Sikkensprice 2022 for Piet Oudolf
Winner Gold European Design Award 2023 – Category Brochure
The Sikkens Foundation is an independent cultural institution whose aim is to stimulate social, cultural and scientific developments in which colour plays an important role. The Mondrian Lecture and the biennial Sikkens Prize are intended as an encouragement.
Piet Oudolf received the Sikkens Prize 2022 for his contribution to the ‘experience of colour’ in parks and gardens all over the world. His designs show everyone that colours shape light and really bring it to life. Oudolf shows that discoloured plants, browns and other earthy tones are at least as interesting as bright, bold colours.
The brief was to design a publication to frame the laudation for Piet Oudolf.
The idea was to show only shades of green and brown in planes. Holes in the pages create layered colour combinations and vistas. The number of holes increases as you browse further, like the decay of a leaf. The pages are partly folded at the top and can be lifted. This creates a play of light and shadow. The colours move, like a garden presents itself in the course of a day, a season, a year. The passage of time and light, and its influence on colour is an important element in Oudolf’s work.
Design: Thijs Verbeek
Printing: NPN drukkers