Hasta La Ideas

The top three winning refrigerator designs of Samsung’s Bespoke Design Contest have been revealed after over 1,500 custom designs were submitted.

Samsung household appliances have been trusted by homeowners for years. In an effort to make their collection of refrigerators more unique to their consumers’ tastes and to reflect the appliance’s standard of dependability, Samsung hosted their Bespoke Design Contest with Wallpaper* Magazine. Between July 7 and August 4, 2021, 1,581 designs were submitted to the contest, a number narrowed down to three one-of-a-kind designs that were voted on by the public.

The contest’s top 50 designs were hand-selected by a panel of judges comprised of Wallpaper* editor-in-chief Sarah Douglas, Senior Vice President and Head of Design for Samsung Digital Appliances Harry Choi, Senior Vice President and Head of Samsung Design Europe, Felix Heck, interior designer Kelly Hoppen CBE, and artist Yinka Ilori. Following their announcement, Samsung invited their followers to vote for the contest’s top 15 designs by “liking” their posts on Samsung Bespoke’s Instagram.

At the top of the podium, Rita Louis’s “Lost Landscape” looks to walks in nature for inspiration. Taking cues from the subtle nuances of natural landscapes, Louis bedecked her off-white modular refrigerator system with splatters and thick brushstrokes of royal blue paint. Lauded for its “artistic, light and inspiring,” personality, “Lost Landscape” was voted for with enthusiasm from Samsung, Wallpaper*, and the general public.

Right beside Rita Louis’s creation, “Foodie” by Weronika Slifierz takes a different approach to custom design. Borrowing the color scheme of popular illustrations from the ‘90s, Slifierz coated her refrigerator in cartoons of food imagery. Sushi, watermelon, avocados, ramen, and a good ole’ carton of OJ grace the double doors of Slifierz’s refrigerator, serving to wet the tastebuds before a good, healthy meal, which Slifierz believes we should all indulge in every day.

“Nestled,” from Ioana Sabau was inspired by the company that food brings. Describing this, Sabau explains, “food brings people together, and…the time we spend in the kitchen can be [time spent] connecting with each other.” Noting the project’s particular use of abstract colors, Heck remarks, “The colors, the scale, the symmetry, and the cute, cartoony abstraction create a uniqueness and beauty that make me feel positive [about] this beautiful little love story.”

Designer: Samsung Bespoke Design Contest