The six winning studios for Dezeen Awards 2021 have been revealed, with Neri&Hu named architecture studio of the year and Superflux named design studio of the year, while Helsinki firm Fyra scooped up the top interiors studio prize.
ODDO Architects was named emerging architecture studio of the year, WGNB was named emerging interiors studio of the year and Studio Raw Material was named emerging design studio of the year.
The studio categories celebrate all-round excellence over a body of work produced by architecture, interiors and design studios. The judges also take into account the work ethic and studio culture of the practice itself.
There were 273 entries for the studio categories at this year's Dezeen Awards. Of these, 32 were shortlisted by an international panel of judges. After this, the architecture, interiors and design master juries met virtually to ratify the winners.
You can read more about the master juries here.
The studio categories are the final Dezeen Awards 2021 prizes to be announced this week. The winners of the architecture categories were announced on Monday, the winning interior projects were announced on Tuesday and the design category winners were revealed on Wednesday. Yesterday, we announced the sustainability winners and the winners of the brand new media categories.
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See the winning studios on the Dezeen Awards website or read on below:
Architecture studio of the year:
Neri&Hu
Founded in 2004 by partners Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, Neri & Hu Design and Research Office is an inter-disciplinary architectural design practice based in Shanghai.
The practice has completed works all over the world, with projects ranging from master planning and architecture to interior design, installation, furniture, product design, branding and graphic works.
The master jury said: "Neri&Hu is a practice that has been steadfast in navigating their close knowledge and precise skill for design from furniture and interiors through to city scale, moving the discipline, practice, craft and education of architecture and architects across East and west seamlessly."
Emerging architecture studio of the year:
ODDO Architects
Founded in 2016 by Mai Lan Chi Obtulovicova, Nguyen Duc Trung and Marek Obtulovic, ODDO Architects is a young architectural studio based in Vietnam and the Czech Republic.
The core aim of the studio is to create sustainable projects, and re-kindle the connection between people and nature through architecture and urbanism.
"This new practice shows a commitment to reinventing architectural design," said the architecture master jury. "The selection of materials and spaces they make in this early work shows a promise of values that speak to the current challenges faced by society including how to stretch modest budgets yet achieve excellence in design."
Interior design studio of the year:
Fyra
Fyra is an interior design studio based in Helsinki, Finland.
The studio was founded in 2010 by Eva-Marie Eriksson, Hanna Neuvo, Niina Sihto and Tiina Närkki. Specialising in workspaces and hospitality interiors, the studio has helped many companies re-think and re-design their working environment to fit their specific needs. This year the studio also won the large retail interior category at Dezeen Awards 2021 for its online order collection centre Box by Posti.
The interiors master jury commented: "Fyra shows innovation and versatility. The studio has a fresh approach to interior design with a great appreciation and understanding of space, form, material and colour."
Emerging interior design studio of the year:
WGNB
WGNB is a spatial design studio based in Seoul, which was established in 2015.
Working across architecture, interior design, furniture, and product design, the studio aims to blur the boundaries between multiple disciplines to create new and interactive spatial experiences.
"WGNB has an interesting and different approach to retail design in this dramatically changing climate of online retailing and the need to make the physical space more of an experience," said the interiors master jury.
Design studio of the year:
Superflux
Superflux consists of a team of designers, researchers and multidisciplinary creatives who work together to create installations and experiences that inspire us to engage with and understand the rapidly changing world around us.
Founded by Anab Jain and Jon Arden in 2009, Superflux has led projects including an immersive forest installation for the Vienna Bienalle for Change in 2021, a film about potential technological futures, and a dinner party that brings together multiple species around the same table.
Following a year of such overwhelming change, it is clear that we as humans need to face up to our negligence concerning the planet and nurture this inherent link between ourselves and our environment. Superflux is a studio pioneering change in this realm and, for this reason, has been awarded design studio of the year at Dezeen Awards 2021.
"This studio has forged the way with its social and sustainable projects," said Dezeen Awards 2021 judge Jane Withers, who was on the design master jury this year. "It works with both large businesses and smaller studios. It has great social awareness and is committed to change."
Emerging design studio of the year:
Studio Raw Material
Studio Raw Material is a collaboration between Royal College of Art graduates Dushyant Bansal and Priyanka Sharma.
Founded in 2016, the studio is based in the desert plains of western India, an area rich in minerals and materials such as salt, marble and clay. Much of the studio's work utilises marble offcuts in conjunction with techniques centred around balance and gravity to produce pieces devoid of adhesives.
The interest that underpins Bansal and Sharma's practice is that of exploring materiality in relation to history, culture and geography. The design master jury wanted to award Studio Raw Material due to its "sophisticated response to a vastly different geographical and cultural context".