Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year's Core77 Design Awards 2013. We will be featuring these projects by category, so stay tuned for your favorite categories of design! For full details on the project, jury commenting and more information about the awards program, go to Core77DesignAwards.com.

• Project Name: Rocking Lump
• Designers: Michael Neville
• Cranbrook Academy of Art

The Rocking Lump is no ordinary cardboard chair. This project is my largest experiment with cardboard pulp to date. My goal was to create a chair that had a small ecological footprint and could double as both a rocking chair and an adult-sized rocking horse. This object is designed for enjoyment and play. Rocking Lump is designed for two primary sitting positions. In one, the user can lounge on the form, using the "handle" as a backrest. In the other position, the user rides the form as a rocking horse. Most importantly, this object showcases handmade construction.

- How did you learn that you had been recognized by the jury?

Honestly, I was alerted when my phone started vibrating. It woke me up! A few close friends were congratulating me about the award via text and Facebook. I really didn't believe it until I logged into my email to find the official announcement. It was a huge surprise! It was even more pleasant to learn that Ryan Pieper, a classmate of mine, had also been awarded in the same category!

- What's the latest news or development with your project?

I am continuing to work with paper pulp as a construction material for furniture making. However, the Rocking Lump is still the only adult-sized project with this material to date. I have been primarily producing child-sized rockers with the paper pulp. Conceptually, the link between the recyclable/biodegradable nature of the material and the short life span of a child's toy is much stronger to me. I am essentially producing toys that can be conscientiously disposed of. I am continuing to experiment with the qualities of the paper pulp itself. I am currently researching and producing natural dyes to color and pattern the surface of the pieces. I am also researching paper "recipes" to realize greater tensile strength and aesthetic variation. Concerns over the paper pulp's durability have led me to investigate natural finishes as well.

- What is one quick anecdote about your project?

The debut of the Rocking Lump was for my first-year review in February. This involves the Artists-In-Residence (AIRs) at Cranbrook visiting a curated space of yours to review and critique your work. It is a tense day, concluding weeks and weeks of work and anticipation. One of the AIRs silently walked about the room before sitting down in the Rocking Lump and commenced her critique of my work, all the while gently rocking back and forth and caressing its sides. At one point, the Academic Dean strolled though my review space and asked if he could ride it... times when you wish you had a camera!

- What was an "a-ha" moment from this project?

My "aha" moment came shortly after I saw the paper pulp crumble apart during construction. I begrudgingly began to rebuild the form, questioning my motives and worrying over the value of my time here in graduate school. Was the time this piece demanded worth it? What was this piece even intended to do? As I said in my original Q & A, the Rocking Lump was essentially a scaled up version of a smaller rocker I had previously produced. Beyond stretching the material limits of the paper pulp to achieve an adult-sized form, I was pretty clueless as to what my other goals for making it were. The "aha" came at this moment, when I fully realized the absurdity of what I was making and decided to embrace it. I remember it distinctly. I was making another batch of pulp (super labor-intensive) when it dawned on me that this project was about play to its core. The making was free play, formless and with little direction or aims. The outcome had little importance to me, its function various and loose. I went to sleep that night with a big smile on my face.

View the full project here.

• Project Name: High/Low Table
• Designer: Ryan Pieper
• Cranbrook Academy of Art

A table that can be positioned with either a 33" or 17" surface height. The top is constructed from solid maple (20" x 96" x 1.5"). The legs are made from welded 1.25" OD steel tubing (powdercoated blue). And there are four black neoprene rubber grommets.

- How did you learn that you had been recognized by the jury?

I was at work when Cranbrook alumni Mac Plumstead sent me an enthusiastic message.

- What's the latest news or development with your project?

It is under going a slight redesign and should be available for purchase in fall 2013. Please contact me through my website for more information.

- What is one quick anecdote about your project?

It was important to me that this design wasn't just a concept piece. It needed to actually work. I spent countless hours in the shop developing multiple engineering strategies to stabilize the table. Remember, there are no screws or fasteners. Despite coming up with many highly technical and over designed solutions, the simplest and most straightforward ended up being the best answer.

- What was an "a-ha" moment from this project?

When seven people sat on it and it didn't so much as sway or wiggle.

View the full project here.

Project Name: Profile chair Designer: Knauf and Brown Emily Carr University of Art and Design

The PROFILE CHAIR was our answer to everything we didn't like about folding chairs. Folding chairs are shy, coming out only when extra seating is needed. They are ashamed of their cluttered leg regions, complicated actions, and cheap materials.

The PROFILE CHAIR folds on a single axis. This cuts down on intersecting lines and gives the chair a minimal profile that takes up less visual space when open, and less physical space when closed.

PROFILE CHAIR is a chair that you can use everyday. The powder coated steel and solid larch make it equally at home indoors and outdoors.

- What's the latest news or development with your project?

We had the date bookmarked on our calendar, of course.

- What's the latest news or development with your project?

We are currently seeking a manufacturer for the Profile chair, in part so we can finally say "yes" to people asking us to buy it.

- What is one quick anecdote about your project?

The original planned finish for the chair was a burnt, charred and sealed finish on the wood, with a matte black powder coat on the steel, making for an all-black colour way. We imagine we would probably not have received the "creamy" comment from the Core77 jury.

- What was an "a-ha" moment from this project?

The entire project was a series of "a-ha" moments. However, the best one was the addition of the stretcher between the two rear legs. We didn't even want to put any stretchers between the legs, but we couldn't fully eliminate racking in the back legs. When we realized we couldn't do without a stretcher, it worked out in our favour, as we were able to simplify the mechanism even more by integrating the stretcher into the closing action. This is where the scallop underneath the seat comes from, as we needed a place for the stretcher to nest when the chair was closed.

View the full project here.