Back for the 14th year: AYDA Challenges (India) Young Designers to Champion Practical and Socially Conscious Design Solutions
Back for the 14th year, the Asia Young Designer Awards (AYDA) organised by Nippon Paint continues its mission to empower and encourage young, budding designers to create positive impact through design within their communities. Themed “Forward: Human-Centred Design” this year, the competition aims to challenge student participants to provide practical and socially conscious design solutions for a globalized world.
Being the largest and longest-running student design competition in Asia since 2008, AYDA has gained global attention – garnering more than 41,000 entries from more than 1,200 tertiary educational institutions across 16 geographical locations. This year, the competition received submissions from 13 locations namely China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The participants from each location will go through a rigorous local selection process and be judged by some of the biggest names in the industry to compete for the grand title of Asia Young Designer of the Year 2020/21. They will also be offered many networking and learning opportunities with respected and renowned industry professionals as they progress in the competition.
Creating human-centric designs for the growing needs of the population
The theme was selected to inspire forward-looking, innovative solutions that warrant a more long-lasting and human-centered design to keep cities and communities sustainable for the decades to come. This is especially critical for Asia, one of the largest and quickest developing economies in the world, and also home to more than half of the world’s population.
Mr. Mahesh Anand, President – Nippon Paint India (Decorative) said, “Connecting Sustainability and Human-centered design with the latest technological advancements has been at the center of this award and we hope to continue encouraging young minds to consider the environment and human aspects in their design thinking. AYDA is the perfect platform for young, budding Interior designers and Architects to showcase their talents. Over the years we have been enthralled by the extraordinary designs presented by the participants from across Asia and this year should be no different. The AYDA 2019 Asia edition in the Architectural category was won by an Indian student. We are confident that this year’s India finalists Neha Harish (Architecture) and Tasha Singh (Interior Design) too have a strong chance in winning the Asia edition. I wish them the best of luck.”
Be part of the international limelight
Despite the Covid-19 restrictions, AYDA received close to 7,000 entries last year and is expecting as many entries this year as well. To overcome social distancing restrictions, there will be remote coaching sessions leading up to the finale for students and lecturers to exchange knowledge and ideas without being together physically.
Fully embracing the possibilities of virtual events, the Finale Presentation & Judging this year will also be available LIVE on AYDA’s YouTube channel for public to watch on 23 and 24 June. This will provide viewers platform to support their country’s representative in real-time and be part of the search for the next Asia Young Designer of 2020/21. The public is also encouraged to register themselves to join the virtual award ceremony on 8 July. This will be on a first come, first served basis. The award ceremony will also be available on AYDA’s YouTube channel for those who miss the registration.
As a partner of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (Harvard GSD), Nippon Paint will also be awarding the grand prize winners in both the Architectural and the Interior Design categories a chance to embark on a fully-sponsored, 6-week Design Discovery program at Harvard GSD in Massachusetts, USA – an experience worth USD 10,000. This is made possible through the Gennosuke Obata Fellowship Fund that has been providing financial aid to GSD students from Asian countries for the past three years. Nippon Paint is also connected to Harvard GSD’s alumni around the world to make way for more collaborations between the prestigious school and AYDA.
In addition to the main prize, there are also sub-award prizes in each category:
- Nippon Paint Colour Award – USD1k
- Best Design Impact Award – USD1k
- Best Sustainable Design Award – USD1k
Find out how you can join the Asia Young Designer Awards 2020/21 and represent and represent India on the international stage by visiting www.nipponpaint-ayda.co.in
About the Asia Young Designer Awards
The Asia Young Designer Awards (“AYDA”) was first launched in 2008 as part of Nippon Paint’s vision to nurture the next generation of design talents. The event serves as a platform to inspire architectural and interior design students to develop their skills through cross-learning opportunities and networking with key industry players as well as fellow architectural and interior design peers in the region.
AYDA has since grown in terms of reach and stature and has now established itself as one of Asia’s premier design award across 16 geographical locations namely Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam, with further expansion plans in the pipeline.
Over the years, AYDA has impacted thousands of young and talented student designers, presenting them with various opportunities to engage with renowned speakers and key figures in the design industry. Not only has the exposure enabled the participants to gain first hand industry knowledge, personalised coaching, mentoring and skill-building through various workshops by experienced lecturers, they also learn from their fellow peers from across borders.
With that, AYDA has established a close-knit design community comprising professional architects, interior designers, industry associations, partners, design schools, alumni and design students.
AYDA welcomes all applications and those shortlisted will be notified. For more information, please visit https://www.nipponpaint-ayda.co.in.