Gira, leading worldwide full-range suppliers of intelligent system solutions for building management, is honoured with three appearances on the winners’ podium at the ICONIC AWARDS: Innovative Interior 2018.
14th January 2018, saw the Frankfurt-based German Design Council honour ‘innovative top performances from every area of the interior design industry’ at the Kölnischer Kunstverein, with an esteemed ‘ICONIC AWARD: Innovative Interior’.
An annual event on the eve of the international furniture trade fair "imm cologne", the ‘ICONIC AWARDS: Innovative Interior’ recognise leading innovators from every product sector in the furniture industry, along with partners in design and brand communication. Participation in this event provides a truly exclusive platform for companies to define their products, ensure a long-term position in the marketplace and actively target relevant architectural and planning audiences with a wide international reach.
This year, more than 400 interior design products were entered with the hope of seizing one of these prestigious accolades with Gira scooping an impressive three prize wins.
In the ‘Building Fixtures’ category, the international jury singled out Gira and awarded it with the highest accolade of ‘Best of the Best’. Rewarding the Gira E2 stainless steel Design Line, the plastic variant of the E2 Design Line and the Gira X1 app; Gira take great pride in knowing this achievement honoured only 30 entrants in total.
The winning entries will then be on display in their own exhibition at the museum from 15 to 21 January 2018.
Design is more than the formal shell
"Gira has been using clear, design statements to set the tone since the 1960s. In doing so, we have to interest a variety of target groups: electricians, architects, and end-users," explained Hans-Jörg Müller, Head of Product and Design at the SME. "Accordingly, we aim to achieve the right mix out of a fine, manually crafted product, usefully innovative functions, durability, and a good formal design. So for us, design is more than the formal shell."
This aspiration also applies when it comes to the "Iconic Awards 2018", as the jury members take far more than design quality and aesthetics into account when judging the products submitted. Other factors considered by the design and furnishing experts include an assessment of their practical value, usability, ergonomics and functionality, degree of innovation, safety, accessibility, environmental sustainability and durability. The stainless steel variant of the Gira E2 design line impressed the jury both with its "formal aesthetic elegance" and with the special characteristics of the material used, including its anti-bacterial properties. For its part, the Gira X1 app won hearts and minds thanks to its user interface, whose design was declared "as practical as it is user friendly".