On Wednesday, 13 November, the National Design Award of Latvis 2025 (NDLA 2025) design news event "Design Autumn" will take place at the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, focusing on product and space design practices - presentations by designers Eva Abduļina and Reinis Leo Miķelsons of Gateris Works, Ģirts Ozoliņš, founder of Erica Synths, and environmental designer Dace Sūna. In the second part of the event, visitors will have the opportunity to take a guided tour of the exhibition "Jānis Krievs. Past Future" with its curator Vilnis Vējš.
The event will open with a talk by design duo Eva Abduļina and Reinis Leo Miķelsons about the practice of design studio "Gateris Works ", working in the space between graphic design and architecture and creating full-service design solutions - from typefaces and packaging to factory design. Alongside commercial projects, both emphasise the need for research and experimentation to develop their own design language. One of these projects is a furniture collection that was one of last year's NDLA finalists. The furniture is a study of Latvian forms, exploring the robust aesthetics that characterise us and translating them into modern functional objects. In August this year, Gateris Works, together with like-minded people, founded the new design platform Home Ground.
The second speaker of the Design Autumn will be Ģirts Ozoliņš fromErica Synths, one of the world's five leading manufacturers of modular synthesizers. Ģirts started his journey to success by soldering synthesizer modules in his bedroom, and in ten years Erica Synths has become one of the world's most recognised manufacturers of electronic music equipment, with instruments used by artists such as Depeche Mode, The Chemical Brothers, Jeff Mills and many more. The company has launched a number of new products over the last few years, but has kept its style - black, minimal designs that every synth enthusiast will recognise. At the event, Ģirts Ozoliņš will share the story of Erica Synths' identity and the brand's evolution from humble beginnings to the top of the world music scene.
The design news presentations will be concluded by designer Dace Sūna, who will present her intercontinental journey in search of design and light, which has now brought her back to Latvia. Dace studied interior design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and after graduating with a Bachelor's degree, she worked in interior design with brands such as Calvin Klein, Workstead, SoftLab and others. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she returned to Europe and started her MA at the Design Academy Eindhoven, where Dace experimented with neon art and new materials, which later transformed into conceptual light and space installations in Europe. Her master's thesis "Cosmic Dancer" was highly acclaimed at the Dutch Design Week 2023 and this year won the NDLA 2024 in the environmental design category. Dace's work reflects a harmonious synthesis of the elements of nature - gas, fire, water, earth and plasma - where she searches for the magical to intertwine light and space, allowing the viewer to feel the geometry, energy and unity of the elements.
In the second part of the event, visitors are invited to take a guided tour of the exhibition "Jānis Krievs. The Past Future", which is dedicated to a retrospective of the works of the renowned Latvian designer and environmental artist Jānis Krievs. The exhibition offers visitors a glimpse into the atmosphere of the 1970s-1980s through the prism of one designer's oeuvre. Jānis Krievs (1942-2016) was one of the most prominent Latvian graphic designers, environmental and interior artists and representatives of kinetic art. His creative legacy has a special, distinguished place in the history of Latvian design, and most of it is held in the collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design. During the tour, visitors will have the opportunity to get to know Krievs' work better together with the exhibition's curator Vilnis Vējš.
Programm
16.00–18.00
Dizaina jaunumu prezentācijas:
- Eva Abduļina & Reinis Leo Miķelsons («Gateris Works »);
- Ģirts Ozoliņš («Erica Synths»).
- Lighting and spatial designer Dace Sūna.
18.00–19.00
Guided tour of the exhibition "Janis Krievs. The Past Future" with its curator Vilnis Vējš.
Organised by the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design.
Everyone is invited - designers, design clients, manufacturers, media and design lovers. Places are limited and pre-registration is required. Admission is free.
The National Design Award of Latvia is the highest design award in Latvia, presented with the aim of identifying, evaluating and promoting the achievements of Latvian designers, as well as encouraging the use of design created in Latvia and the development of the design industry. The autumn application for the NDLA 2025 is open until 20 November 2024.
TheNational Design Award of Latvia was established in 2017 with the support of the Ministry of Culture.The competition is organised by the Latvian Design Centre from 2023 to 2025.
The Latvian Design Centre is a member of the Bureau European Design Associations (BEDA) and an official partner of the European Commission's strategic initiative "A New Bauhaus for Europe". The Latvian Design Centre participates in national design policy-making, research and education by initiating cooperation and strategic partnerships with other design organisations, designers, companies and design users. With the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Latvian Design Centre maintains the creative industries communication platform FOLD.