In January 2024, the WDR – World Design Rankings announced the design rankings of countries based on the number of designers awarded the prestigious A’ Design Award. This initiative, aimed at fostering a global design culture, saw China leading the rankings among 114 countries and regions, closely followed by the USA, Japan, Italy, Hong Kong, Great Britain, Taiwan, Turkey, Germany, and Portugal.
The World Design Rankings endeavor to offer economists and journalists valuable data and insights into the design industry’s state of the art. These rankings contribute to the global design culture by recognizing and promoting exemplary design, offering a glimpse into the design prowess and potential of countries worldwide. This includes identifying each country’s creative strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. The “Design Business Insights” section further ranks countries based on their achievements in various design fields and creative categories. This resource allows media professionals and design enthusiasts to identify leading countries in specific design sectors, answering queries like “Which country excels in industrial design?” or “Which is the foremost in fashion design?”
To view the complete list of countries featured in the World Design Rankings and explore detailed design business insights for each, interested individuals can visit the World Design Rankings website at https://www.worlddesignrankings.com/
World Design Rankings 2023
A’ Design Awards & Competition is the world’s largest annual juried design competition that honors the best designers, architects, and design-oriented companies worldwide.
In today’s post, we’ve rounded up some of the winner designs to help kick-start your submission!
Curvo Show Unit by Line2pixels Studio
- Designers: Wee Chong Pui, Designer: Chloe Chung
- Winner Category: 2022 – 2023, Silver A’ Design Award Winner, Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Inspiration: “The design is inspired by the Wabi-Sabi philosophy, a Japanese approach to life centered around appreciating the beauty in imperfection. Wabi-Sabi is a way of looking at the world that offers an escape from the modern obsession with perfectionism, favoring instead the authenticity of imperfection. With Wabi-Sabi, more meaning and beauty can be found in the world.”
Touch Tea Store by Touch Design
- Designers: Yong Zhang and Xin Ma
- Winner Category: 2022 – 2023, Gold A’ Design Award Winner, Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Inspiration: “Here, art, technology, and texture come together to create Touch Tea’s fundamental value, so that it can depict Tianjin’s cultural milieu. Above all, the goal of the design is to build an inviting and avant-garde urban environment where people can fully immerse themselves in daily life.”
Fuwa Fuwa Dessert Cafe by Ryan Chung
- Designers: Yan Chung, Long Wu, Chelsea Chen and Peter Ma
- Winner Category: 2022 – 2023, Silver A’ Design Award Winner, Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Inspiration: “The goal is to introduce the cafe’s warm and positive energy to an otherwise traditional plaza. It is neither a grab-and-go coffee place nor a sit-down restaurant. It exists in the intersection of the two, and cultivates the visual aesthetics of both; the vibrant brightness of the youth-led culture and the solid steadfast quality of a classic eatery. All the while infusing visual traits of Japanese design to reflect the Japanese style dessert that it serves.”
Deji Cultural Complex Museum by Masato Kure and Masashi Ota
- Designers: Masato Kure, Masashi Ota and Yuki Kashiwakura
- Winner Category: 2022 – 2023, Platinum A’ Design Award Winner, Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Inspiration: “The demand for shopping at physical stores dropped significantly when the recent pandemic started. More people felt comfortable shopping online. We believe what satisfies people is not just simply buying product, but it is the entire experience before and after it. We design the facility not just to offer a beautiful place, but to provide a space that people can enjoy quality time. What people can experience there is something people would not be able to experience if they were shopping online.”
Baia Night Club by Akitoshi Imafuku
- Designers: Akitoshi Imafuku
- Winner Category: 2022 – 2023, Gold A’ Design Award Winner, Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Inspiration: “We were inspired by the fascinating and exotic atmosphere of a cave. We hope to trigger a chain reaction of positive inspirations by making an appearance of the design inspired by a cave in the very center of Tokyo.”
Takeen Omakase Bar by Ode Sdn Bhd
- Designers: Dr. Kody Kato and Jean Kian Soon
- Winner Category: 2022 – 2023, Silver A’ Design Award Winner, Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Inspiration: “The design of Takeen is inspired by its natural surroundings. Existing bamboo trees nearby led to the vision of a sustainable, organic enclave that forms a connection between the interior space and the flora around it. Bamboo, or take in Japanese, transforms the bar into a tranquil space for eating, drinking, and resting, freeing patrons from the congestion of the bustling city.”
