laptop Per Child, a cheap laptop for children in developing countries designed by Yves Béhar.
A winner from each of the categories will be announced later this month and will then go forward for the final competition.
BBC executive Alan Yentob is chairing the judges. The 2009 victor will be announced at a ceremony on 18 March at the Design Museum and members of the public can vote for their choice on the website.
Dane Douetil, chief executive of Brit Insurance, said: "Sustainability and efficiency are clearly growing in importance, underlining the important role that intelligent design has in the reduction of risk."
The Design Awards 2009 exhibition opens tomorrow at the museum in Shad Thames, Southwark, and runs until 14 June, with charge.
