Asia Young Designer Award 2016

NIPPON Paint Malaysia Group (Nippon Paint) and IJM Land Berhad (IJM Land) recently announced the winners of the 9th Asia Young Designer Award (AYDA), formerly known as the Nippon Paint Young Designer Award.
Themed “Be Bold. Be Free. Be You”, the competition received over 1,200 entries from 50 faculties of higher learning institutions and emerging professionals. The winner of the student category received a six-month paid internship from IJM Land, RM5,000 in cash and the chance to represent Malaysia for next year’s regional Platinum Award in Indonesia.
RATIONALE AND AIM
Nippon Paint renamed the competition in view of its expansion and aim to become Asia’s leading interior design and architecture competition. One of the developments under this new advancement included this year’s competition where the Emerging Professional category provided young professionals a platform to expand their horizons and sharpen their skills.
Nippon Paint group general manager Gladys Goh shared that Nippon Paint and IJM Land’s main intention was to nurture the next generation of designers and provide them a platform to showcase their talents.
Talking about the expansion at the awards ceremony, she said: “For 2016, we broke new grounds by introducing a theme that rewards participants to get out of their comfort zones, to venture on new paths, and deliver ideas without boundaries – yet staying true to inherent components such as environmental sustainability and community centricity. In line with our vision in nurturing design talents, we introduced the Emerging Professional category to expand our sphere of impact to encompass both students and young professionals. I’m pleased to see how some of them have grown tremendously in confidence and capabilities, being bolder in their ideas and concepts.”
TOUGH COMPETITION
The organisers and judges were impressed by the entries received this year. The judges were faced with an uphill challenge, deciding on this year’s finalists and winners. “The entries were rather close in terms of quality of content, ideation, and execution, which is good indication that the submissions we’ve received for AYDA 2016 are of the highest quality and reflects the increasing efforts that the participants have put in,” chief judge for the student’s category Sarly Adre Sarkum said.
IJM Land managing director Edward Chong also shared the same sentiments. “As a developer, I was most impressed not only with the diversity of ideas but the thought that has gone into the preparation of the submissions. These up-and-coming designers highlighted the future of design concepts – visionary, forward-thinking, and environmentally sustainable while bearing hallmarks of their individuality,” said Chong.