International designers vie for awards at Idea-Tops

The 12th International Space Design Award - Idea-Tops has received 7,461 entries from 70 countries and regions around the world, making the awards highly competitive. The awards ceremony will be streamed live worldwide at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the award’s organizing committee.

This year's International Space Design Award - Idea Tops has received 7,461 entries from 70 countries and regions. Images courtesy of the event organizer

This year, a total of 23 categories, from urban design, architectural design, landscape design, interior design, to lighting environment design, have been set up, with each category awarding the entry with the best design.

A diagram showing the percentage of entries that fall into each of the award's category.

Each category’s top finalists were selected through a rigorous step-by-step review system after sifting through four rounds until the best is singled out, according to the organizing committee. The review ran for nearly 40 days from Sept. 12 to Oct. 20.

A number of world-class architectural firms and design institutes, including Benoy, NBBJ, ennread, Peter Pichler Architecture, Curiosity, Baumschlager Eberle Architekten, SAOTA, CCD/Cheng Chung Design (HK), 10 Design, JLA Design, Shenzhen General Institute of Architectural Design and Research, and A+E Design, have submitted their annual representative works to this year’s Idea-Tops.

Meng Jianmin, an academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and an architectural design master, served as the chairman of the award’s international jury, which also includes 14 other top-notch architects and researchers from home and abroad.

All audiences joining the livestream Wednesday can not only get a glimpse of excellent designs from international outstanding designers, but also learn about experts’ academic comments on each award-winning project and listen to the online sharing of award-winning designers.

Idea-Tops, which originated in Shenzhen, is an award which identifies outstanding talents in architecture and interior design. Initiated in 2010, it has emerged as a rising design brand with international influence as Shenzhen’s rapid economic development has greatly boosted the design industry.

In 2008, Shenzhen became the first city in China to be named a UNESCO City of Design, and as a major design hub in China, the city takes the lion’s share of the domestic market.