The Design Museum announces ​
​Lulu Harrison as fourth winner of annual Ralph Saltzman Prize

June 2025

​#SaltzmanPrize

@DesignMuseum

The Design Museum announces Lulu Harrison as the fourth recipient of the annual ‘Ralph Saltzman Prize’ for her project Thames Glass. Selected by a jury made up of Konstantin Grcic, Seetal Solanki, Stephen Burks and Michelle Ogundehin, Harrison’s work will now go on display at the museum and she will receive a £10,000 bursary to support her work.

The jury said: “Lulu Harrison’s methodology for developing Thames Glass is incredible. She's a great researcher and communicator, both in terms of mapping the raw materials that goes into making the glass and visualising it for an audience to make it easy to understand. We were really blown away by the quality of her work.”

The prize was founded by Lisa Saltzman in recognition of her father Ralph Saltzman who co-founded and was president of Designtex – the leading company in the design and manufacturing of applied materials for the built environment. This annual design award celebrates designers that are innovating around material use and manufacture and that have set up their own practice in the past five years.

The shortlist for this year’s Ralph Saltzman Prize was made up of Ella Bulley, Sarah Brunnhuber, Lulu Harrison, Samy Rio, and Johanna Seeleman. Each nominee was selected by the Design Museum’s curatorial team.

“It was really great to see how varied each person’s approach was to the brief. The attention they paid to not just taking care of the planet, but also the amount of attention they have paid to people and skills,” said juror Seetal Solanki. “They are all really socially engaged: that’s the common thread between them.”

The exhibition of Lulu Harrison’s work will run from 23 June to 25August 2025.

Lisa Saltzman, founder of the Ralph Saltzman Prize, said:

"I created the Ralph Saltzman Prize four years ago to honour my father, Ralph Saltzman, who was an innovator and a pioneer. He was truly passionate about design and believed that great design could improve our lives. This prize is his legacy.

I hope he would have liked Lulu Harrison’s originality, left-of-field thinking, experimentation with working with an everyday material and, mostly, her commitment to sustainability. She is a worthy winner for the prize. Her passion and commitment to her craft very much reminds me of my father.

This year's nominees all show an originality in their work, a curiousity for material exploration and an unwavering commitment to high environmental and sustainability standards. It has been inspiring to see what each of them has submitted. These emerging designers are the design leaders of the future; much like my father when he founded Designtex, a company that went on to gain numerous awards for its innovation and sustainable ideas. My father was a trailblazer, renowned for his vision and creativity.

My mother encouraged my father to start his own company and was supportive from the beginning and throughout. The prize is inspired by his passion and commitment to great design.”

Johanna Agerman Ross, Chief Curator at the Design Museum, said: 

“We are delighted to see Lulu Harrison as the fourth recipient of the Ralph Saltzman Prize and to work with her on a unique display at the museum. Her project Thames Glass is so evocative of a very specific London geography and it’s intriguing to see what this body of water provided in terms of both inspiration and raw material for Harrison’s practice.”

Winner of the prize, Lulu Harrison, said:

"I am truly honoured to have been selected for such an incredible award, and to have the opportunity to showcase my work at the Design Museum. This has always been a real dream of mine! I can't thank everyone enough who was involved in the judging process, including the team at The Design Museum, the judging jury, Lisa Saltzman and The Saltzman Family Foundation.

It is incredibly exciting to have my work recognised in this way and to challenge traditional norms of what design can be. My work is driven by research, process, collaboration, experimentation and hands-on making, connecting the worlds of craft and science, and resulting in sustainable and localised possibilities for the future of glass-making. This award will allow me to continue developing my practice, build a wider network within the design community, and explore new exciting avenues in recipe, material and studio development.’’

About Luiu Harrison

Lulu Harrison is a geo alchemist glass artist based between London and Cornwall. She studied Art & Design Foundation Diploma at Central Saint Martins in 2011. From 2012 - 2015 she studied Photography at Falmouth University and later went back to Central Saint Martin’s in 2022 to study her MA in Material Futures.

