Lexus recently announced that Jeffrey E. Dela Cruz, a Filipino architecture graduate from Saint Louis University in Baguio City, has been named as one of the Lexus Design Award finalists for 2019.
The Lexus Design Awards is an international competition that aims to “inspire the next generation of creative talent to propose imaginative solutions that anticipate the needs of people and society.” Since 2013, the annual Lexus Design Award has been given to designers and creators who want to innovate and help shape a better future through creative technological solutions.
Jeffrey made the list with “Baluto,” a modular housing system designed to withstand earthquakes and high floods.
The other finalists are Lisa Marks and her “Algorithm Lace,” which is a 3-D custom lace bra for breast cancer survivors, Rezzan Hasoglu’s “Arenophile,” a project exploring desert sand with different binding materials, Dmitriy Balashov’s “Green Blast,” a turbine that collects and converts aircraft jet blast to energy during takeoff, Shuzhan Yuan’s “Hydrus,” an emergency treatment equipment for offshore oil spills, and architectural startup Prevalent, led by Ben Berwick, and its “Solgami,” a window blind that generates electricity and increases internal illumination. They hail from the USA, Turkey, Russia, China and Australia, respectively.
Most of the finalists’ solution concepts looked to address the challenges of the future through biodegradable materials, renewable energy sources and the reduction of carbon footprint.
“This year’s submissions revealed a strong awareness of the connectedness of our world and the need for increased social consciousness,” said Computational Design + Inclusion global head John Maeda. “It’s clear that the fusion of classical design and computational design is now happening especially in the minds of designers who are looking to solve our world’s biggest problems.”
John is one of the four world-renowned design leaders who will be judging the prototypes. The panel also includes Adjaye Associates founder Sir David Adjaye, Lexus International president Yoshihiro Sawa and Museum of Modern Art senior curator for architecture and design Paola Antonelli. Each prototype will be displayed at the Lexus event space on April 8 during Milan Design Week 2019. The Lexus Design Award 2019 Grand Prix winner will be announced soon after.
“I’m optimistic that, as we continue to nurture and embrace this new generation of designers, we’ll see a better tomorrow,” John concludes.
