Vancouver-based architect and designer Omer Arbel, who runs an eponymous design office, is having a hell of a year. His designs for the 2010 Olympics and Paralympics medals, which featured artwork by artist Corinne Hunt, won one of I.D. Magazine's last design awards before they folded;

Earlier this week, the upcoming World Architecture Festival shortlisted Arbel's 23.2 House design, based around recycled Douglas Fir beams; and just yesterday Arbel won the biannual $10,000 Ronald J. Thom Award for Early Design Achievement, awarded by the Canadian Arts Council, for his body of work as a whole.

"Omer Arbel creates an extensive range of objects, from practical to symbolic, with wonderful playfulness. He roots his designs in concept, engages the properties of a broad palette of materials and clearly values engineering," the jury wrote. "A deep interest in both serial production and custom fabrication allows him to expand beyond the normal bounds of professional architectural practice."

Our favorite project of Arbel's is his cast resin 2.4 Chair from 2003, below.

Check out the rest of Arbel's work here.