National Design Awards

The National Design Awards

The National Design Awards were conceived in 1997 by the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum to honor annually the most recent in a long line of American creators and inventors—designers. We salute those key individuals and firms who have played an essential role in shaping the way we experience our world.

The Awards, bestowed in recognition of excellence, innovation, and enhancement of the quality of life, are truly national in scope. Every year, the Museum invites more than 600 leading American architects, designers, educators, journalists, authors, filmmakers, and other professionals from all 50 states to nominate those designers whose work best exemplified these criteria. Awards are given for a body of realized work, not for any one specific project. Eligibility is restricted to citizens or long-term residents of the United States and corporations and institutions that have a significant, long-term presence in the country. Museum employees and trustees and their families are not considered.

Eligible nominees are asked to submit materials for review by the jury. They consider the numerous nominees' work with the challenging task of determining which designers' and firms' work best embody the Awards mission. In keeping with the Museum's mission, they assess the portfolios in terms of the work's relationship to and impact on contemporary daily life. Extraordinary originality in identifying, shaping, and solving problems is valued highly. Nominees whose work significantly broadens the conventions of their discipline, introduce formal innovation, and exhibit consistently high levels of imagination and insight are given special consideration. Finally, in keeping with Cooper-Hewitt's definition of design as a force of change, the extent to which the general public has benefited from the explorations and achievements of the nominee is weighed.

Winners and finalists in the six Award categories are announced and celebrated each fall. In addition to the honor of being recognized as leaders in their field, the winners and finalists and their work will form the basis of school activities and public programs created by the Museum's award-winning Education Department.

We thank everyone who has contributed to this program, as administrators, nominators, nominees, or sponsors, and we are delighted to present the winners and finalists for the National Design Awards here.

The Award

The Award object—developed out of the most advanced materials technology—embodies the National Design Awards' celebration of innovation and excellence in American design. A unique collaboration between a design firm and an engineering firm, the Award was designed by Helfand Drenttel and produced by Norton Electronics, a division of Saint Gobain Advanced Ceramics and a world leader in the manufacture and sales of igniter products and semiconductor components.