SikkensFoundation

Sikkens Prize

1985 BENNO PREMSELA — For the great social service he provides and has provi- ded by concentrating on product innovation as a desig- ner, advisor and stimulator in a very personal, creative and fundamental way. — The second Award in 1985 went to Benno Premsela, be- cause “the board of the foundation considers that Prem- sela provides and has provided a great social service by concentrating on product innovation as a designer, advi- sor and stimulator in a very personal, fundamental and creative way (…).” The funny thing was that up to that moment, Premsela was always someone who gave pri- zes, but despite all his merits, he had never been awar- ded a prize himself. The Sikkens Award was his first and he felt extremely honored. In the publication with the Award, Premsela, who was interviewed by Erik Beenker, talked about timeless designs and correspondences of form throughout the centuries and cultures. A selection of these artifacts is shown here and the whole thing was to serve as the starting point for the book Premsela, in the future ten years later. The Sikkens company developed a fan of colors earlier with Premsela, and on the occasion of the Sikkens Award, a special edition was published with Premsela’s signature on the front cover. other companies which work with Premsela and his agency were approached by Sikkens to ensure that this cooperation was jointly ex- pressed. It was a folder entitled: “Signatuur Premsela/ Premsela fecit”, a loose leaf publication with products by and words about Premsela by the boards of directors of these companies, viz. Auping (beds), Van Besouw (car- pets), Eikelenboom (light + form), KVT Koninklijke Ver- enigde Tapijtfabrieken (Royal United Carpet Factories), Sikkens, Tufton (project carpeting) and Vescom (wallpa- per).Back to index Download text as pdf