Shard in Line for London Design Oscar

    LONDON, ENGLAND, March 13, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Billed as 'the Oscars of the design world', the Designs of the Year awards showcase the most innovative and imaginable designs from around the world over the past year - and London's new tallest skyscraper is one of a handful of shortlisted works from the capital. Given its instant impact on London's skyline, Renzo Piano's 310-metre-tall glass tower will be amongst the favourites to take the overall prize, which last year was won by the London 2012 Olympic Torch, designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.

The awards span seven categories - Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Furniture, Graphics, Transport and Product - with category winners and the overall winner decided by a jury and announced to the public on 17th April 2013. Other London-based works shortlisted include A Room For London - a temporary structure in the shape of a boat and perched atop the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall - Clapham Library, Exhibition Road, the Barbican's Bauhaus: Art As Life exhibition and Jacqueline Durran's Anna Karenina Costumes at Ham House. An exhibition at the Design Museum showcases the numerous works, objects and concepts in line for the award and runs from 20th March to 7th July 2013.

Featuring Europe's highest viewing platform and the soon-to-open 5-star Shangri-La Hotel, The Shard was officially unveiled last summer with a laser light show accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The 95-storey 'vertical city' towers above London Bridge train station and is the stand-out entry in the Architecture category of the awards. Also in the Architecture category is the stunning Studio Egret West-designed new Clapham Library complex and A Room For London, designed by David Kohn Architects in collaboration with the artist Fiona Banner.

Prolonged throughout 2013 due to its overwhelming possibility, the ship-shaped structure is a one-bedroom installation with a programme of writing, performance and music. The songwriter Imogen Heap has performed a new song written in the boat, The English Patient author Michael Ondaatje has recorded a podcast, while members of the public can enter a competition to win a night in the room. Visitors arriving from outside London who fail to snare a night in A Room For London can conveniently book alternative accommodation on LondonTown.com, where there's a huge selection of cheap London hotels and hotels to suit all budgets.

The wonderful costumes worm by the British actors Keira Knightley and Jude Law in Joe Wright's screenplay adaptation of Anna Karenina have been shortlisted for the award in the Fashion category. A selection of gowns, under garments and military attire designed by Jacqueline Durran for the film are currently on display in the Long Gallery of Ham House, where key scenes of the Hollywood movie were shot. The Anna Karenina Costume Exhibition runs until 4th April 2013.

Also nominated for the award are last year's Bauhaus: Art As Life exhibition at the Barbican, in the Graphics category, and the revamped Exhibition Road shared space scheme, for Transport. All shortlisted works from London and all over the world can be viewed this spring at the Designs of the Year 2013 exhibition at the acclaimed Design Museum, which has two floors showcasing contemporary design in all forms on the banks of the Thames in the shadow of Tower Bridge.

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