Lulu’s work has won the LVMH Maison/0 Green Trial Award and has been showcased in leading museums and major exhibitions, including the V&A, London Design Festival, London Craft Week and The Saatchi Gallery.

Her studio is currently based in Oxfordshire. Lulu travels extensively working alongside glass chemists, glass studios and glass blowers around the UK and Europe, and with research, commercial and industry-based organisations to widen her creative research and collaborative work.

Lulu’s submission is Thames Glass, a project inspired by the idea of creating geo-specific glass using local, abundant and waste materials from one location or region. Growing up by the River Thames in Oxfordshire, Lulu wasdrawn to work with materials sourced from the area, including river sands, wood ashes, and waste quagga mussel shells from Thames Water.This project embodies circular glass production by integrating 21st-century waste materials into glassmaking.

Artist’s Statement

“As a researcher and maker in sustainable material development, I’m interested in creating glass artefacts inspired by primitive glass making and working with local and waste resources, with as little impact on the environment as possible. Through extensive research into ancient glassmaking techniques and conversations with glass historians

and archaeologists, I became fascinated by the localised nature of historical glass production – in particular the Forest Glass era of late medieval northwestern and central Europe. This was a period when

glass was often crafted using local resources from the surrounding environment, such as sand, trees, ferns, wood and clay.

Glassmakers were in essence able to create ‘geo-specific’ glasses according to the raw materials available. I am also interested in the different roles played within certain glasshouses, such as the ‘Maitre

Verrier’, also known as the glass house master, who would mix the batch and hold the secrets of its constitution.

My journey in glass started during my MA in Materials Futures at Central Saint Martins, which I graduated from in 2022. Having previously lived in Cornwall, I already had links with local fishermen and was particularly interested in working with waste from the fishing industry. I then began to experiment with waste shellfish, and soon discovered that limestone (i.e. shells) was in fact one of the main components used within soda-lime glass making. This began my interest in learning about the traditional craft practice and the history of glass making from raw ingredients to finished product.

Collaboration has played a huge part in my learning, and throughout my practice I have worked closely with glass scholars such as Dr. Chloe Duckworth and PEGG (The Post Disciplinary & Experimental Glass

Group), glass studios in both the UK and Murano, including Wave Murano Glass, The Glass Hub and Blowfish Gallery, and glassblowers such as Benjamin Lintell, KT Rothe, Sacha Delabre, Rosie Power, Ryan Ashcroft & Elliot Walker. Most recently I have become a Visiting Researcher at Sheffield/Hallam University, working in partnership with the Glass & Ceramic Research Group and experts Professor Paul Bingham and Dr. Sabrin Samaad to develop unique batch formulations, material testing and creative/industry connections.’’

luluharrisonstudio.com

About the Design Museum

The Design Museum is a multifaceted museum, an ever-changing space for the public, industry and education to come together and explore new ideas. ​ A registered charity, the museum's innovative exhibitions, partnerships, research and learning programmes evidence how design can enable this planet and its inhabitants to thrive. Our landmark building in Kensington is the centre of our national network and a global hub for the transformative potential of design. ​ ​

designmuseum.org ​

About Designtex

Ralph Saltzman was a key design figure whose curiosity and collaborative spirit is evident in the legacy of innovation he leaves behind and in Designtex, the company he founded nearly 60 years ago. Designtex's development of sustainable textiles and the partnership that emerged between William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart won First Prize in the International Design Sense competition at the Design Museum in 2000.

Designtex is the leading company in the design and manufacturing of applied materials for the built environment. ​ A recognized innovator known for their rigorous and dedicated approach to research and development of textiles and wallcoverings with reduced environmental impact. They share their ongoing insights and efforts toward greater sustainability through open patents and leadership within standard-setting industry organizations to benefit the industry as a whole.

For further information and press images please contact:

Christine Samuelian | Friends & Co

christine@friendsandco.co.uk | 07957 203 037