“Cologne Thumper” 2016 to Mike Meiré

Students of KISD – Köln International School of Design have on May 27 awarded the “Cologne Thumper” to Mike Meiré. The “Cologne Thumper” is the annual prize of KISD, an institute of TH Köln, for excellent national and international designers, chosen by a mere student jury and therefore unique of its kind in the realm of design awards.

Blurring the boundaries between the disciplines, Mike Meiré continually alternates between the roles of art and brand director, designer, curator and artist. He is honorary member of the German Designer Club (DDC) and was awarded the “Visual Leader” award in 2006.

His clients in editorial design include, among others, publications such as renowned and award-winning magazine brand eins, the magazine on architecture ARCH+, the redesign of Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), the international cultural magazine 032c, the German edition of Interview magazine, GARAGE, and, since 2015, the arts magazine BLAU. Together with his brother Marc, Mike Meiré runs the Cologne-based agency Meiré and Meiré since 1987, and leads as a designer and curator many projects for brands at the interface of art, architecture, fashion, music, and design.

From 2006 to 2010, he staged The Farm Project installation, which was presented at Art Basel/Design Miami, Skulpturenprojekte Münster 07 and at the Designmuseum Eindhoven. Further independent art projects (represented by Bartha Contemporary) have included Economy of Attention (London 2012, Bartha Contemporary), Conflicts And Holes (Basel 2013, Von Bartha Garage), In/Human (Mexiko 2014, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Monterrey), and Das Bauhaus #allesistdesign (Weil am Rhein 2015, Vitra Design Museum).

The award ceremony took place on May 27 at Labor am Ebertplatz and marked the beginning of a one-week exhibition of Mike Meiré’s project works. These will be exhibited from May 27 until June 3 from 12 pm – 7 pm at the weekend and from 11 am – 8 pm on weekdays.

At the award ceremony, the laudatory speech was held by KISD students Julian Hoffmann and Alexander Tackenberg, who had nominated Mike Meiré to receive the “Cologne Thumper” 2016. After the award ceremony, a get-together of guests, students, and the laureate was a good occasion to exchange perspectives and to got to know Mike Meiré and his projects during a subsequent panel discussion. A finissage will be held on June 3, 8 pm.

Being a native of Cologne, Mike Meiré as awardee of the Cologne Thumper 2016 is, besides his reputation as one of the most renowned designers, a perfect choice for this year’s Cologne Thumper and its 20th anniversary. Starting in 1996, students of KISD – Köln International School of Design have been annually honoring by the “Cologne Thumper” the best designers or groups who have, in KISD students’ opinion, made outstanding contributions to the discipline of design.

Awardees of the “Cologne Thumper“ have been so far:

Erik Spiekermann (1996), Axel Kufus (1997), Droog Design (1998), Anna Castelli Ferrieri (1999), Motoko Ishii (2000), John Maeda (2001), James Auger (2002), Heinz Bähr (2005), Stefan Sagmeister, Ingo Maurer (2009), Dieter Rams (2010), Erik Kessels (2011), R. & E. Bouroullec (2012), Eike König (2013), Jerszy Seymour (2014), and Sarah Illenberger (2015).

“Cologne Thumper“ 2016

Laureate: Mike MeiréAward ceremony: Friday, May 27, 8 pm
Labor am Ebertplatz, Ebertplatzpassage 5, 50668 Cologne

Exhibition Mike Meiré: May 27– June 3, 2016, Finissage: June 3, 8 pm