Project omschrijving:

De meest prestigieuze Red Dot Award: “Best of the Best” toegekend aan architect Tom Postma voor de ontwikkeling van: “Myths: Jewels Today Seen by Stefan Hemmerle”. De Red Dot Award is toegekend in de categorie: “Expositie Architectuur”.

Tijdens de ontwikkeling van deze expositie is Theatex ingeschakeld ter ondersteuning en als leverancier van gebruikte materialen.

Press release

March 2007

And the winner is: Tom Postma

Exhibition ‘Myths: Jewels Today - Seen by Stefan Hemmerle’ wins highest design distinction in the red dot design award

For its excellent and particularly innovative design the Exhibition ‘Myths: Jewels Today - Seen by Stefan Hemmerle’ by Tom Postma Design for Die Neue Sammlung has received the red dot award: best of the best. This is the highest distinction of the red dot award, one of the largest and most important design prizes internationally. It is awarded by a jury of experts only to top class products that are pioneering in their field. From the absolute record number of 2,548 submitted products, which had been sent to Essen for assessment by the experts, a total of 43 top products have received the ‘red dot: best of the best’ for their outstanding and innovative design. They come from Brazil, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, South Korea and the United States. The festive awards presentation in front of more than 1,000 guests will take place on 25 June 2007 in the Essen Opera House, the Aalto Theatre.

‘Myths: Jewels Today - Seen by Stefan Hemmerle’ is an exhibition of Die Neue Sammlung | Design at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich

The Dutch architect Tom Postma created an exciting location for a radical re-interpretation of jewellery design, which took the form of a dark, conceptual and strictly minimalist three-dimensional installation. This design shrouded the extremely valuable and small exhibits in an appropriate aura, constituting both setting and spiritual stage for them, while also enabling active spatial experience and sensitization of the viewers. Double walls were transformed into a poetic surface on which light was ingeniously refracted and infused with moving reflections. Postma incorporated water into these walls that was kept gently flowing by a pneumatic mechanism. Reflective foils caused the water to cast a shimmering, moonlight glow onto the dark skin of the interior. The ten-by-ten-metre black box seemed to float weightlessly at a height of 90 cm in a room that measured 20 x 20 metres. Ramps guided the visitor into the mysterious interior. Inside the box, eight display cases projected from the ground, while another eight protruded towards them like stalactites hanging from the ceiling. These bullet-proof glass structures constituted the only direct source of light in the entire setting. Interactive cameras recorded the visitor’s gaze, which was projected onto the exhibition’s exterior.

This architecture created a sense of modernity where the jewellery actively communicated with the visitors and interacted with the lighting.

The product assessment is carried out by an international jury of renowned design experts. They examine and test the products and assess them according to criteria such as degree of innovation, functionality, ergonomics, durability, ecological compatibility and clarity of function. This year, companies from 43 countries with a total of 2,548 products faced the jury’s verdict.

The award ceremony will take place on 25 June 2007 in the Essen Aalto Theatre in front of more than 1,000 guests. Following the ceremony, the Exhibition ‘Myths: Jewels Today - Seen by Stefan Hemmerle’ will first be presented with the other award-winning products in a special exhibition, before it will then be exhibited in the red dot design museum, the largest exhibition of contemporary design worldwide, for the duration of one year.

For further information please go to www.red-dot.de/press.