The overall winner of the inaugural PPC Imaginarium Awards was announced on 5 March in Cape Town.In its inaugural year, the PPC Imaginarium has sought to establish and unearth unknown creatives across six disciplines (film, industrial design, fashion, jewellery, architecture and sculpture).
The competition received 477 entries from South Africa’s best and brightest designers and artists, who used concrete as a medium of expression. The work of the winners in the six categories was showcased at the UJ Gallery in Johannesburg.
Curated by Stephen Hobbs, the exhibits travelled to the Design Indaba Expo in Cape Town where they were displayed from 27 February to 1 March, before opening at Youngblood Foundation Gallery until 28 March.
The overall winning design – a concrete speaker – comes from the industrial design category. Martin Bolton and Craig Tyndall used acrylic and leather to transform concrete from “being an everyday construction material into a highly aesthetic, functional product with superior audibility”.
Their design, “Concrete T L Speaker”, has a shape reminiscent of an indigenous African trumpet made from a Kudu horn.
PPC Imaginarium director and architect Daniel van der Merwe commented: “The winning piece is not only an original approach to the functional dictates of a speaker design, but executes it in a uniquely sculptural way. This is a demonstration of the versatility of concrete as product design.”
Bolton and Tyndall will share R100,000; each category winner received R50,000 and all the runners–up won R15,000 each.
In addition, category winners receive maximised exposure of their work and mentorship from various thought leaders in their respective industries. These prizes mark the PPC Imaginarium as not only the most rewarding design competition, but also, one of the most supportive platforms of emerging design talent in South Africa.
For more information on the PPC Imaginarium Awards, visit www.ppcimaginarium.co.za.
