A bicycle parking garage in The Hague by Dutch studio Silo has won the Dezeen Awards 2021 design project of the year. The garage's "simplicity is what enhances its brilliance," said judge Chrissa Amuah.
Announced at the Dezeen Awards 2021 design show, the garage, which features back-lit glass walls, won the prestigious design project of the year award, as well as being named the graphic design project of the year.
The project also took home a win in the interiors category yesterday, winning the prize for civic and cultural interior of the year.
There were 1,394 entries for the design categories at this year's Dezeen Awards, which is sponsored by Dodds & Shute, Longboard Products, Knauf, Kingspan, Kvadrat, Tom Dixon and Norse Projects. Of these, 59 were shortlisted by our jury of 25 leading figures from the world of design.
The winners of the architecture categories were announced on 22 November and the interiors winners were named yesterday. The sustainability and media winners will be revealed tomorrow, 25 November, and the studio winners will be unveiled in the final show on 26 November.
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Silo's winning design is one of the world's largest underground bicycle parking garages and was built in front of The Hague Central Station in the Netherlands.
The parking garage integrates graphic design to create a spatial experience and features visual interventions designed to make the facility appear more spacious, including a long graphic mural featuring geometric shapes and patterns in a grey hue.
Silo designed the parking garage to have the look and feel of a museum, tailoring the lighting and spatial cues to create a parking space that would be both comfortable and safe.
Jury member Amuah, founder of AMWA Designs, said: "The design itself is a beautiful integration of lighting and graphic design."
"A range of varied patterned and geometric shapes are used to create a really immersive experience," she said. "It gives context to the environment in which it sits."
"It's very simple in its design but its simplicity is what enhances its brilliance."
Amuah was joined on the jury by Lukhanyo Mdingi, Jane Withers, Shahar Livne and Richard Hutten, who met virtually in September.
The jury praised the project as "a nod towards doing things differently, with a new focus on making cyclists' needs the priority."