Dark Diamond wins first prize of furniture design contest
By Thai Hang - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC – A chair named Dark Diamond on Tuesday won first prize in the Apricot Blossom furniture design contest, which was organized by the HCMC Handicraft and Wood Industry Association (HAWA).
The winner, Nguyen Van Truong, who works at the AA Interior Furniture Corporation, said the chair was inspired from a diamond he saw Queen Elizabeth wear on television once. Hence, the chair is shaped like a multi-faceted diamond in black. 
According to Tran Duc Manh, HAWA’s vice chairman, the model won first prize thanks to the designer’s creativity and high application.
Second and third prizes were awarded to designs named Simple Shelf and Piece of Colored Pencils. Students from the HCMC University of Architecture created the works.
Manh told the Daily that the contest aims to discover young furniture designers to respond to the industry’s high demand for skilled workers. He added that currently many Vietnamese enterprises relied on foreign designs.
“Contestants who win a prize stand the chance to have their design used by wood processing companies that are HAWA members,” he said.
Architect Kiddney Chan, Hong Kong Interior Design Association’s chairman, said after the awards ceremony that Vietnamese design needed to be more creative.
“Though the designers are creative, they have failed to inspire the national culture in the products. This will make the products similar to millions of wood furniture in the world,” said Chan, who is a judge for the contest alongside other peers from the U.S. and Vietnam.
The eight top prizewinners will have their creations displayed at the Vietnam International Furniture and Home Accessories Fair (VIFA 2010) in Hanoi next Thursday.
The Eighth Apricot Blossom Hardwood Interior Design Contest 2009 had 281 entries from 210 designers this year, two times higher than in 2008.