Every year, the Indesign Media Asia Pacific editorial team convenes to exchange notes on the most impressive and progressive young studios around the region. They’re the studios that have caught our eyes and captured our imaginations – driven by designers and architects who keep us excited about the future of design in the Indo-Pacific. They’re the industry’s up-and-coming ‘wunderkinds’, who think forward and set their own directions.

It’s not easy to select just four every year for The Prodigy category of the INDE.Awards. That’s why we’re eager to share their stories with you. Look out for dedicated articles to follow on each of our Prodigies of 2020. For now, here’s a short introduction:

Goy Zhenru, Dessy Anggadewi and Sam Loetman

Studio: Goy Architects

Location: Singapore; Bali, Indonesia; and Chiang Mai, Thailand

Who does what: Goy Zhenru (Singapore) is Principal Architect; Dessy Anggadewi (Indonesia Lead) and Sam Loetman (Thailand Lead) are both Design Architects

A quick word from Goy Architects: “Our focus is to keep design development mobile, easily accessible with a light hardware setup. This frees us up to travel and explore our region while getting work done.”

Visit their website at goyarchitects.com and look out for our Q&A with Goy Architects.

Photo of (L-R) Dessy, Zhenru and Sam by Fabian Ong.

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Phillip Nielsen and Aaron Nicholls

Studio: Regional Design Service

Location: Corowa, Australia

Who does what: Phillip and Aaron are both Directors

A quick word from Regional Design Service: “Opening a studio in the main street of our town has demystified architecture and design for many, and indeed broken down some of the snobbery that this industry still carries. We hope other professionals wanting a ‘tree change’ see it as being more than just moving within a 100km radius of a major city.”

Visit their website at regionaldesignservice.com and look out for our Q&A with Regional Design Service.

Photo (L-R) of Phillip and Aaron by Georgie James.

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David Flack and Mark Robinson

Studio: Flack Studio

Location: Melbourne, Australia

Who does what: David is Founder, Mark is Director

A quick word from Flack Studio: “When you bring diversity and community together, you have a magic potion for change. We need change; our systems aren’t working. Design can change that. Stand up and have a voice.”

Visit their website at flackstudio.com.au and look out for our Q&A with Flack Studio.

Photo (L-R) of David and Mark by Maegan Brown.

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Rafael Arsono and Margareta Miranti

Studio: Rafael Miranti Architects

Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

Who does what: Rafael is Principal Architect; Margareta is Managing Director

A quick word from Rafael Miranti Architects: “We had always wanted to make some form of contribution to our country. In Indonesia, design is often not fully considered and utilised as a problem-solving approach.”

Visit their website at rafaelmiranti.com and look out for our Q&A with Rafael Miranti Architects.

Photo (L-R) of Rafael and Margareta by Chris Bunjamin.

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Our thanks go to category partner Luxxbox for sharing our enthusiasm about The Prodigy.

Says Jason Bird, Managing and Creative Director at Luxxbox, “The way in which the new crop of designers and architects use their knowledge of local materials, climate and culture to produce innovative designs is really exciting as it is educating clients and the market generally about the importance of referencing locality and individuality in products and projects.”

He continues, “Peer and industry recognition is such an important component of a designer’s journey. It can be a very isolating process bringing a product or project to fruition when you are relying on your own instincts on what will work and what won’t. How better to gain confidence in your ideas and feedback on direction than to be honoured by those working in the design industry around you.”

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And now it’s over to the Jury.

This year, for the first time, we are turning to our INDE.Awards Jury for a decision on who will be ‘The Prodigy of the Year’. You may recall that this award category has previously been decided by people’s choice voting. Not to worry, we still want you to have your say, but in 2020 you’ll have the opportunity to do so in our two special ‘Best of the Decade’ categories for The Living Space and The Work Space instead. More details to follow.

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Congratulations to all our Prodigies of 2020. Stay tuned to find out who will be crowned ‘Prodigy of the Year’ by our Jury. INDE.Awards 2020 winners will be announced on 14 August!