The Anibou Prize

The Anibou Prize highlights Anibou’s dedication to fostering new talent and celebrating innovative design.

The Anibou Prize highlights Anibou’s dedication to fostering new talent and celebrating innovative design. The Anibou Prize offers a $10,000 first-place award, recognising and supporting outstanding craftsmanship, along with a trip to Helsinki, Finland for an Artek-hosted Aalto tour and Switzerland for a USM-hosted tour. Finalists will be featured in UNION's "Universe" section, an editorial space showcasing emerging designers and their work. The winner will also receive a dedicated feature in the subsequent magazine issue.

Submission guidelines

  • Must be within the field of furniture design
  • Original, unpublished work
  • Created within the last five years
  • One-of-a-kind
  • Has not previously won any prizes
  • Demonstrates artistic intent and creative ingenuity

Prizes

  • First Prize: The winning entrant will receive $10,000, a trip to Helsinki, Finland and Switzerland hosted by Artek and USM (valued up to AUD$5000), plus an Artek Stool 60.
  • Second Prize: $2,000 USM gift card, plus an Artek Stool 60.
  • Third Prize: $1,500 USM gift card, plus an Artek Stool 60.

The winning works selected by the Jury will be included in an exhibition at Anibou showrooms in Sydney and Melbourne.

How to participate

  • Read the Rules of Entry and make sure you comply with all requirements, 
  • All participants must be over 18, have up to 10 years of design practice, be based in Australia and an Australian resident on submission,
  • Entries may be made by an individual or collective (as a ‘group submission’),
  • All nationalities and genders are welcome,
  • Make sure the work demonstrates artistic ingenuity in addition to technical proficiency; is an original piece; was recently created (in the last five years); is one-of-a-kind; has not won any prizes previously; is environmentally thought; is innovative; and falls within an area of the furniture design in living, dining, outdoor, bedroom and office categories. 

Online Registration 

  • Complete the online registration in English
  • Submit 2 to 5 photographs of the work (or series) and optionally a video
  • Write a brief conceptual statement about the work (200 words maximum).
  • Respond to the two questions 
  • Submit your application by 1 February 2025

Meet the Jury of the Anibou Prize 

From the shortlist, a jury composed of leading figures from the world of design, architecture, research, journalism, criticism and museum curatorship will select the winner of the 2024 Anibou Prize.

Neil Burley 
Founder 
Anibou

Marianne Goebel
Managing Director
artek

Pascal Buisson 
International business development director
USM

Jane Johnson 
Managing Director 
Smart Design Studio

Phillip Rossington 
Principal 
BVN

Fiona Lynch 
Founder
Fiona Lynch Office

David Caon
Founder 
Caon Design Office

Adam Haddow
Director 
SJB

Henry Wilson 
Founder 
Studio Henry Wilson 

Leanne Zilka 
Associate Dean, Research and Innovation
RMIT School of Architecture and Design

Leigh-Anne Hepburn 
Associate Professor, Head of Design Senior Lecturer in Design Innovation, Design Lab 
University of Sydney

Winners announced in March 2025.

Anibou

Established in 1989 by founder Neil Burley Anibou remains a destination for design in Australia more than three decades on. Anibou is now owned by Philip Burrows, Daniel Henzi, Alexander Lance and David Gisonda who acquired the business in 2015 and, together with the wider Anibou family run it today with a continued focus on service and experience. Home to impeccable design from Artek, ClassiCon, Gervasoni 1882, Isokon+, Röthlisberger, THONET GmbH, USM Modular Furniture and Woodnotes – the Anibou showrooms in Sydney, Melbourne and anibou.com.au invite you to discover timeless craftsmanship for your home, office or commercial project.

Union 

Founded in 2021, Union is a bi-annual print and digital publication examining the cross-section of architectural, art and design pursuits, providing a detailed record of contemporary practice. Publishing work across scale, typology and medium, Union collates information, develops articles, interviews and videos, curates exhibitions and coordinates initiatives that cultivate interdisciplinary cooperation. Union is independently researched and edited to accurately reflect the rigour and complexity of the work we showcase. 

In accordance with Anibou and Union’s ambition to celebrate emerging designers in Australia, they created the ‘Anibou Prize’ in 2024, an annual prize which celebrates ingenuity in Australian furniture design.