[Special Interview] Uwe CREMERING
Uwe CREMERING / CEO, iF International Forum Design GmbH
Q1. How much more importance does social value and sustainability have in the iF Design Award today, and how are these changes influencing the design scene in Korea and Asia?
Actually, at iF Design, we have a holistic view of the product itself, and sustainability, social responsibility, as well as environmental responsibility, has played a significant role over the last decades. But over the last years, we have really focused a little bit more on this topic and we did it in line with our main participants and also a consultation of external experts, and we have dedicated criteria for this, called sustainability. And, it has 20 percent of our overall ratings go to this criterion.
Q2. What does it mean for Korean companies?
The Korean companies are always on the front of technical development and also when it comes to sustainability, the big companies like Samsung, LG, Lotte, they have to answer these questions anyway because their customers will ask. And also, the small companies from Korea, they 100 percent trust us in going this way. And I think it's a good direction for all of us. For iF design, for the end users as well as for our participants, the companies, the design studios and the architects.
