Chrysler Celebrates Six 'Design Champions'

    NEW YORK--Sept. 16, 2002--Commemorating a decade of Chrysler Design Awards, the Chrysler brand is celebrating the achievements of six individuals who have consistently championed seminal works of architecture and design, and significantly influenced modern American culture.
    Chrysler will honor these "Design Champions" at a gala event on Tuesday, November 12, at the Four Seasons Restaurant in the Seagram's Building, New York City. Award-winning author and NBC correspondent, John Hockenberry, will serve as the master of ceremonies.
    This year's honorees are Daniel Patrick Moynihan, former New York senator who pushed the boundaries of policy by advocating for public spaces; Phyllis Lambert, director and founder of the Canadian Centre for Architecture; Mildred (Mickey) Friedman, curator of the Walker Art Center; Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers and of Pixar Pictures; Murray Moss, CEO of Moss, a design store in New York City and Red Burns, founder and chairman of the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University.
    "With the tenth anniversary of the Chrysler Design Awards, we have expanded our scope by celebrating the largely unrecognized, exemplary individuals who make design innovation and excellence possible and affect every area of American society," said Trevor Creed, Senior Vice President, Product Design, DaimlerChrysler. "By recognizing these Design Champions during this tenth anniversary, we are acknowledging that great design can only exist with the support of great leaders whose passion, tenacity, conviction and unique aesthetic enable the works of architects and designers."

    About The Winners

    Daniel Patrick Moynihan has tirelessly raised awareness, support and funds for great American landmarks during his 24-year Congressional tenure. He has championed numerous urban programs, including the restoration of New York's Grand Central Terminal (1977-1999), saving Walt Whitman's Long Island birthplace and the preservation of the James A. Farley Post Office Building in New York City, for which he forged a plan for the new Pennsylvania Station. He also created the Pennsylvania Avenue Redevelopment Corporation (1994) and helped to establish the General Services Administration's Design Excellence Program. Moynihan is currently a professor at Syracuse University and a senior scholar at the Woodrow International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.
    Phyllis Lambert founded the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in 1979. She is also recognized internationally for contributions to contemporary architecture, for her role as an architect in the public realm and for her support of urban conservation. She was instrumental in commissioning Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to design the Seagram Building in New York City in 1954 and served as the director of planning for the project. She has also curated many architectural exhibitions that have made the profession more accessible to the public. She was the co-curator of the "Mies in America" exhibition that traveled to New York, Chicago and Montreal (1998-2001) and she organized "Perspectives: The Architectural Heritage of Montreal" (1975) and "Photography and Architecture: 1839-1939" (1982-1984). She is also founder and president of the International Confederation of Architectural Museums and Heritage Montreal.
    Mildred (Mickey) Friedman was the design curator for the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minn., for over 30 years (1970-1991). She organized a vast array of exhibitions that explored important and under-recognized themes in architecture and design. She is also credited with launching the careers of such architects and designers as Frank Gehry, Thom Mayne, Frank Israel, Todd Williams, Billie Tsien, Elizabeth Diller and Ric Scofidio. Notable exhibits at the Walker Art Center include "Tokyo: Form and Spirit" (1986 with Martin Friedman), "Graphic Design in America" (1989) and the series "Architecture Tomorrow" (1989-1991). She also edited Design Quarterly (1970-1991), an international forum for architects, designers and design theory at the Walker Art Center.
    Steve Jobs is the CEO of Apple Computers, which he co-founded in 1976, and of Pixar, the Academy Award-winning animation studio he co-founded in 1986. In the 1970s, Apple sparked the computer revolution with Apple II, by reducing the size of computers from large masses of vacuum tubes only used by big businesses and governments to small, manageable machines for consumers. Apple then reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the introduction of the Macintosh. Apple Computers has since sent ripples throughout the industry with colorful, sleek groundbreaking new designs, including the iMac, iPod and the Cube. Pixar has created some of the most successful animated films of all time including "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life," "Toy Story 2" and "Monster's Inc." "Finding Nemo," Pixar's next film, is scheduled for release in the summer of 2003.
    Murray Moss has become the arbiter of innovative, cutting-edge product design with his New York City store, Moss, which he opened in SoHo in 1994. He approaches retail design much as a museum curator approaches exhibits; he invites visitors to learn about the objects he places behind glass cases and displays a written text about each item. Moss is widely praised for making great design more accessible and for being a source of inspiration and ideas for consumers and designers alike. Moss currently sits on the Boards of Trustees of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, the Wolfsonian Museum-FIU and the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA). He is also a frequent guest lecturer at world-renowned art academies and universities.
    Red Burns is founder and chairman of the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University (NYU) and is chairman of the Tokyo Broadcasting System at the Tisch School of the Arts, NYU. Burns designed and directed a series of telecommunications projects including two-way television for and by senior citizens and telecommunications applications to serve the developmentally disabled. This type of innovative research led to Burns' creation of the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU in 1979. In addition, Burns is a founding member of the Board of the New York New Media Association and serves on several foundations, including The Charles H. Revson Foundation, Media Lab Europe (European research partner of MIT Media Lab), The New York Times Digital Company Advisory Board and as a mentor to The Ross School in East Hampton, NY.

    Limited Edition Design Trophy and Cash Prize

    Six Design Champions will each be awarded $10,000 and presented with a limited edition trophy designed by 1993 winner, Dr. Paul MacCready, founder of AeroVironment, Inc. and heralded as the "father of human-powered flight." Applying his vast experience in designing airplanes and his extensive study of wings, MacCready created a trophy that captures the spirit of the winged badge that is seen on all Chrysler vehicles.

    Selection Process and Advisory Panel

    This year nearly 200 Design Champions were nominated by a broad-based committee of individuals within the architectural and design disciplines and then selected by an advisory panel. Led by Chrysler Design Awards co-chairs Chee Pearlman and Leslie Gill, the 2002 advisory panel includes Bob Fox, Fox and Fowle Architects; Richard Koshalek, president of Art Center College of Design; Reed Kroloff, immediate past editor-in-chief of "Architecture;" Maya Lin, principal of Maya Lin Architects; Mark Robbins, immediate past design director of the National Endowment for the Arts; Susan Szenasy, editor-in-chief of "Metropolis;" Emily Todd, The Houston Endowment, Inc.; Adele Chatfield-Taylor, president of the American Academy of Rome; Ric Grefe, director of the American Institute of Graphic Arts; David M. Kelley, founder and chairman of IDEO; Robert Krulwich, design and technology correspondent of ABC News; David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group; Jessie Scanlon, senior editor at "Wired" and Mark Whitaker, editor of "Newsweek."

    The Chrysler Design Awards were created in 1993 to honor the vitality of design professions in America. For additional information on the Chrysler Design Awards and its recipients, please visit www.chryslerdesignawards.org.