The Polish National Foundation has once again joined the partners of the Young Design Competition organised annually by the Institute of Industrial Design.

The competition, addressed to students and graduates of design, art, graphics, painting and architecture, aims to support young designers in developing their careers.

This year’s theme for the competition is WELLNESS, and is directly linked to the figure of Ignacy Łukasiewicz, the patron saint of the year 2022. Łukasiewicz, the 200th anniversary of whose birth we are celebrating this year, was simultaneously a pharmacist, entrepreneur, founder of the world’s first oil mine and inventor of the paraffin lamp, as well as an independence activist. Consequently, his all-round activities focused on improving the quality of life.

„The main objective of the Polish National Foundation’s involvement in the Young Design 2022 competition is to support and encourage the development of young Polish designers as well as to contribute to the growing importance of Polish design, not only in our country, but also on the international arena”

— Michał Góras, Vice President of the PFN Board of Directors, said.

The final projects were presented to the Competition Jury and the best of them were honoured with, among others, the Professor Wanda Telakowska Scholarship, granted by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Professor Piotr Gliński. There was also a prize awarded by the President of the Polish National Foundation.

„The Polish National Foundation promotes Polish designers, and we are particularly passionate about ensuring that young representatives of the school of Polish design are given the opportunity to create products and objects which compete with analogous works of their foreign counterparts. The award, which the Polish National Foundation funds for another year as part of the Young Design competition at the Institute of Industrial Design, is concrete financial support, but above all an expression of appreciation for young Polish talents”

— said Dr Marcin Zarzecki, President of the Board of the Polish National Foundation.

The Gala and award ceremony was held on Friday 30 September in Warsaw.

The awarded designs will be displayed at the Institute of Industrial Design at a post-competition exhibition until the end of October.

Tłum.K.J.