JUDGE
Daan Roosegaarde
Artist and innovator
‘Without design, we would all drown,’ says
Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde of his home
country’s unique ability to engineer its low-
lying land. This proactive relationship with
nature is also central to his own work,
which spans a Smog Free Tower in China
and the Gates of Light in The Netherlands.
Roosegaarde’s standouts from this year’s
winners include Alexander McQueen –
‘I think these are collectors’ items, and I am
a happy buyer,’ he says – and Max Núñez’s
‘intriguing’ Ghat House. ‘Those pillars, the
staircases... Some difficult choices were made,
which is always good,’ he says. Yoko ChoyTHIS PAGE, DAAN ROOSEGAARDE
IN FRONT OF ONE OF THE
GATES IN HIS GATES OF LIGHT
SERIES, LOCATED IN FRIESLAND,
THE NETHERLANDS. THIS IS
JUST ONE ELEMENT OF HIS
THREE-FOLD ICOON AFSLUITDIJK
PROJECT, COMMISSIONED
BY THE GOVERNMENT AS PART
OF THE RESTORATION OF
A 32KM-LONG 1930S DYKE
ROOSEGAARDE WEARS COAT;
SHIRT; TROUSERS; SHOES,
ALL BY ALEXANDER MCQUEEN.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY
LONNEKE VAN DER PALEN
OPPOSITE, THE GATES OF
LIGHT IS A SERIES OF HISTORIC
FLOODGATES PAINTED BY
ROOSEGAARDE WITH A NEW
RETROREFLECTIVE MATERIAL
TO GLOW IN THE HEADLIGHTS
OF ONCOMING CARS
Stylist: Louise Ford
Judges’ Awards