INDEX: Award
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| Motto | Design to Improve Life |
|---|---|
| Established | 2002 |
| Founded at | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Type | NPO |
| Purpose | Inspiring design of sustainable solutions to global challenges |
| Location |
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Official language
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English |
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CEO
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Kigge Hvid |
| Jens Wittrup Willumsen | |
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Parent organization
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Danish Design Centre |
| Website | designtoimprovelife |
INDEX: Design to Improve Life is a Danish nonprofit organisation which works towards promoting designs aimed at the improvement of human lives worldwide, both in developed and developing countries. The organization is behind the biennial INDEX: Award, the world's biggest design award.
Established in 2002, INDEX: Design to Improve Life was initially proposed by designer Johan Adam Linneballe and then Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs Jørgen Rosted as a world design event in order to promote Denmark on a global scale, as well as attract tourism and investments. However, it soon acquired a global perspective, and its mission has become expressed in its motto: "Design to Improve Life".
The organisation is under the patronage of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark, is supported by the Danish Ministry of Business and Growth. INDEX: Design to Improve Life is promoted by means of a design award, the INDEX: Award, a world-touring exhibition, a summer camp, conferences, and publications. It has since 20 May 2008 been operated by Danish Design Centre, and is headed by Kigge Hvid, former CEO of Øksnehallen.
The biennial INDEX: Award was initiated in 2005, financed by the state of Denmark with a total prize sum of €500,000. It is currently the world's largest monetary award in its area, is widely recognized as the most influential in inspiring life-improving design, and has often been dubbed the "Nobel Prize of design". British design critic Alice Rawsthorn in 2011, wrote for The New York Times, "Not only is INDEX: the world's most generous design prize in financial terms, it is one of the few awards to have made a meaningful contribution to design discourse."
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