Hasta La Ideas

Over the next months we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year’s Core77 Design Awards! For full details on the project, jury commenting and more information about the awards program, go to Core77DesignAwards.com

Designer: Felix Chun Lam & Joe Kenworthy
Location: Richmond, Canada
Category: Furniture/Lighting
Award: Student Notable

Alcove

Alcove is a ceiling storage partition intended for seasonal items in small homes. The concept is to utilize the ceiling in such way that the unit becomes a part of the architecture. Soft lighting and minimal form interplays to create a functional aspect to the ceiling without compromising floor space.

Like all other design projects, our project began with market research to see what existing products are already out there. We looked extensively into resource furniture and “space-saving” solutions, and analyzed it critically against our own criteria. One particular example that we looked into was Murphy-Beds that claim to free up space when the bed is hidden away into the wall. This naturally means that the space in front of the wall will always need to be clear in order for the system to be effective. And according our brief and criteria, that is not using the available space to its best potential.

Another example, elevator bed rides on the similar principles as Murphy beds except the bed elevates into the ceiling. The nature of the stationary time that beds take makes this type of “space-saving” system ineffective because during the time not in use, the area will always need to be free. This market research helped us further identify the problem, the opportunity and challenges. Low res prototyping and iterations helped us pin point concept that fulfill our criteria and weed out the impractical ones. Because one of our goals for the design is to allow it to become apart of the architecture, we moved quickly into full scale iterations to get the feeling in terms of scale and spatial qualities. We are certainly no contractors and engineers; therefore, we relied primarily research on existing mechanism that can cater to our design and make it a reality.

During the prototyping process, with a little modification to existing parts we have replicated what we envision the design to achieve. Our design process isn’t complete without a thorough process of user and ergonomics testing. In a six participant focus group, we gathered data points that support the feasibility and acceptability of the concept. After a working prototype was completed we held a user trial to test the practicality and ergonomic factors of the prototype. All in all, the outcome of the design came from rigorous testing, trial and error and endless critical questioning.

Core77: What’s the latest news or development with your project?

Several investors who wanted to further develop and commercialize our idea have approached us. Of course our project is in its infancy stage and there are practicality and engineering issues that still need to be worked on and resolved. We realize that the project still has deficiencies as pointed out by the jury team. However, we’ve also realized, as well as pointed out by the jury team, that our project has set precedence of an unconventional categorization of the furniture and storage design. We will continue to explore the possibilities of this “usual” category with hopes that it will shed light on solutions that will solve common problems society will encounter.

What is 1 quick anecdote about your project?

When working on a project that involves the ceiling, make sure you have a ceiling to work with. Our studio at the Emily Carr University has particularly high concrete ceilings with a variety of vents, pipes and cords winding their way throughout. So if you were not one of our fellow ID classmates or faculties from ECU, you wouldn’t know that we actually had to construct our own functional floating, suspended ceiling in order to accommodate our project. When looking back at the project as a whole, the building, constructing and receiving permission to proceed with the ceiling, was almost more work than building our actual project itself. We always joked how if we knew in advance that dealing with the ceiling was this much work, we would have picked a much smaller venture to tackle. After this project, we finally understand why few people play around with the ceiling, it is truly one back breaking nut to crack! Technical difficulties and engineering complexities discourage many keen designers and inventors to tackle problems with the ceiling.

Read on for full details on the project and jury comments.

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Over the next months we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year’s Core77 Design Awards! For full details on the project, jury commenting and more information about the awards program, go to Core77DesignAwards.com

Designer: Hannah Duffy
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Category: Strategy/Research
Award: Student Winner

Senseables

Senseables, an outerwear and footwear solution addressing the needs of children with autism through touch sensitivity, learning tools for independence, and style and peer acceptance.

