John Makepeace scoops Prince Philip Designers Prize

Furniture designer and maker John Makepeace has won the Prince Philip Designers Prize, which has made its return after a five-year hiatus.

The prize is managed by the Chartered Society of Designers, (CSD) and recognises an outstanding lifetime achievement and contribution to design.

Nominees are judged on their personal design achievements and overall contribution to design and design education.

On receiving the award Makepeace said he is “truly honoured as a furniture designer and maker.”

In his work Makepeace says: “I am constantly searching for more eloquent concepts for furniture. My objective is to achieve freer, lighter, stronger and more sculptural forms better suited to their function and more expressive of what is unique about each commission.”

“One of England’s finest furniture designers”

CSD president Peter Bosson describes Makepeace as“one of England’s finest furniture designers and makers”.

Shortlisted designers included Jaguar Land Rover design directors Ian Callum RDI and Gerry McGovern, and designers and artists Fiona Raby and Anthony Dunne.

Posthumous award for Zaha Hadid

A Special Commendation for Design Inspiration was given to the late Dame Zaha Hadid. Prince Philip presented the certificate to Julia Peyton-Jones, director of the Serpentine Gallery and a close friend of Dame Zaha.

The judging panel comprised Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) fellow Dame Ann Dowling DBE, Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) Betty Jackson CBE, Royal Society of Arts (RSA) director Sevra Davis and Intellectual Property office innovation director Rosa Wilkinson.

The prize was initiated by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 1959. It was managed by the Design Council until 2011, during which time the focus shifted from celebrating a product to celebrating an individual. The CSD announced it was bringing the prize back in 2015.