Design students succeed in the international Glass Design Award competition in Germany

The Glass Design Award competition is organized by the Gerhard Bürger Foundation and Glasmanufaktur Harzkristall, and its goal is to support students’ glass design work and provide them with opportunities to apply the design skills they have acquired during their studies to practical glassmaking. 

This year’s competition theme was “Glass can …,” which encouraged participants to explore the unique properties of glass and, where possible, combine it with other materials. The competition offered students the opportunity to experiment with, explore, and develop the use of glass from the perspectives of both art and product design. Thirty-nine students from Germany, Finland, and Belgium participated in the competition.

Elisa Roinisto was awarded a prize for her work Glass Falls, in which colored glass is combined with glazed porcelain. In its rationale for the award, the jury particularly highlighted the subtle handling of the materials and the quality of the work’s formal language.

Viivi Hirvikangas’s work Cube, on the other hand, is based on the use of colored glass elements that she crafted herself using flame-working techniques. In this work, the designer’s active role in the glass-making process is combined with the lamp’s geometric form.

The competition’s awards ceremony was held 29 August at Glasmanufaktur Harzkristall in Derenburg, Germany. The top two prizes were shared by Julia Rhein and Leon Adrian Habig. The exhibition organized in conjunction with the competition features a total of 17 glass works designed by students. The exhibition is open at the Harzkristall glass factory until the end of September 2026.

For more information:

Lecturer Kirsti Taiviola, Aalto University's Department of Design, kirsti.taiviola@aalto.fi, +358505769579