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For the sixth annual AZ Awards, our intrepid jury narrowed the field from over 800 submissions, received from dozens of countries, to select just 48 finalists that stood above the rest. In addition to presenting the AZ Award winners, Azure recognized these projects, products and concepts with Awards of Merit.

The following five projects are Awards of Merit winners in the categories of Furniture and Furniture Systems Design.

FURNITURE DESIGN

Wheels
Keeping pace with the frenetic modern office, this table and seating collection – from frequent collaborators EOOS and Keilhauer – is always ready for a breakout session. The seven-piece series is supported by light, scaffold-like wire bases on sturdy casters. Cleverly designed features heighten its multi-­functionality: a room divider doubles as an acoustic panel; a high-backed bench maximizes privacy; and the plugged-in table and its workshop-inspired orange extension cord, both central to the collection, house a multi-socket power supply and a recessed shelf for charging devices.

Studio: EOOS, Austria

Designers: Martin Bergmann, Gernot Bohmann, Harald Gründl and Mike Keilhauer

Manufacturer: Keilhauer, Canada

Fogo Island Shop
With humorous touches and ample scope, the wares here offer playful yet beautiful furnishings influenced by the remote island’s maritime vernacular. A team of international designers created the 70‑piece collection, which is handcrafted by area artisans. Traditional construction and locally sourced materials are integral to the designs: the Puppy side table (shown) is made from a single piece of wood, using basic tools; while the Punt chair borrows a technique from boat building, with naturally curving juniper and spruce for the legs and back supports.

Team: Zita Cobb and Joseph Kellner, with Markus Bergstrom, Elaine Fortin, Ineke Hans, Nick Herder, Simon Jones, Joe Nunn and Donna Wilson

Manufacturer: Fogo Island Shop, Canada

Belleville
Has plastic ever looked so sexy? In profile, this chair by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec evokes the occupant’s shape: arching ever so slightly off a fluid frame, the narrow backrest curves forward before flaring into a full-width base. Various seat options transform it into a polypropylene task chair, an upholstered dining chair, or a leather desk chair with forward-sloping armrests. Named for the Paris neighbourhood where the designers have their studio, Belleville would look right at home on a bistro patio overlooking the city.

Designers: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, France

Manufacturer: Vitra, Switzerland

Kaari Collection
The Bouroullecs have injected new life into the basic table leg with a simple gesture extrapolated into all sorts of uses. Their first collection for Artek features an innovative base that consists of a solid oak leg flanked by banded steel strips; midway down, each powder-coated strip branches off into a triangular foot – inspiration for the series’ name, Finnish for “arch.” The element lends itself to multiple tabletop shapes and sizes, and it proves so versatile that the collection even includes shelving: flipped around, the foot becomes a bracket.

Designers: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, France

Manufacturer: Artek, Finland

FURNITURE SYSTEMS

Foodshelf
Bringing cohesion to the kitchen and living room landscape, Ora Ito’s uniform design is anything but monotonous. At the system’s heart, long shelves provide fluid transitions across fully customizable compartments, both open and closed; matte and gloss lacquered finishes come in an array of colours. Created with low wall units in mind, Foodshelf deftly rebukes the kitchen’s vertical vocabulary in favour of a unified horizontal aesthetic.

Designer: Ora Ito, France

Manufacturer: Scavolini, Italy

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