The Nude Flat Residential House by Maggie Mo and Jay Leung
- Designers: Maggie Mo, Jay Leung and Vivian Cheung
- Winner Category: 2022 – 2023, Silver A’ Design Award Winner, Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Inspiration: “This project is inspired by the Cycladic culture, best known for its schematic flat female idols carved out of the islands’ pure white marble. It is important for the design to follow the core values of traditional Cycladic architecture found on the Greek islands by discovering its curvaceous shapes in all kinds of forms.”
Yinno Unico Boutique Store by Linping Chen
- Designers: Yinno Unico
- Winner Category: 2022 – 2023, Gold A’ Design Award Winner, Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Inspiration: “Triangles and rectangles bring the space geometric changes while producing a certain order. Geometric aesthetics contains the secrets of the universe, and also expresses human’s respect for nature and the spirit of exploration. By playing the game of “building blocks” from the perspective of children, the design team created a pure multi-dimensional space, which is a romantic expression of eternity via divine geometry.”
Moli Landscape Restaurant by Bo Zhou
- Designers: Moli Landscape
- Winner Category: 2022 – 2023, Gold A’ Design Award Winner, Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Inspiration: “In this project, the designer realizes the combination between mountains and rivers, evoking spiritual echo in commercial space. By drawing on the oriental and contemporary characteristics of landscape and shaping the present and future of business, the designer’s vision for Moli Landscape Restaurant maintains the economic benefits of the location.”
Huanghesong Theatre Cultural Venues by Xuelin Wu
- Designers: Xuelin Wu, Hai Lin and Gao Li
- Winner Category: 2021 – 2022, Platinum A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: “Architecture is the integration of ecology and culture, and its shape is like the vortex of the Yellow River. Continue its concept in interior design, excavate the ritual and music culture of Central Plains culture, and deduce ancient music in space through modern means.”
Rice Wine Cultural Center by Wei Zhang and Kesuo Wu – gad
- Designers: Wei Zhang and Kesuo Wu – gad
- Winner Category: 2021 – 2022, Silver A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: “The design makes full use of the landscape advantages of the site; the three-story building volume is stacked and retreated back from south to north, forming a number of roof terraces overlooking the Dashu River, creating more possibilities for the later use of the restaurant. Drawing on the strong functional adaptability of traditional wooden frame architecture and Domino architecture system, the scheme decided to take 4.8mx4.8mx4.8m cubic square as the basic module of the building.”
Bamboo Pavilion Toilet Renovation by Manuel Lap Yan Lam – The Volks Design
- Designers: Manuel Lap Yan Lam and Design Team: Scarlett Li
- Winner Category: 2021 – 2022, Silver A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: “Façade of the Bamboo Pavilion is a re-interpretation of bamboo scaffolding that the Macau industry has used over the years. Hundreds of white aluminum tubes are arranged in a staggered manner surrounding the structure forming a translucent shell that blends in with nature. The bathroom space is turned inside out. Light rays shine through the façade to the interior; daylight and ventilation are enhanced by preserving the skylights and by tailor-made slanted windows that integrated openings to enhance cross ventilation.”
Monopitched Roof Residence by Masato Sekiya
- Designers: Masato Sekiya and Shizuko Kuroda, Structural Designer: Shigeyuki Nakata
- Winner Category: 2021 – 2022, Silver A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: “The main precept of traditional Japanese house design is creating continuity between the outside and interior spaces. Simultaneously, the emphasis is on harmony with nature, creating an all-season, energy-efficient house that blends with the environment. This house was designed for rural Nara Prefecture, Japan. This is a modern take on traditional design, materials, and methods, and the house is arranged around a central traditional Japanese garden, with a link and flow between each room.”
Furniture Pavilion S Showroom by Rooi Design and Research
- Designers: ROOI Design and Research, Chief designer: Zuoqian Wang, Structural design: Song Wang
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Silver A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: “821 pieces of prefabricated market standard-size plywood are used as a primary construction material, enabling rapid assembly or disassembly on-site within 48 hours. The pavilion comprises stacks of modular plywood units that double as display coves, allowing audiences to observe the furniture from various angles. After the exhibition, the entire pavilion will be transformed into 410 sets of furniture designated for the nearby community.”
The Fifth Element Residence by Materia 174
- Designers: Mykhailo Ilchenko, Aleona Pryadko, Anna Hryb, Kyra Tymchenko, Victoriia Shevchenko, Aleksandr Dityatev and Olga Kovalyova
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Gold A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: “House for permanent residence of an adult married couple. Located on the edge of an urban village, the plot looks into the forest on two sides. The owner is a media person; one of the requirements is to ensure maximum privacy. The main tasks were to leave connection with nature, to fit a Spa with a 20 m indoor pool and a garage for 4 cars, and keep the building looking compact. There are living, dining, kitchen zones, 2 master zones with a short connection between all the zones in the main block.”