The problem I set out to solve was how to improve the daily life routine for children with autism. What inspired me to choose this topic, was hearing my Aunt Toni talk about my 7-year old cousin, Liam, and his challenges with autism. The next week I was listening to the news and heard how over 1 in 110 children in the United States has autism. I knew this was a sign that I had found my opportunity; I wanted to better the lives of children with autism through design. I knew this topic would be challenging, provide a social and large impact, would be rewarding, and of course would require in-depth primary and secondary research. I was ecstatic to finally work on something that meant something to me and would prove to have a purpose in the world.

Core77: How did you learn that you had been recognized by the jury?

The morning the Core 77 Design Award Strategy/Research category
aired I watched it streaming live from Italy. I was so ecstatic to
hear them announce my project and name as a winner that I almost
didn’t believe it. I immediately ran and told family and friends; it
was a great moment!

What’s the latest news or development with your project?

I am currently revisiting my senior thesis project, Senseables; I
am eager to perfect both my footwear and outerwear designs. I am
interested in manufacturing my products one day in hopes to obtain my
ultimate goal of actually improving the self worth of children with
autism.

What is one quick anecdote about your project?

My favorite memory of working on my project, was when I
implemented the Sticky Manifesto, a design research analysis method
using hundreds of sticky notes, all over my dorm room walls.

Read on for full details on the project and jury comments.

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Over the next months we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year’s Core77 Design Awards! For full details on the project, jury commenting and more information about the awards program, go to Core77DesignAwards.com

Designer: fuseproject – Yves Behar
Location: San Francisco, California, USA
Category: Furniture/Lighting
Award: Winner

Herman Miller SAYL Chair

The Herman Miller SAYL chair combines innovative technology and high design in an affordable breakthrough chair that sets new standards of performance, quality and appearance. SAYL has a full-suspension back that is literally frameless, giving it both unique support and an iconic form.

We took an eco-dematerialised approach, removing excess materials while maintaining a high level of quality. In completely re-thinking every design element, we created a better, smarter chair that sets a new standard for performance and aesthetics. By eliminating as much material as possible, we shaped each functional piece to be beautiful, expressive and tactile, revealing structural innovations like the Y-tower and ArcSpan as critical elements in the ergonomics and design aesthetic.

One of the distinguishing elements of SAYL is its frameless full-suspension back. Different degrees of tension are infused into the injection-molded back’s proprietary material, providing comprehensive support. The 3-D intelligence that this design provides lets the chair adapt to individual shape and movements.
The arc of the suspension back also gives SAYL its unique shape. The elegant form easily slips into any space giving a sense of visual lightness and transparency. With a sense of humility, it attempts to achieve high-tactility design rather than a visual statement.

Eco-dematerialization contributed to the chair’s aesthetics, but also reduced the process’ impact on the earth. Producing the chairs on three continents decreases the distance between factory and buyer. Chairs ship ready to assemble in half-size boxes, reducing waste. The materials used in production are sustainable and the SAYL chair is targeted to achieve MBDC Cradle to Cradle Silver, BIFMA level 2 and GREEN GUARD certifications.

Core77: What’s the latest news or development with your project?

The SAYL chair family is currently available, both online and at retail, in many colors and finishes. The translucent back, a huge material innovation, will soon be available, along with other new material offerings. We are also working towards upgrading our current Cradle to Cradle Silver level to Gold!

What is 1 quick anecdote about your project?

“Build it, Break it, and repeat until it is right” This is a mantra we used throughout the design process of SAYL. Instead of simply approaching this project as another chair design for Herman Miller, we wanted to do it differently. By growing the chair from the ground up and using the build, break, repeat mantra, we were able to innovate all parts of the SAYL chair. The frameless suspended back material is an innovation that reduces material used, increases dynamic comfort, encourages movement, and is lower cost too.

Read on for full details on the project and jury comments.

