KARIM RASHID Written by AMANDA ZURITA
KARIM RASHID HAS BEEN ON THE RECEIVING END OF ENOUGH ACCOLADES TO SPOT A DESIGNWORLD WINNER WHEN HE SEES ONE. The New York–based multidisciplinary designer and artist—known for both his eccentric personal style and his fluid, curvy “blobject” designs— has taken home nearly 300 awards for his work in product design, interiors, fashion, and graphic arts, including the Red Dot Design Award, which he’s won repeatedly over the years, for designs ranging from the sinuous steel-and-fiberglass Solium lamp to
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the bean-like Blobina seat to the ultramodern Nhow Hotel in Berlin. In his prolific work (he has more than 4,000 designs in production), Rashid aims to problem-solve through projects that aren’t just stylish for style’s sake. “Creativity is not enough in design,” he says. “Design must answer to all the issues of use, behavior, aesthetics, manufacturing processes, each material’s ecological impact, marketing, dissemination, et cetera.” It’s an ethos he applies throughout his work—his Bobble water bottle, for example, is both good-looking and
eco-friendly, with a colorful built-in carbon filter that can purify up to 150 liters of tap water—and one he also extended to his judging criteria for the 2017 GRAY Awards, rating most highly those projects that took a similarly holistic approach. Among the submissions, Rashid spied a recurring theme: nature fused with tech, an apt emblem for the Pacific Northwest. “As humans, we are tied to technology and nature biologically and culturally,” he says. “The PNW is becoming a global tech hub, and ultimately that will influence designers in the region.” Rashid also hopes to see the Northwest continue to raise the profile of American design as a whole. “Design in our country has never really had the same respect as fashion or architecture or the arts, and rarely has it had the opportunities or support that are present in European design communities,” notes Rashid. “I hope that the Northwest continues to take the opportunity to foster creativity, create an identity, and remind the world that America respects design.” h
COURTESY KARIM RASHID; PORTRAIT: OSCAR VALLE
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