Perception Cafe by Haejun Jung
- Designers: Haejun Jung – Freelament
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Platinum A’ Interior Space and Exhibition Design Award
- Inspiration: As a branding and interior designer of this retail project, the brand name of the cafe, “Perception&quo
t; gave strict inspiration to us. People usually feel something through their past experiences, which means very personal and private. Have you thought about that other people think or feel just the same as you had? We believed that this question is valuable to deal with this project. Then we started to touch on the norms of feeling at the cafe.
Xerolithi Residence by George Sinas
- Designers: George Sinas (Sinas Architects), Team: Maria Mamoura and Interior Decoration: Olga Ktena
- Winner Category: 2020 – 2021, Gold A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: “The main focus of the design was to create a house that blends in its natural environment. An environment comprised of steep dirt and gravel slopes, dressed with scattered wild thorny bushes and beautiful large rock formations. The most important existing elements were the short stone retaining walls, locally called xerolithies, created a long time ago for land cultivation purposes. These walls, usually not more than a meter in height, formed flat stripes of land parallel to the slope and extended along the entire surface of the hillside. The site with its xerolithies was the spark of inspiration.”
Fondazione Bertarelli by Edoardo Milesi
- Designers: Edoardo Milesi & Archos, Engineer: Marco Verdina (structures) and Engineer: Alessandro Nani (plants)
- Winner Category: 2020 – 2021, Gold A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: “The architecture of the concert hall, shaped according to its rational and poetic function, the task of letting instruments play, and the desire to convey emotions, listens and participates without disturbing; it is part of the orchestra and plays its role as a new musical instrument which improves the acoustics of the place. Aesthetic values are not perceived as added; they are part of the building and radiate from it.”
Taizhou Mansion Commercial Architecture by Feng Cheng
- Designers:Yuanfeng Xu, Shuo Xu and Qinggang Zhu
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Gold A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award
- Inspiration: Because of the narrow site, the project was to create natural surroundings of the building and keep connections in-between. Due to referencing the Chinese garden, the walls give the project its own character, which lowed the messy environment’s impact and created many winding paths and framed beautiful spaces. For a building to have a strong connection to the rich surrounding nature, we made. In this way, the project has a quiet atmosphere that is rare in the center of the city.
Sada Foldable Bike by Gianluca Sada
- Inventor and Designer: Ing. Gianluca Sada
- Product Development Manager: Luca Scudieri
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Gold A’ Vehicle, Mobility, and Transportation Design Award
- Inspiration: Demanding mobility-related services has consequences on society: street congestion of metropolitan hubs is the everyday challenge commuters have to face and is a source and stress and delays. «You never change things by fighting against the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.» R.Buckminster Fuller Promoting and enabling virtuous behaviors for smart mobility, intermodality, sustainability for the environment are the values driving Sada Bike
Integration Multifunctional Air Purifier by Lafa Industrial Design College
- Designers: Weizhi Cao , Anzhen Zhang , Hongrui Qi , Shan Ni , Shuwen Zheng , Xudong Zhang , Donglin Yang and Hong Cheng
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Bronze A’ Home Appliances Design Award
- Inspiration: In modern culture, the open space combination of kitchen, dining room, and the living room has become a favorite home environment. Therefore, the air purification of the space environment is essential. The combined design of lights and air purifiers reduces the use of actual space. The use of space on the ceiling, the combination of purification devices and lamps make the space layout more rational.
Flex Multifunctional lamp by ZhuoYi Fan
- Designer: co-designed and developed by the staff of the design team of GUANGZHOU PINGITAN CRAFTS CO.LTD
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Silver A’ Lighting Products and Lighting Projects Design Award
- Inspiration: Inspired by the scene, birds rest on a branch, jump and sing happily, rest quietly, and then fly away. This lamp imitates the birds’ activity process with the easily separated structures, making the household luminaire more flexible and functional. We select natural wood to develop products for the younger generation. It is light and portable to match the rapid shifts in space and time, suitable for the young’s free, dynamic lifestyle. We want to create a new user experience of lighting that is natural, affordable fashion with user-friendly techniques.
U15 Photographic Series by Tiago Marques
- Photographers: Tiago Marques and Tania De Pascalis
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Silver A’ Photography and Photo Manipulation Design Award
- Inspiration: The building U15, subject of Tiago and Tania’s photographic series, is located in a part of the new district of north Milanofiori, in Milano. Designed by Cino Zucchi Architetti, the structure is in a continuing relationship with the green design. The artists, inspired by the masterplan idea, take advantage of the shapes, colors, and materials of U15 to develop a photographic concept which wants to combine the building design with traditional nature landscapes.
