UK designers take eight Muji awards

British designers have made a great showing in the Muji 95 Awards, taking joint second prize overall and winning seven other awards in various categories.

Julia Leakey shared the second prize of 500 000 yen (3165) with Japanese designer Don Jye Shin for her occasional folding table. The overall winner was Japan’s Fumio Tani, who proposed a Field Cooker. Leakey’s folding chair was awarded a Functionalism Award.

The Doormouse doorstop by Nopadon Baholyodhin also won a Functionalism Award, while six UK contenders received special judges’ awards. These included Chun-Eai Tao and Matthew Jones. Melanie Moore, Robert Carter and Christina Lamiquiz, whose floppy disc carrier, pocket torch and plastic lamp were featured in DW last week, also won awards.

According to Muji’s UK spokeswoman, the retailer is “looking seriously at manufacturing a number of the winning products”. Muji is also “talking about” making the awards biennial, she adds.