About The Awards
Each year two awards are given, the Sir Misha Black Medal for Distinguished Services to Design Education and the Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education.
The Sir Misha Black Medal for 2023 was awarded to Professor Marie Redmond, formerly of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
The Sir Misha Black Award for 2023 was awarded to Haleh Moravej of MetMUnch, Manchester Metropolitan University.
The Medal and the Award were presented at a ceremony at Imperial College London on Thursday, November 16th 2023, where Professor Redmond delivered an address on her philosophy on design education.
The ceremony was open to the public for the first time since before lockdown.
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Introduction
The Sir Misha Black Medal honours those who have given distinguished services to design education anywhere in the world. It was the first, and is the only, international award to do so.
The Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education salutes innovation in design education in the United Kingdom.
Both awards commemorate the work and life of the designer and architect, Professor Sir Misha Black, whose pioneering work played a crucial role in the development of design in Britain.
The first Medal was awarded in 1978 and the first Award for Innovation in 1999. The Awards are conferred by an independent Committee of representatives drawn from the premier design and engineering Institutions and Associations in the United Kingdom, administered by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.
The present committee members represent Founding Bodies, the Royal Designers for Industry (RDI), the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), the College of Medallists, Imperial College, London and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.
Celebrating 40 years
The history of the Awards, together with essays on past and contemporary design education by Sir Misha, Medallists and Award Recipients can be found in the book ‘Fitness for What Purpose?’ edited by Professor Sir Christopher Frayling and Mary V Mullin and published in 2018 to mark the 40th Anniversary of the Awards.
Published by Design Manchester / Eyewear Publishing it is available to purchase directly from the publisher’s website or from the Images&Co online shop.