Hasta La Ideas

We took the Core77 1 Hour Design Challenge on the road to “A Better World by Design,” last weekend, a 3 day student-run conference at Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University. Focusing on climate change, slum living, and over-dependence on fossil fuels, the underlying message of the conference was how individuals can (and have) effect change by empowering communities to collaborate and act now.

If the 1 Hour Design Challenge is the kind of activity you save for a rainy day, that day arrived in full force last Saturday. Breaking for lunch, attendees were put into small teams, given a large sketch pad, sharpies, and this design challenge:

For this Live 1 Hour Design Challenge, Core77 invites you to redefine, redesign, and re-imagine… “The Next TV Dinner.”

The TV Dinner, first introduced to the world in 1953, promised convenience, affordability, and a revolutionary way to serve meals to your family. As the advertisements proclaimed, there was “No Work Before” and “No Dishes After!”

In 2009, the landscapes of consumption, food, health and entertainment have seen radical change: Childhood obesity is up 400%. The average American household has a TV playing for 8 hours and 14 minutes every day. 66% of Americans regularly watch television while eating dinner. Add to these statistics the reduction of time families spend eating meals together, the onslaught of processed foods into our diets, and the widespread use of unsustainable food packaging, and you’ve got a area ripe for design intervention

THE LIVE CHALLENGE

Most teams stuck closely to brief (an instant meal), addressing issues of nutrition, locally sourced food, closed loop systems for delivery, recycling and various takes on cloud based apps with user profiles, rating meals and netflix-style ordering systems.

A number of entries incorporated an educational component ranging from healthy eating tips to conversational topic starters for the dinner table. Surprisingly there wasn’t a single twitter-based entry and only one iPhone App. The vibe was great, there was a lot of valuable dialogue and it created an opportunity for participants to mix with each other in a meaningful way–especially given the diverse background of attendees and age range.

Click through to see the finalists & winning entry.

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If you’re in NYC tonight, be sure to come on out to the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum for a panel discussion, reception, and book signing to celebrate the launch Design Revolution: 100 Products that Empower People, by Project H founder Emily Pilloton. (Read Core77’s interview with Emily here!)

Emily will be joined on the panel by Cooper-Hewitt Curator Cynthia Smith, Core77’s Allan Chochinov (author of the book’s foreword), and Metropolis Magazine Editor-in-Chief Susan Szenasy. A book signing to follow with books available for sale. Design for a Living World, an exhibition on view at the Cooper-Hewitt, will be open from 5:30 – 6:30 pm preceding.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 6th, 6:30 pm
WHERE: Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, 2 East 91st Street New York, NY, 10128
HOW MUCH: $10/$15 (Member/Non-Member)
MORE INFO: via the Cooper Hewitt website
REGISTER: RSVP for this event via the Cooper Hewitt’s event registration HERE

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Doing it for the Kids was an exhibition of sustainable play design, presented by [re]design at 100% Design in London. It explored play types, the importance of play in child development, how toys help mould our kids’ values and how they impact on the environment. The exhibition presented examples of sustainable toys and other play resources, to inspire designers, educators and parents to be more critical and creative.

Shown above is a video where Andrew Duffy from Myfirst presented their Rotational Moulding DIY machine, to explore sustainability, re-using old plastic packaging and toys and combining them into new toys – made from Bio resin with the use of recycled house hold packaging for the moulds.

Featured above is the modular play environment PLAY+SOFT, presented by Feelgood Designs, who believe that good design can have a profound influence on child development, learning and the quality of play. They therefore supply contemporary furniture to create beautiful and stimulating environments for children.

The Australian company makedo showed their reusable connector system that enables the creation of objects and spaces from found materials. It aims to inspire people to see new value in things around them.

Click for more pictures!

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The Telling Tales exhibition in the Victoria and Albert Museum explored the recent trend among European designers for unique or limited edition pieces that push the boundaries between art and design. It showcased furniture, lighting and ceramics, designed by a new generation of international designers, including Tord Boontje, Maarten Baas, Jurgen Bey and Studio Job, who are all inspired by the spirit of story-telling. Each tells a tale through their use of decorative devices, historical allusions or choice of materials, sharing common themes such as fantasy, parody and a concern with mortality.

Click for more pictures!

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