Every year, a panel of established and pioneering industry leaders come together to select four winners for the London Design Festival’s prestigious London Design Medals. Created to celebrate the people and organisations at the forefront of the British design scene, the awards have become the highest accolade that design creatives can hope to receive. Past recipients of the awards span design legends Tom Dixon, Ron Arad and Ilse Crawford to pioneering fashion designers Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood.
Design director and co-founder of engineering studio AKT II Hanif Kara, OBE has this year won the top prize – the London Design Medal – for his ‘consistent design excellence’. Meanwhile, the Design Innovation Medal has been awarded to architect Pooja Agrawal, the Emerging Design Medal to social enterprise Power out of Restriction (POoR Collective) and the Lifetime Achievement Medal to the potter Magdalene Odundo.
The four 2023 winners were chosen by a panel of high-profile industry leaders including Ozwald Boateng, Es Devlin, Sarah Douglas, Yinka Ilori, Jay Osgerby and Jane Withers. According to London Design Festival, ‘this year’s winners are representative of our current industry and are forces in the world of creativity: engineering, craftsmanship, social justice, architecture and city planning.’
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The winners will all receive their Medals at an awards ceremony on the evening of Monday 18 September 2023 at the St Stephen Walbrook church – the presentation marking the first day of the London Design Festival. Here, we delve a little deeper into their award-worthy work…
London Design Medal: Hanif Kara
Kara, who was born in Uganda, founded his practice Akt II in 1996. It has gone on to win over 350 design awards including the RIBA Stirling Award for the Peckham Library (below) in 2000 and the RIBA Lubetkin Prize for the UK Pavilion at Shanghai Expo in 2010 among others. Akt II was also responsible for the infrastructure engineering at the David Chipperfield Turner Contemporary-designed gallery (lead image) in Margate.
He is the 16th winner of this Medal, which has been awarded annually since 2007 and is reserved for an individual who has distinguished themselves within London's design scene. ‘The goal was to do well by designing a non-combustible model of practice, one that doesn’t simply light up bright like a star and burn out but goes on to make a wider impact on the field beyond the narrow gaze of our own profession,’ Kara says. akt-uk.com
Design Innovation Medal: Pooja Agrawal
Designed to honour ‘an individual for whom design lies at the core of their development and success’, the Innovation Medal has been awarded to urbanist Agrawal. She is best known for co-founding the not-for-profit company Public Practice however also launched Sound Advice, a social platform dedicated to exploring issues of spatial inequality and discrimination in the built environment. The platform made headlines when it published the seminal manifesto Now You Know (below).
‘I am delighted to have won the award for design innovation,’ she says of her accolade. ‘This is a great example of public sector innovation and it is fantastic to see Public Practice being recognised as a design that has positively impacted London.’ publicpractice.org.uk
Emerging Design Medal: POoR Collective
A similarly social approach lies at the heart of POoR Collective’s practice. The London-based enterprise, which was created by architects Shawn Adams, Larry Botchway and Ben Spry in 2019, works with school children, community groups and local councils to inspire the next generation of designers. Notable projects include an initiative with The Office Group called Makers & Mentors and a colourful installation (below) in Regent’s Park made in partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
A vehicle for recognising potential, previous Emerging Design Medal winners include Yinka Ilori and Mac Collins, both of whom have gone on to achieve greater successes. For design newcomer POoR Collective, winning the award reinforces the importance of continuing to listen and work with the young communities in the city.
‘Winning the Emerging Talent Medal isn’t just a win for us, but a win for the numerous communities we have connected with,’ explains Larry Botchway. ‘This award reinforces that there is value in championing young voices and providing opportunities for others.’ poorcollective.com
Lifetime Achievement Medal: Magdalene Odundo
Originally from Nairobi, Odundo moved to the UK to study in the late 1970s. Describing what drives her practice, she notes, ‘I have always been curious to discover why human beings make and surround themselves with objects that are not just utilitarian, but also give pleasure, have spiritual significance, and tell the stories of the people who made the objects.’
With this inclusive mindset, Odundo’s craft draws on varied sources including Mexican traditional pottery and Greek Cycladic sculpture, as well as sub-Saharan ceramics. Today, her vase-like vessels are in nearly 50 international museums and many public collections including African Heritage, Nairobi, The Art Institute of Chicago and the British Museum, London. Magdalene Odundo
