The prizewinners were selected by the Federal Design Commission under the chairmanship of Patrick Reymond. Each award is worth 40,000 francs. The Grands Prix Design enable the Federal Authorities to honour cultural workers who have helped, by their effective and lasting contribution, to make Swiss design better known.

The prize award ceremony will be held on 20 October 2009 in Lausanne. This event will coincide with the official opening of the exhibition on Swiss Federal Design Awards 2009 at the mudac (Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts) in Lausanne.

Robert Frank, New York City and Nova Scotia

Photographer, Director and Cameraman

The Confederation is paying tribute to the 85 year old Swiss photographer, Robert Frank, for his life’s work. Few people made such a lasting impression on photography in the second half of the 20th century as he did.

After training as a photographer and working to begin with in Switzerland, Robert Frank emigrated to New York in 1947. His first appointment was with Harper’s Bazaar. Until the mid-50s he travelled in South America, Europe and the USA, sometimes commissioned by such magazines as Life and Vogue.

In what must surely be his most important publication “Les Américains” (1958), “The Americans” (1959), Frank chose 83 photographs from 28,000 images which deserve to be regarded as the documentation of an entire civilisation. In this series of pictures, he developed a completely unique and new style of photography which paved the way for many later artists. His films deserve to be much better known. With his first work “Pull My Daisy” (1959), modelled on an idea of Jack Kerouac, he successfully painted a fascinating portrait of the beat generation in which the beat poet Allen Ginsberg himself plays a role.

His works are still shown today by leading museums all over the world.

Christoph Hefti, Brussels, Antwerp and Zürich

Textile designer, musician, artist

Christoph Hefti was born in Lausanne and currently lives in Antwerp and Brussels. After training as a textile designer at the Zurich Design School he moved to Central St. Martin’s School of Art and Design in London where he took an MA in Fashion with Distinction. Since 1997 he has been working as creative assistant and print designer for Dries van Noten in Antwerp. In that capacity, he is responsible in cooperation with a team for the design, development and production of fabrics. Hefti is a highly versatile artist. His success at uniting his various talents is impressive. For instance, he also works on his own video and performance projects; together with the Swiss film maker and film composer Dominik Scherrer he forms the Performance-Electro-Pop-Duo Taxi val Mentek. At their concerts they create a totally unique cosmos, a congenial blend of video art and a universe of sound which is unrivalled.

The Federal Authorities are honouring Christoph Hefti for his creativity, his blurring of the boundaries between design, art and music which he manages to combine seemingly effortlessly.

Ursula Rodel, Zürich

Designer for a culture of life

The dynamic career of Ursula Rodel began in the 1970s. As a fashion designer she revolutionised the Swiss fashion world and belonged to the avant-garde of those days. Her unmistakable style, to which she has remained loyal until today, is typified by distinctive, timeless cuts and lines which help to underline femininity. Rodel always places the emphasis on function because her designs are tailored to women’s needs. After training at the School of Art Trades and Textile Professions and at the London College of Fashion she founded the “Thema Selection” Prêt-à-Porter label with Sissi Zöbeli and Katharina Bebié. The accompanying boutique became a comprehensive art work in its own right in which everything down to the smallest detail bore Ursula Rodel’s signature. The designer soon attracted the attention of the international avant-garde film world. After an internship with Tirelli Costumi Roma she was responsible for costumes in films by Claude Berri, Federico Fellini and Daniel Schmid. Most recently, she was the make-up artist for her long-standing friend Catherine Deneuve on the film set of “Dancer in the Dark” (Lars von Trier).Ursula Rodel now lives and works in Zürich Kreis 4 – since 1986 as a designer for life culture under her “Ursula Rodel Création” label. In addition to a year as a guest lecturer at the University of Design and Art in Basel, she has been adviser and designer to such prestigious companies as Cartier, Fabric Frontline, Omega and Joop! Her paintings and illustrations are also well-known as a blend of fashion designs and erotic images in the style of the 1950s. She sells them along with furniture and accessories in her studio. The Federal Authorities are honouring Ursula Rodel with her many talents for her wide-ranging creative activities and thinking which extend far beyond the limits of fashion design and the frontiers of Switzerland.

Thut Möbel AG, Möriken

Furniture design

The Thut Möbel company was founded 80 years ago in Möriken (AG) and is today being run by the third generation. The Federal Authorities are paying tribute to this family business which has enjoyed continuous success for its innovative entrepreneurial spirit and incomparable design which Kurt Thut and his son still shape today.

Kurt Thut has turned the furniture joinery founded by his father into a business with an international reputation through the creative use of new materials and technologies. His commitment to design reduction is perhaps best reflected in a constantly recurring theme: the folding scissors motif. For instance, the folding scissors bed consists of a simple grid which is adjusted to the needs of the customer and is easy to transport as it weighs just 28 kg. This convincing and seemingly self-evident solution is the outcome of a design process lasting for many years which was preceded by countless ideas and prototypes.

Today Benjamin and Daniel Thut are successfully continuing the manufacture of furniture pieces. With outstanding personal commitment and the creative energy of their father, they are extending the product range to include creations which continue to serve useful functions and are typified by high quality. Amusing solutions which are immediately recognizable make these furniture pieces classics of Swiss design history.

Schedule for the prize award/Opening 20 October 2009

6 p.m.: Gathering at Cinéma Atlantic
Rue St-Pierre 3, Lausanne

6.15 p.m.: Award of Grands Prix
Design and Swiss Federal Design Awards 2009

from 7.45 p.m.: Opening of the Exhibition
Swiss Federal Design Awards 2009 at mudac,
Place de la Cathédrale 6, 1005 Lausanne

from 8.15 p.m. Cocktails and dinner in the Big Hall
of the Gymnase de la Cité Lausanne
(50 metres from mudac)

Robert Frank, Christoph Hefti, Ursula Rodel and Thut Möbel honoured by the Swiss Federal Authorities