Announcing alter. awards: Five Projects Selected by Five Committee Members

alter., which opened on October 29, 2026, has reached its final day. On October 30, the committee members visited the venue in person for a series of talk sessions, and the exhibiting projects each presented their work to the committee. After a rigorous review, the committee is announcing the alter. awards today, November 1, the closing day. The awards recognize the projects that most caught the committee members’ attention.

The committee members work in a range of fields, including curation, design journalism and architecture. Which projects did they choose? Below, we present the alter. awards winners, along with comments from each committee member.

Capillary Drift selected by Faye Toogood

“I admire how Capillary Drift brings together generations of craftsmanship and material knowledge to create something genuinely new and unexpected. There is a beautiful balance between control and chance, where the material is allowed to find its own expression, transforming a traditional process into something experimental, contemporary and deeply poetic.”

Bole selected by Johan Deurell

“At a time when resources are becoming scarcer, and the logging industry is struggling to adapt to fair production systems, Bole’s stools offer new possibilities. A 4m industrial sized log becomes 8 stools, each revealing the different ages and imperfections of the tree it once was.”

Obscured Apparatus selected by Dan Thawley

“This project is an exciting speculative approach to reuse that has possibilities for further artistic expression and pragmatic object redesign. Kobayashi San’s sculptural dialogue with the obsolete technology and the sonic collaboration with Arai San creates an unsettling environmental dialogue, and the curvilinear pastel architectures bound by the parameters of existing circuitry provoke a sensual contrast to the exposed hardware that evokes a warped evolution of Dieter Rams’ “Less but Better”.”

Obscured Apparatus selected by Jun Aoki

“Nothing comes from nothing; things are already all here. They come apart, come together again, and their forms are in constant flux. This work places objects within that dynamic. And so, into what provisional form?”

PHANTOMS selected by Laura May Todd

“Phantoms demonstrated a compelling interdisciplinary approach to design, bringing together traditional craft knowledge, sound design and an architectural perspective to develop an innovative method of textile-making. The historical foundations of the technique were particularly fascinating, while the depth of her research offered a compelling example of how designers can preserve traditional craft practices while exploring new possibilities for their future.”

The projects shown at alter. don’t end with this exhibition. Each one could go on to further exhibitions elsewhere, collaborations or commercial production. We hope you’ll follow what happens next, both for the award winners and for every other project presented at alter.