artscape Roundtable | What Does It Mean to Judge at a "Design Award"? -- The Ideal Award and How Judging Should Be (Part 2)
A roundtable discussed the nature of judging design awards, focusing on cross-disciplinary design, the role of expertise, and the future function of awards.Summary
As part of artscape's 30th-anniversary project, a roundtable discussion was held with Seiichi Saito, Yuri Uenishi, Yuko Nagayama, and Hokuto Ando to examine the state of awards and judging in contemporary art and design. The discussion addressed the blurring boundaries of design, questioning whether cross-disciplinary works should constitute a new category or remain within extensions of graphic design, emphasizing the importance of preserving specialized craftsmanship. Participants contrasted judging methodologies across fields: architecture requires extensive theoretical justification, whereas graphic design risks becoming clumsy if over-explained. They also discussed the dual role of established industry associations—offering support like insurance while facing stagnation—and the emergence of alternative events like 'alter. 2025, Tokyo' that fund experimentation outside the mainstream. Ultimately, the consensus was that future awards should function less as mere arbiters of superiority and more as essential 'archives' that record contemporary values, provoke discussion, and document what was considered innovative at a specific point in time.
(Source：artscape)