KUALA LUMPUR: The Asia Young Designer Award (AYDA) invites young talented architects and designers to participate in the award before the closing date on October 3, 2017.

Organised by Nippon Paint Malaysia Group in collaboration with IJM Land Bhd, the paint company celebrated the tenth edition of its premier annual design competition, which has impacted more than 10,000 young and talented students designers across 15 countries in Asia.

AYDA 2017 is open to Architecture students (third year diploma onwards) and Interior Design students (second year diploma onwards). Interested participants could visit www.asiayoungdesigneraward.com for more information.

According to statement, over 4,500 architecture and interior design students have participated in this prestigious competition since its introduction in 2008.

Currently, AYDA has extended its reach to 15 other countries across Asia namely Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Thailand, Pakistan, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India and Sri Lanka.

“Through AYDA, we believe with every year that we are able to nurture the new generation as they are the key foundation in establishing a design community guided by creativity and innovation,” said Nippon Paint Malaysia Group group general manager Gladys at the celebration of AYDA’s tenth year anniversary. The event also marked the roll out of the AYDA 2017 competition theme “You for Tomorrow: Future Living as Envisioned Today”.

IJM Land Bhd managing director Edward Chong said, “We are really pleased to be collaborating with Nippon Paint again this year on this competition as we too see the need to create stronger bonds between design education and industry.”

To provide design students the opportunity to sharpen their skills and knowledge, the AYDA XChange platform invites reputable and renowned industry captains as guest speakers to impart their experience and passion. The speakers include Gade Design Workshop co-founder Tang Hsiao Seak and HL Design Group director Martin Haeger.

The past winners of AYDA will also share their thoughts and experience through engaging workshops, in which the design students were given the opportunity to learn the processes of designing solutions for various spaces.

The culmination of AYDA takes place at the Regional Learning Programme, which plays host to gold winners from each of the 15 competing countries for the coveted regional finals of the Platinum Award with USD1,000 prize each for the Architecture and Interior Design categories.

This year, Malaysia will play host as home country for the AYDA Regional Learning Programme in celebration of its tenth year milestone.

AYDA is supported by Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KETTHA), Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM), Real Estate and Housing Development Association Youth Malaysia (REHDA Youth), Malaysia Green Building Confederation (MGBC) and Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia (CIDB).