Share this on

Europe 40 Under 40 Selects...61

An exhibition of works by the 2009 Laureates runs at the Contemporary Space Athens in Greece through November 1.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 9/18/2009 12:00:00 AM

Having considered a continent overflowing with young design talent, the annual Europe 40 Under 40 program has defied the self-imposed restrictions of its name, and selected 61 architects and industrial designers from 19 European nations as its 2009 Laureates.

"It was difficult to narrow the number down to simply 40 design firms," says Ioannis Karalias. vice president of Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, which co-sponsored the program with the European Centre for Architecture Art Design. "The jury was presented with hundreds of excellent projects and designs, from skyscrapers and large-scale urban planning projects to the highest quality industrial design."

A jury of architects, including Brian Douglas Lee and Richard Tomlinson of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Mark Sexton of Krueck & Sexton Architects, convened in Chicago in June 2009 to decide which emerging professionals from Europe's architecture, industrial design, and manufacturing firms will most likely impact future living and working environments. Their subsequent Laureate choices honor architects, landscape architects, urban planners, industrial designers, graphic designers, and fashion and textile designers.

Among architecture projects submitted to the judges for Laureate consideration were corporate facilities, skyscrapers, institutions, religious buildings, civil and political structures, master plans, urban renewal, restoration and renovation, sports and transportation centers, parks, monuments and public spaces. Industrial designs going under the jury's microscope included furniture, lighting, household items, and kitchen and bath fixtures.

An exhibition of works by the 2009 Laureates runs at the Contemporary Space Athens in Greece through November 1, followed by a more formal exhibition and presentation at The City and the World symposium in Florence, Italy one week later.