INDEX: Design to Improve Life recently opened nominations for the INDEX: Award 2015. The biannual award is the biggest design prize on earth granting 100.000 euro’s to five design projects that improve people’s lives. Anyone can nominate projects for the award until March 15th 2015.
Already a considerable amount of nominated projects are on the website of INDEX: Design to Improve Life, the Danish organisation that is behind the INDEX: Award. Projects range from Thomas Pikkety’s book Capital in the Twenty-First Century and a photo project Power Hungry by Henry Hargreaves, Caitlin Levin that juxtaposes contradictory daily menus of rich and poor to stunning product innovations.
An example of the latter is Pullclean, a door handle with a built-in sanitizer dispenser that helps hospital workers remember to sanitize their hand regularly and already has proofed to boost a hospital’s sanitization rates. Another thrilling project is Moment Triage by Anton Hoffman, a system that uses the latest electronics techniques to help rescue personnel in a mass casualty situation to quickly sort out who to help first.
Projects like these are proposed next to, for instance, Street Books, a bicycle-powered mobile library, serving the homeless in Portland, Oregon. VENUS is a clever device for women in the developing countries to turn a simple bucket into a mini washing machine. Also for developing countries is the Wakati that helps to keep fresh fruit and vegetables from spoiling quickly without refrigeration.
A surprising entry is a project from two mothers who out of frustration about the lack of female hero toy figures created IAmElemental. The women action figures are meant to allow girls to envision themselves as strong, powerful and connected beings at the centre of a story of their own making.
These and many more amazing projects can now be seen on the INDEX website. The INDEX: Awards 2015 winners will be announced during the awards ceremony in Copenhagen in August.