Phoenix Tree Garden Tea Space by Qingfan Zhang
- Designer: Qingfan Zhang and Bo Zhang
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Gold A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: Some elements come from the reference to Suzhou classical gardens, such as the small arch bridge, borrowed from the static bridge in the net master garden, the stone paving on the ground borrowed from the linear stone paving of the bathing gull small garden. Designers designed and directed the stack of the red rock mountains. Several tea rooms with different views and feelings were made in less than 200 square meters.
HK Port Passenger Clearance Building by Aedas
- Designers: Aedas and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners as JV Designer and Keith Griffiths (Aedas), Max Connop (Aedas) and Richard Paul (Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners)
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Platinum A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award
- Inspiration: The PCB is constantly filled with movement, with people arriving and departing by buses, cars, and taxis. It serves as a gateway for all those passing through it, providing Hong Kong with a new ‘front door’ celebrating travel and surrounded by water with views to a natural skyline of evergreen mountains and hills. The elegant modular roof form ideally lends itself to offsite prefabrication and has enabled an efficient construction process achieving a very high level of quality.
Faculty Architecture Education School by Patrick Schweitzer S&AA
- Designer: SetAA, Associate architect: EAACON, Construction : EGIS, Enterprise : CATIC and Landscape architect : Acte 2 Paysage
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Gold A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: The building uses two simple materials commonly found in the region: stone for the exterior envelope; and self-colored concrete for the interior. The building has small outward-facing windows and large inward-facing windows protected from the sun by roof overhangs. The upper section of the pyramids is truncated to bring in natural light and optimize ventilation.
Interpretation Centre of Romanesque Exhibition Centre by spaceworkers
- Designers: Henrique Marques, Rui Dinis, Rui Rodrigues, Rui Miguel, Sérgio Rocha
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Gold A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: Based on Romanesque architecture concepts in Portugal, the building aims to be a transitional element between the present and the distant past. The volumetric proposed contains the principles of unity within diversity, appearing under several volumes with different heights and dimensions, demonstrating the diversity that Romanesque buildings have left us. Therefore, each volume of ceilings reinterprets one of the roof types used in Romanesque architecture.
Studio Atelier11 Office by Hyunmo Park
- Designer: Park Hyunmo, Park Geunhyo, and Kim Dohyung
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Gold A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: Studio Atelier11 has the system with the line and grids that urban development has accomplished recently to the north and the organic system. The natural patterns are preserved to the south and located in the contact point that different city plans have.
House for Parents Residence by Masakatsu Matsuyama
- Designer: Masakatsu Matsuyama
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Silver A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: As a traditional daily custom on this island, people gather and stay under large trees’ shadows. We aimed to create architecture that celebrates the region’s culture and re-emerges traditional life’s spirit on the island. The space under the large roof, supported by thin steel columns, provides a shady and cool, comfortable interior that suits the southern island’s severe climate.
Santos House by Fernando Abelleyro
- Designers: Fernando Abelleyro and P.Coles
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Silver A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: The need to promote a typological construction that enhances versatility and the constructive possibility that wood offers; in our country, it was never widely accepted as a reliable and noble construction material. It was necessary to generate a project which expresses the potential of this wonderful material. The inspiration was given by the context itself, given the search to articulate a fluid relationship between the interior and the exterior.
Rizhao Ocean Park by Tengyuan Design
- Designers: Zhao Guangjun, Xiaohong Li, and Huiying Yin
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Gold A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award
- Inspiration: The Project is located in China’s coastal area, where the sun sheds its first light onto the earth. It is also the cradle of the sun culture of China. The project’s concept is inspired by the golden sea surface when the sun starts to rise, and the Project is designed as a salute to the generosity of the ocean and as a respect to the energetic marine life with the language of architecture.
Warm Transparency Clinic by Yoshiaki Tanaka
- Designer: Yoshiaki Tanaka
- Winner Category: 2019 – 2020, Gold A’ Architecture, Building, and Structure Design Award Winner
- Inspiration: The client requested a clinic where we can feel the warmth of wood. TSC architects tried to achieve a clinic with “Warm transparency” by using plenty of wood material for interior and exterior material. And TSC architects set the large wood eaves extended from inside the building to a tangent between the town with a traffic-laden street. The large wood receives the patients and generates a space where they can feel security even outside the building, symbolizing the town.
Registration to A’ Design Award & Competition 2023-2024 is open now.
Results will be announced on the 1st of May, 2024.
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