Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, founders of Grafton Architects, received the IDI President’s Choice Award for Outstanding Achievement in Design in Ireland, at the IDI Irish Design Awards on 17 November. Last year’s award was accepted by Jennifer Goff of the National Museum on behalf of Eileen Gray. The awards, now in their 18th year, range from digital design, fashion and textiles, product design, structures and spaces, TV and film, to visual communications. Shortlisted projects for the 2016 awards include the Wind and Rain Bridge in southern China, designed by Irish architect, Donn Holohan, following the floods of 2014; the interior design of Tootoomoo Restaurant, London by Kingston Lafferty Design; and a football kit designed for the Afghanistan men and women’s football team which incorporates the hijab. Two pieces by Joseph Walsh Design, Erosion V and Exilumen IV, are shortlisted in the Craft Design category, as are a series of pots by Arran Street East.
