Japanese artist Kunimasa Aoki has won the 2025 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize for his terracotta sculpture Realm of Living Things 19. The €50,000 award recognizes his inventive approach to clay, using gravity, pressure, and smoke to shape coiled layers into a textured, cracked form. The jury, which included designers, architects, and curators like Patricia Urquiola and Olivier Gabet, praised Aoki’s work for its fresh take on traditional techniques and its raw, unfiltered expression.

Kunimasa Aoki

Two special mentions were also awarded. Nigerian designer Nifemi Marcus-Bello received recognition for TM Bench with Bowl, a piece made from recycled car aluminum that comments on global trade and consumption. Meanwhile, India’s Studio Sumakshi Singh was noted for Monument, a life-size copper thread recreation of a 12th-century colonnade. The delicate structure, woven into dissolving fabric, reflects the endurance of cultural memory despite time’s wear.

Nifemi Marcus-Bello

Sumakshi Singh

This year’s finalists (selected from over 4,600 submissions across 133 countries) reimagine age-old crafts in unexpected ways, from weaving metal like cloth to reshaping clay with modern methods. Their works will be displayed at Madrid’s Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum this summer, alongside an online exhibition.

Since 2016, the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize has celebrated skill and creativity in craftsmanship, staying true to the brand’s roots as a 19th-century workshop. This year’s selection proves that even in a digital age, hands-on artistry still speaks powerfully.