Today is the big finale of the DDW13. In case you haven’t been following the DDWorld, My Design Week gives you the Highlights from the 2013 Edtion on the Dutch Design Week.

We present you some of the winning projects at the Dutch Design Awards and therefore were the ‘must see’ at DDW13.

Toren Van Uitwierde staicase by Onix

Onix, the architecture studio, has build a wooden staircase in the mediaval Dutch church, Uitwierde, to give access to its bell tower. The aim is to allow visitors to explore a previously inaccessible part of the church. “The angular bannister of the staircase changes height as it ascends, framing different views of the thirteenth-century building, and interior windows reveal details of the historic stonework.”

The Tower of Uitwierde project won on the Spacial category. “The design directs the gaze of the visitor in a surprising way. You move and you are guided by the design.”, said the selection commitee.

The Incredible Shrinking Man by Arne Hendriks

Arne Hendriks proposal is to shrink the human population to an average height of 50 centimeters. Why? In order to reduce the amount of food and natural resources consumed. Being himself almost 2 meters tall, Hendriks accepts that the increase hight of the global population is due to better food, medicine, hygiene and other living circumstances. However, being tall today represents “a burden, on ourselves and on the planet.”

“At 50 centimetres we’d only need about 2-5 percent of the resources we need now,” Hendriks points out. “If the 20th century was all about growth, perhaps the 21st century is about downsizing.”

The project won on the Future Concepts category: “It is performed with so much zest that you can only take the idea seriously.”, said the commitee. (read more about this project on Dezeen)

The Knitting Collection of Loes Veenstra by Christien Meindertsma

Dutch Designer Christien Meindertsma has taken photograpfs of hundred of jumpers knitted by Loes Veenstra. The result was a book an a flashmob in her honour (see video here – it’s amazing!!) as the jumpers, although amazing, had never been worn.

“In the book I tried to categorise the sweaters so that you can see the same yarn or pattern return in different pieces,” said Meindertsma. “What is quite special is that almost all pieces were knitted without a pre-made pattern; she just improvised and used what she had at the time.”

So, we are not surprised this project won Best Autonomous Design in the Product category. The commitee described it as “a good translation of a special story into a carefully designed book” adding: “the flashmob puts a smile on your face.”

Not awarded but deserving a price: Daan Roosegaarde’s “electronic vacuum cleaner”

This Dutch designer has developed a vacuum cleaner that could remove smog from urban areas and is working with the city of Beijing to use this technology there. (see Dezeen’s interview and video here.)

“You can purify the air so you can breathe again” Roosegaarde said in the interview. “It creates these holes of 50-60 metres of clean air so you can see the sun again.”

He and a team of scientists at the University of Delft have created a working prototype: “We have a 5×5 metre room full of smog where we created a smog-free hole of one cubic metre,” he said. “And now the question is to apply it in public spaces.” (read more here.)