Meet the British-Canadian Mentor Behind the 2020 Lexus Design Awards
Every year, Lexus gives up-and-coming designers a platform to showcase their work and gain experience by collaborating with leading industry experts. Philippe Malouin, a British-Canadian architectural and interior designer, is one such mentor that lent his expertise to the six finalists of the 2020 Lexus Design Awards. Here’s a look at his impressive career, along with what the mentees presented for the competition.
Meet the mentor
Philippe Malouin has previously worked for famed furniture designer Tom Dixon, but he’s been running his eponymous studio since 2008. Since then, Malouin won Wallpaper Magazine’s Designer of the Year award, and he’s expanded his portfolio to include things as varied as tables, chairs, lights, rugs, and even installation art. Some of his notable clients have included Swarovski, Umbra Shift, Marsotto Edizioni, and Bloomberg. And thanks to a three-year teaching stint at the Royal College of Art in London, Malouin is exceptionally suited to the task of mentorship.
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Lexus Design Award candidates
Lexus tasked its candidates to create products to enable a better tomorrow. The competition received over 2,000 submissions from nearly 80 different countries, but only six finalist products were chosen. Here’s a look at each one.
Bio.Scales
This product, created by American design studio Sutherlin Santo, is a modular air purification system. It’s a transparent, 3D-printed biopolymer that gobbles up pollutants, leaving clean air behind.
Lick
Clean yourself just like your feline friends! Lick, by Russian designer Irina Samoilova, is a portable, water-free body cleaner that’s inspired by a cat’s tongue. It’s meant for helping bedridden patients, outdoor adventurers, and people without access to water for bathing.
Pursewit
Created by Pakistani designer Aqsa Ajmal, this innovative sewing machine is built to be accessible to visually impaired users. Since sewing is a major industry in Pakistan, the Pursewit can help people with disabilities live more empowered, independent lives.
Feltscape
This “breathing cloud” was brought to life by Théophile Peju, from France, and Salvatore Cicero, from Italy. It blocks noise and allows you to customize your interior lighting.
Open Source Communities
The brainchild of the BellTower team from Kenya, this concept is designed to help create sustainable communities using open-source blueprints. These free-to-use plans would be particularly helpful for people in developing countries by providing ways to create things like greenhouses, hydroponic systems, and solar panels.
Flash Pak
American-based Chinese innovator Yaokun Wu created the Flash Pak to help in flash flooding situations. The Flash Pak is specifically meant to help children stay afloat and connected with their family or school group during a flooding situation.
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I’m particularly excited to see what comes of Bio.Scales and the Open Source Community concept. Which product would you like to see win the award?
Kimiko Kidd is a native Daytonian. She graduated from Wright State University with degrees in environmental science and sociology. She loves her trusty old Honda Civic, but dreams of owning a 1974 Ford Falcon XB with a custom paint job and a vintage Kawasaki Z1000. In her free time, Kimiko can be found watercolor-painting, baking muffins, collecting rocks, playing old-school Nintendo games, writing her novel, sewing stuffed animals, and cosplaying as her favorite Mad Max characters. See more articles by Kimiko.