The PASSAGEN Prize for up-and-coming designers will be awarded for the first time during PASSAGEN 2018. The new design competition focuses on the interaction between product and staging, recognising the best design in the fields of interior design, textiles, lighting and interior architecture in combination with how the products are being showcased at PASSAGEN 2018. PASSAGEN/Sabine Voggenreiter is hosting the competition together with Rat für Formgebung (German Design Council).

The competition is part of the PASSAGEN design festival that, unusually for a competition, provides the possibility of personal encounter between designers and judges, as well as direct contact with a large audience. Another particular aspect of this competition is the fact that a design product is awarded in combination with the respective exhibition design. After a thorough tour through the shortlisted exhibitions, an independent jury will select the 2018 winner.

The nominees for the 2018 PASSAGEN Prize are Agnes Morguet, Baudekolon, Foekje Fleur, Hafenholz, Hannah Kuhlmann/Jana Manfroid, Jan Cray Möbel, Karoline Fesser, Klemens Grund, Meike Harde, Münster Connection (design studio von dieken, kosp, studio-t), Neunoy, Nord Interior Design, Rahmlow, Teilmöbliert, Thomas Schnur, Tim Kerp and Utensil/Jörg Mennickheim.

The five members of the jury are confirmed: Lutz Dietzold (German Design Council, Frankfurt), Reinhild Kuhn (Heimatdesign, curator, Dortmund), Wolfgang Laubersheimer (designer and director of the Köln International School of Design, Cologne), Moritz Putzier (product designer und scenographer, Cologne), Sabine Voggenreiter (PASSAGEN, curator, Cologne).

The awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday, 16 January 2018, at 5pm as part of the Rat für Formgebung events at Kölnischer Kunstverein.