Electrolux announces this year’s top nine Design Lab finalists in its global competition with the iGeneration theme. After Levente Szabó’s 2007 win this year there are two Hungarian students among the finalists.

Apor Püspöki, Hungarian finalist ( Image © Electrolux )

Attila Sáfrány: Stratosphere ( Image © Electrolux )

Electrolux, a global leader in home appliances, has chosen nine finalists to compete for first place in Electrolux Design Lab ’08 finals in Zurich, Switzerland, on October 9, 2008, where an international jury of renowned designers and experts will judge the entries and select a winner.

For Design Lab’s sixth edition, Electrolux invited undergraduate and graduate industrial design students to create tomorrow’s home appliances for the Internet generation. Submissions should be for 2-3 years into the future and address food storage, cooking, and/or washing. More than 600 entries were received from 49 countries around the world.

The nine finalists are:

• Sook: the social networking recipe generator with electronic tongue, by Adam Brodowski, Savannah College of Art and Design, USA.

• Coox: the rollaway cooking table, by Antoine Lebrun, L’Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique, France.

• E-bag: the kinetic energy-powered cooler bag, by Apor Püspöki, Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design, Budapest, Hungary.

• Stratosphere: the sanitizing clothes rack/valet, by Attila Sáfrány, Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design, Budapest, Hungary.

• iBasket: the Wi-Fi-connected clothes hamper and washing machine, by Guopeng Liang, Tongji University, China.

• Vesta: the foldaway cooktop with RFID scanner, by Matthias Pinkert, HTW Dresden (FH) University of Applied Sciences, Germany.

• Drawer Kitchen: the desk-drawer hotplate and fridge, by Nojae Park, Chiba University, Japan.

• Flatshare: the modular fridge solution for shared living spaces, by Stefan Buchberger, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria.

• Scan Toaster: the USB toaster that prints news, weather and snapshots onto slices of toast, by Sung Bae Chang, Sejong University, South Korea.

The main criteria are the originality of the concept, loyalty to Electrolux brand values, the creativeness of the design, consumer insight, and the degree to which the concept reflects such iGeneration core interests and concerns as mobility, convenience, time, materials, personalization, entertaining, technology, and sustainability.

The competition targets the upper-age segment of the Internet Generation (25-35) comprising brand-conscious, busy young professionals who are independent, concerned about the environment, and whose lives are intertwined with technology and online social networks.

“We received daring ideas and solutions,” says Henrik Otto, Senior Vice President of Global Design at Electrolux.

October finals in Zurich

The nine finalists are invited to participate in the final event October 9 in Zurich, Switzerland, where an international jury of designers and experts will review the finalist entries and select a winner. The Design Lab 2008 has a First Prize of 5,000 Euro and a six-month internship at one of the Electrolux global design centers. The second prize is 3,000 Euro and third prize 2,000 Euro.

Electrolux Design Lab has led directly to jobs and business opportunities in the design field for many of the contestants over the years. For example, three finalists are currently employed in one of the Electrolux Global Design centers. Others have gone on to found successful design businesses of their own.

About Design Lab

Since 2003, thousands of design students have participated in the Electrolux Design Lab competition, which every year has a different theme (2007 green designs; 2006 healthy eating) and culminates in a different city at an international press event. Previous venues include Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm, New York, and Budapest.

Last year’s competition “Green designs for 2020” was won by Levente Szabó from Moholy-Nagy University of Arts & Design, Hungary, with E-wash, a compact washing machine that uses soap nuts instead of detergent.

source: hg.hu