THE MENTORS: Snarkitecture

In 2008, artist Daniel Arsham and architect Alex Mustonen, founded Snarkitecture (named for Lewis Carroll’s poem The Hunting of the Snark), a collaborative and experimental practice at the intersection of art and architecture. For the Lexus Design Award 2017, Arsham and Mustonen mentored young Japanese designer Hiroto Yoshizoe in his winning project, Pixel. “This is the only design awards program that gives young designers the chance to produce a functional prototype, and invites them to exhibit it here in Milan during Design Week,” explains Mustonen. Of Pixel, Mustonen says: “There’s something about the simplicity, reduction and poetic quality of it. As soon as you see the interaction – your movement – it affects the outcome of the piece. That’s what was really appealing.” Other mentors for this year’s awards were Shanghai-based multi-disciplinary architects Neri & Hu, British designer Max Lamb and LA-based architect Elena Manferdini. Visit snarkitecture.com.