Brompton bike designer wins Prince Philip prize

Andrew Ritchie, designer of the Brompton folding bicycle, has won the 2009 Prince Philip Designers Prize.

 

Ritchie was awarded the prize in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace last night. The award, which is in its 50th year, recognises a lifetime’s contribution to design.

Brompton, which first developed its folding bicycle design more than 20 years ago, saw off a shortlist including architects David Adjaye and Eric Parry, graphic designer Peter Saville, fashion designer Hussein Chalayan, designer Wayne Hemingway and husband and wife graphic design team Jay Smith and Howard Milton.

In addition to Ritchie’s win, two special commendations were awarded to graphic designer Michael Peters and fashion designer Jeff Banks.

David Kester, chief executive of the Design Council, says, ‘In this special year we celebrate 50 years of innovation, the design evangelism of the Duke of Edinburgh and the value of the designer in our society.

‘In the current economic environment it is timely to remind ourselves that the UK has such great creative capabilities.’

Previous winners of the prize include designer Thomas Heatherwick (2006), Pentagram founder Kenneth Grange (2001) and inventor James Dyson (1997).

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  • paul goodens November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Well done Michael -I promise I never used spray mount when I worked for you.

  • GREG November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Well done, please can you design a bike that uses the pedal power to automatically charge built in bike lights? This would work on the same principle as a clockwork torch and the old fashioned dynamo. However unlike the dynamo the lights retain thier charge and therefore will not stop when the bike has stopped ( e.g at traffic lights). The advantage of ‘built in lights means they cannot be stolen. Obviously using clockwork reduces the need for batteries!

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