And the winner is... Benedikt Stonawski with “Material in Motion”! Each of the eight finalists in the Rado Star Prize Austria design competition presented their creative implementation of this year’s “Master of Materials” theme at the Rado Boutique in Vienna every month from January to August. The young product designer managed to impress the expert jury across the board with his shop window installation “Material in Motion” to win the prestigious design prize.

With “Material in Motion”, Benedikt’s aim was to make material a tangible experience. The elasticity and suppleness of rattan, the raw material used, was conveyed while clamped between small, computer-controlled motors. The originally linear material began to twist and produced a variety of random patterns. 

The expert jury – consisting of Lilli Hollein, Director of Vienna Design Week, Flora Miranda, fashion designer and winner of the Rado Star Prize 2017, and Peter Gauss, Brand Manager of Rado Austria – was thrilled. “The jury unanimously decided in favour of the entry ‘Material in Motion’ as the installation represents time, space and movement in an exciting coexistence through the physical properties of the starting material. In short: A project that encourages passers-by to linger and does not reveal everything at first glance. In order to feel the aesthetic of the moment, the observer has to pause briefly – something that is becoming increasingly rare and thus all the more important in the fast-moving times in which we live today,” said Lilli Hollein to explain the jury’s decision.

Peter Gauss sees a clear reference to Rado in the implementation: “At Rado, we work with various materials that are not always typical of the watch industry. Like Rado, Benedikt has demonstrated his expertise in the mastery of materials and shows how diverse a seemingly trivial material can be. We at Rado share this vision as our products also stand for innovation, design and technology.”

The designer will be presented with the Rado Star Prize, 5,000 Euros and a Rado watch by the expert jury at the opening of Vienna Design Week 2019 on September 26. On the same day, Benedikt’s winning installation goes on display as an extension to “Material in Motion” in the entire shop window of the Rado Boutique in Vienna (Kärntner Straße 18) for the duration of Vienna Design Week.