Dezeen has announced the winners of the six Designers of the Year categories at this evening’s ceremony, which include Sabine Marcelis, Marina Tabassum Architects and Studio Saar.
Our Designers of the Year awards, launched last year, recognise the best emerging and established talent whose innovative work has made a notable impact on the industry across architecture, interiors and design.
Sabine Marcelis and Marina Tabassum Architects are among winners
Bangladeshi practice Marina Tabassum Architects took home the architect of the year award with Studio Saar named emerging architect of the year.
Interior designer of the year was awarded to Paris-based studio Chzon run by Dorothée Meilichzon, and Polish studio Mistovia was crowned emerging interior designer of the year.
Sabine Marcelis Dutch studio won Designer of the year with Hong Kong designer Didi Ng Wing Yin was named emerging designer of the year.
View the winning Designers of the Year on the Dezeen Awards website or read below:
Architect of the year: Marina Tabassum Architects
Bangladeshi practice Marina Tabassum Architects aims to root architecture to place, collaborating with geographers, landscape architects and planners, among other allied professionals.
Informed by people, climate and geography, the studio focuses on raising the standard of living conditions for low-income populations.
The studio recently developed a bamboo demountable house at the Vitra Campus in Germany, in response to the mass displacement caused by flooding in Bangladesh.
“One of global architecture’s undoubted heavyweights, Marina Tabassum aims to create buildings that are aligned with their environments. Her locally focused work is gaining increasing attention and admiration since winning the Aga Khan Award for Bait Ur Rouf Mosque in Dhaka,” said the judges.
“She recently won the Soane Medal and was named on Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024 list. It would be no surprise to see her win the Pritzker Architecture Prize in the next couple of years.”
Read more about Marina Tabassum Architects ›
Emerging architect of the year: Studio Saar
Led by Jonny Buckland and Ananya Singhal architecture and research practice Studio Sarr has offices in India and the UK.
The practice won this year’s Davidson Prize for their concept Apartment Store which explores how the UK’s vacant retail spaces can be repurposed as community-owned housing.
One of their most recent projects is a cultural centre wrapped in perforated marble screens in India designed for local children and the wider community to access a range of activities and workshop spaces.
“Founded in 2019, this ambitious young practice puts social and environmental sustainability at its core,” said the judges.
“Led by Jonny Buckland and Ananya Singhal between Frome and Udaipur, the studio has delivered an impressive and diverse array of projects in the UK and India that belies its age.”
Read more about Studio Saar ›
Interior designer of the year: Chzon
French interior designer ​​Dorothée Meilichzon founded her Paris-based studio CHZON in 2009, which specialises in hospitality projects including restaurants, retail and hotels.
Projects by Chzon include a boutique hotel featuring chequerboard details inspired by Alice in Wonderland in the Cotswolds, and a London restaurant with oakwood panelling, duck-egg leather stools and custom marble-topped tables in homage to Parisian bistros.
“Meilichzon has worked on over 100 hospitality design projects around the world. She is known for colourful, graphic designs, where a holistic approach sees her signature brand of joy permeate the entirety of a project,” said the judges.
“Her work across a slew of Experimental Group hotels has crafted local narratives while building a recognisable brand DNA,” they continued.
“Having partnered with perfumier Acqua di Parma, design brand Vitra and completed a departure lounge at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, 15 years in and everything Meilichzon touches continues to take off.”
Read more about ​​Chzon ›Â
Emerging interior designer of the year: Mistovia
Mistovia is a Polish multidisciplinary founded by architect Marcin Czopek, whose practice fuses eclectic and traditional tastes through private interiors.
The studio recently completed an eclectic apartment in Warsaw, which Mistovia described as an “elaborate puzzle” of contrasting patterns with terrazzo tiles, swirly grey wood panels and a burnt-orange table.
“Using “space” as its main material, the studio creates eclectic home interiors that balance myriad patterns, textures and colours with fundamental usability,” said the jury.
“Having previously paired terrazzo and concrete or swirly wood veneer and glass bricks, the studio is rapidly establishing itself as a residential specialist with an eye for unusual combinations that never compromise on practicality.”
Read more about Mistovia ›
Designer of the year: Studio Sabine Marcelis
Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis is an artist and designer who runs her eponymous practice in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Marcelis works in the fields of product, installation and spatial design, using material research and experimentation to develop new and surprising visual effects that have a strong focus on materiality.
Recent projects span an installation featuring four rotating glass pillars for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, a collaboration with Japanese artisans for London Design Festival and a water fountain made using repurposed onyx stone in Amsterdam.
“From a new chair and barstool for the Stedelijk Museum and Euro 2024 matchball plinths to a monolithic fountain in Amsterdam and solar sundials in the Egyptian desert, prolific designer Sabine Marcelis has enjoyed an active year in the ongoing development of her Rotterdam-based studio,” said the master jury.
“Creating an evolving and distinct portfolio of self-initiated designs as well as growing her roster of international clients, Marcelis continues to strengthen her place as a leading designer in her field.”
Read more about Studio Sabine Marcelis ›
Emerging designer of the year: Didi Ng Wing Yin
Helsinki-based artist and designer Didi Ng Wing Yin, who specialises in sculptural furniture and functional objects, pushes the boundaries of woodworking.
The Hong Kong-born designer and maker focuses on craftsmanship which emphasises wood and natural materiality using a variety of surface treatments and carving techniques.
During a recent exhibition for Habitare at Helsinki Design Week, Ng presented a series of hand-carved timber furniture named “down to earth” which included a hot pink bench with steel legs, a chunky black stool stained with green ink and a lampshade made of delicate wood shavings.
“The designer made a splash at Finland’s annual Habitare furniture fair with his experimental timber furniture and homeware, ranging from intricately pleated vases to a chunky hot pink bench and a lampshade made of delicate wood shavings,” said the judges.
“Ng has co-founded Minestrone Workshop, a collective of creatives based in Helsinki’s Vallila neighbourhood who are testing the limits of timber,” they continued.
“Whether attempting to carve a delicate wooden “feather” or giving leftover spruce bark a new life as a lumpy chair, Ng is a rising talent committed to exploring the natural material’s endless possibilities.”
Read more about Didi Ng Wing Yin ›
Dezeen Awards 2024 in partnership with Bentley
Dezeen Awards is the ultimate accolade for architects and designers across the globe. The seventh edition of the annual awards programme is in partnership with Bentley as part of a wider collaboration to inspire, support and champion design excellence and showcase innovation that creates a better and more sustainable world. This ambition complements Bentley’s architecture and design business initiatives, including the Bentley Home range of furnishings and real estate projects around the world.