Seung-Yong Song from Korea, Canadian-Dutch Jon Stam and Bethan Laura Wood from the United Kingdom, the 2013 Designers of the Future, will unveil new works at Design Miami/Basel this June, to later be installed at W Hotels in Verbier, Bangkok and Mexico City.

“The W Hotels Designers of the Future Award allows us to recognize the best up-and-coming design talent from around the world,” said Mike Tiedy, senior vice president, Global Brand Design & Innovation, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “These emerging designers provide forward-thinking and innovative design solutions for our hotels, while showcasing their unique works to both W guests and locals alike.”

For the first time, the winning designers were sent to specific new or under-renovation W Hotels to solve a specific design challenge or need. The newly commissioned works will be unveiled at Design Miami/Basel (June 11- 16) and later installed at those W Hotels.

Wood in Mexico City

Stam spent time in Verbier, where the W brand’s first ski retreat will open later this year; Song visited W Bangkok, which opened in December 2012; and Wood travelled to W Mexico City, which will undergo renovations.

“We are proud to continue our partnership with W Hotels to create a meaningful platform for talented emerging designers,” said Marianne Goebl, director of Design Miami/. “With the introduction of the design residencies abroad, the designers get the opportunity to dive into the local culture and develop new work.”

Stam in Verbier

This is the fourth occasion that W Hotels and Design Miami/Basel have collaborated on the Award. The Award moves beyond pure product and furniture design to acknowledge technologically and conceptually vanguard pieces that work across multiple disciplines, offering the next generation of design creatives the opportunity to present newly commissioned works to an influential audience of collectors, dealers, and journalists at Design Miami/Basel.

The brief for this year’s Award commissions is entitled “Making Connections.” The designers’ projects will facilitate exchange between local communities and the international visitors who pass through them, whether for business or pleasure. The goal of these projects is to deepen the appreciation for the distinct regional characteristics found in each destination.

Song in Bangkok

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

Qualifying candidates for the W Hotels Designers of the Future Award must have created original works in the fields of furniture, lighting, craft, architecture and/or digital/electronic media. Candidates must have been practicing for less than 15 years and have produced a body of work that demonstrates originality in the creative process, while also exhibiting an interest in working in experimental, non-industrial or limited- edition design.