Swiss watchmaker Rado teamed up with NYCxDESIGN and WantedDesign for a second year. On Friday, 19th they held a private opening party at Gallery 9 at the Terminal Stores to announce designer and recent Pratt Institute graduate, Elisia Langdon as the winner of 2017 Rado Star Prize U.S. for her work titled “Kera.” “Kera” is a modular storage system with an environmentally-conscious design that impressed a jury of top influencers from the design industry who narrowed down the entries to ten finalists. Langdon’s work resonated with the theme of the competition: “Design is our DNA: Items for Everyday Life” by blending the benefits of a sound-absorbing wall to improve both working and domestic environments with the practicality of a storage system made from biodegradable wool which can be used multiple spaces.
Langdon states, “When I worked for the Center of Sustainability, I was researching the material of wool and all the incredible properties it has and I wanted to make that available to a larger market.” Wool is known to improve air quality by removing chemically binding organic compounds such as formaldehyde, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide for the atmosphere. “The pioneering spirit of Rado in research and use of materials is a fundamental part of our brand DNA,” comments Rado CEO Matthias Breschan. “We were delighted to see how Elisia captured this spirit in her project, which uses a traditional material, wool, to meet the modern challenge of creating optimal living and working spaces.”
That night, Langdon was presented with the Rado True Open Heart – itself a recipient of two design awards – and $5,000 in prize money. Her work, along with the designs of the other finalists, will be on display until May 23 at WantedDesign Manhattan at the Terminal Stores.
