Lightweight, powerful and aesthetically pleasing – engineers, designers and architects consider aluminium the material that helps them create innovations and emphasize the features they care about. The European Aluminium Award, the aluminium industry’s biennial award honoring the most creative and unusual new developments in aluminum design, will be presented on November 29 at an award ceremony during the ALUMINIUM 2016 trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany.
A total of 52 innovative products from 18 countries were submitted this year, and 19 were nominated for the award, which is presented in size categories — Automotive, Architecture & Construction, Design & Lifestyle, Production Techniques, Tools & Machinery, and Transportation, as well as a Young Talents Award that recognizes young designers and engineers. Nominated products range from a body for an electric vehicle to a 3D-printed motorcycle, and from a wind-protection wall for offshore oil rigs to a high-tech building façade designed by star architect Zaha Hadid. What all the designs have in common is that they integrate aluminium in a new and innovative way. A complete list of nominees can be found online.
Throughout the trade fair, ALUMINIUM visitors will be able to examine the nominated products at the Award Pavilion in Hall 10. An independent jury of international experts from Germany, the U.K., Italy, the Netherlands, and Denmark — headed by Prof. Laurens Katgerman of Delft Technical University and Vito Oražem of Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen — will select the best entries. The winner of the Design & Lifestyle award will be chosen through online voting by the visitors to the ALUMINIUM trade fair.