Designers Seung-Yong Song, Jon Stam and Bethan Laura Wood were selected for the W Hotels Designers of the Future Award, during Design Miami/ Basel in Switzerland. The three winning designers were sent to specific new or renovating W Hotels to solve a particular design challenge or need.

After unveiling their interpretation of the brief, entitled “Making Connections”, each designer’s project facilitated an exchange between local communities and international visitors who pass through them, whether for business or leisure. The goal of these projects, in fact, was to deepen the appreciation for the distinct regional characteristics found in each destination.

Started in 2006 at Design Miami/ Basel, the "Designers of the Future Award" recognizes up-and-coming designers and studios that are expanding the field of design. Each year, three designers or studios are selected as a way to honor a variety of approaches in the constantly evolving landscape of contemporary design.

The winners were selected by an international jury that included Jan Boelen of Z33, Tony Chambers of Wallpaper magazine, Aric Chen of M+ Museum Hong Kong, Alexis Georgacopoulos of Ecole Cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL), Marianne Goebl of Design Miami, Benjamin Loyauté, author, curator and journalist, and Mike Tiedy of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, parent company of W Hotels Worldwide.

Seung-Yong Song created the Wheeljek Collection, designed for W Bangkok, that takes inspiration from the fluidity and flexibility of the city’s ubiquitous street food carts, taking the street cart concept and transforming it into an object which can be adapted to suit the user’s needs and modified into various forms and sizes, from cart to table to storage. Jon Stam’s Claude Glass designed for W Verbier is an abstract timepiece that captures the landscape of the small Swiss village throughout the seasons, providing a medium for a different kind of travel, showcasing the picturesque locale all year long. Bethan Laura Wood’s Crisscross is a glass fixture created for W Mexico City and designed to evoke a cascade of floating flowers.