Curator Jan Boelen shaped the biennial on its 50th birthday into a designers' laboratory. Eleven groups tackled various topics, starting their work after an introductory conference in February that attracted more than 120 participants to Ljubljana.

The exhibition dubbed "3, 2, 1 TEST" shows prototypes, preliminary ideas and results of various tests, Boelen told the press ahead of the opening at the Museum of Architecture and Design.

Judging panel member, design critic Alice Rawsthorn, said that the selection of topics was very deliberate, reflecting the key issues in modern society.

The various projects tackled by participants from 20 countries were titled Accessible Life, Know Your Food, Public Water - Public Space, Walking in the City, Hidden Craftsmanship and Hacking Household Appliances, among others.

The winner of this year's biennial is the group dubbed "Nanotourism", which showed innovativeness of design in the relaunching of tourism, the judging panel said. The projects the group created are of incredible quality, the panel said.

Rawsthorn labelled BIO 50 en extraordinary lesson in cooperation, while Matevž Čelik, the director of the Museum of Architecture and Design, which organises the biennial, said the creative process of the past six months brought into focus a vast and rarely used potential of group creative process.

The exhibition which opened last evening will run until 7 December at the Museum of Architecture and Design, the Jakopič Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art. The best group project were awarded at the exhibition launch.

The biennial, which was first organised 50 years ago, will also showcase an accompanying exhibition dedicated to its history, featuring a selection of works exhibited in the past.