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Over the next months we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year’s Core77 Design Awards! For full details on the project, jury commenting and more information about the awards program, go to Core77DesignAwards.com

Designer: Derek Bennion
Location: Macomb, Michigan, USA
Category: Design for Social Impact
Award: Student Runner-Up


Coral RASA

The Coral RASA is a coral reef monitoring device, which features a 360° rotational camera, hydrophone, water tester, and bleaching detection. Reefs provide billions of people with food, tourism revenue, coastal protection, and new medications worth $375 billion/year. They’re among the least monitored and protected natural habitats in the world.

I wanted to create a device that really would improve upon the current methods of monitoring the coral reefs. Much of it involves diving down to the reefs with charts and comparing colors and data while underwater. The goal was to minimize the amount of dives needed, and to maximize the amount of data retrieved. Making sure this device wasn’t too invasive to the life in the corals, was also a challenge. This is why i decided to have be mounted into the floor rather than in or on the corals.

Core77: What’s the latest news or development with your project?

Currently my project is still in the conceptual stage, but I am entering it in a couple more competitions.The ultimate goal is to win some award money so that I can bring my concept to fruition.

What is one quick anecdote about your project?

The original design brief for my project was very broad, it was basically just to create something that will benefit our environment. So i began researching current issues, and eventually stumbled upon the coral reefs. Then, I knew that I was going to be able to have alot of fun designing this product. The coral reefs have so many unique forms, types, and colors…all of which were very inspiring.

Read on for full details on the project and jury comments.

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Over the next months we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year’s Core77 Design Awards! For full details on the project, jury commenting and more information about the awards program, go to Core77DesignAwards.com

Designers: Jon Fraser, Ruby Steel, Hal Watts, Khushbu Dublish, D Toppo
Location: London, UK & Ahmedabad, India
Category: Design for Social Impact
Award: Student Notable

Made In The Dark

Made in the Dark scented jewellery is made by blind craftswomen using smell to enhance their skills. Using a new colour-scent language, blind artisans can design the aesthetics and fragrances of the products they create. This craft will provide income and improved social standing for blind people across India.

The combination of local and international designers gave our team a unique approach to the project. We combined foreign viewpoints with in-depth local knowledge to inform our design process. Initially our goal was to improve the quality of life of blind people by providing them with a sustainable income. However, we soon realised that improving their position within society was equally important, as social stigma was a major problem. A survey conducted by the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology found that 70% of people agreed with the statement “losing your sight means losing yourself”. Addressing this problem became a major focus of our project as improvements in this area would impact the blind community as a whole. We also discovered that 80% percent of blindness in India is avoidable, as it is caused by factors such as sunlight and poor nutrition. Our team decided that generating awareness of this problem was also important, and this became a key factor in creating the Made in the Dark brand.

Core77: How did you learn that you had been recognized by the jury?

We all met up at our studio in the Royal College of Art to watch the live announcement. It was oddly quiet because of the summer break so the tension was high beforehand, but we made plenty of noise when our project was commended by the judges!

Core77: What’s the latest news or development with your project?

Our team is currently in talks with a major Indian retailer, who strongly supports the new craft and the goals of the Made in the Dark brand. We hope to see the craft of scent-beading established by early 2010, and the jewellery available in the Indian market shortly thereafter.

Made in the Dark will also be the centrepiece of an RCA and NID published book which will tell the story of our project as well as numerous other collaborations between the two institutions.

What is 1 quick anecdote about your project?

“My favourite smell is apple”, this was the quote that inspired our project. Veenu said this to us when we met her at a local charity in Gujarat. She had been blind since birth, was elderly, unmarried, and had struggled to find work all her life. But surprisingly, she could thread a necklace faster than any of the members of our design team! However, it was Veenu’s declaration about her love of the smell of apples that was the pivotal moment for us. Smell is rarely used in the design of objects, but for blind people it is one of their primary senses. By incorporating smell into the jewellery beads that Veenu was so familiar with, we were able to provider her with an exciting, innovative and profitable craft; as well as a new found creativity in designing through scent.

Read on for full details on the project and jury comments.

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