The 'Folding Plug' has won the product design category of the Brit Insurance Designs Awards, "the Oscars of the design world," which showcase the most innovative and forward thinking designs from around the world.
The UK Folding Plug transforms from a bulky three-pin plug into a portable, hassle-free plug ideal for people on the go. When not in use, the UK Folding Plug transforms into a 10 mm-thick flat object.
A product range built around this design will be launched in 2010.
The plug is exhibited from now until June 6th 2010.
eVolo has announced the winners of the 2010 Skyscraper Competition.
The Jury selected 3 winners and 27 special mentions among 430 entries from 42 countries.
Globalization, sustainability, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution, were some of the multi-layered elements taken into consideration.
Vertical Prison The first place was awarded to a project for a vertical prison designed by architecture students Chow Khoon Toong, Ong Tien Yee, and Beh Ssi Cze, from Malaysia. Their project examines the possibility of creating a prison-city in the sky, where the inmates would live in a “free” and productive community with agricultural fields and factories that would support the host city below.
Water Purification Skyscraper in Jakarta The recipients of the second place are Rezza Rahdian, Erwin Setiawan, Ayu Diah Shanti, and Leonardus Chrisnantyo, from Indonesia, whose project ‘Ciliwung Recovery Program’ aims to purify and repair the Ciliwung River habitat. The building is designed as an ingenious habitable machine that would collect garbage, purify water, and provide housing to thousands of people that live in the slums along the river.
Nested Skyscraper in Tokyo The third place was awarded to Ryohei Koike and Jarod Poenisch, from the United States, for their project ‘Nested Skyscraper’ that explores robotic construction techniques for a novel structure of carbon sleeves and fiber-laced concrete. The building is a system of multiple layers of composite louvers which thicken and rotate according to solar exposure, ventilation, and materials performance.
Among the special mentions there are skyscrapers used as bridges that link different territories, cities in the sky powered by renewable energies, instant deployable buildings for disaster zones, skyscrapers that purify and desalinate sea water, or high-rises that commemorate historic dates. Other proposals create new pedestrian layers for existing cities. Some use the latest building technologies and parametric design to configure environmentally conscious self-sufficient buildings, while others create city-like buildings where different programs are mixed in one structure.
Established in 2006, the annual Skyscraper Competition recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the use of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organization. The award seeks to discover young talents whose ideas will change the way we understand architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments.
The METI school (Modern Education and Training Institute) building was built by experts and volunteers from Germany and Austria together with craftsmen, teachers, parents and students from Bangladesh from September to December 2005.
In order to create jobs and to build up a capacity for producing sustainable architecture it is essential to include local workers in the building process. Training through “learning by doing” should help the local craftsmen to improve the standards and condition of the rural housing in general.
Thick walls assure a comfortable climate on the ground floor of the building. Sunlight and ventilation can be regulated through the use of shutters. The vertical garden façade shades the openings in the walls and protects the natural earthen walls from erosion through rainfall and helps reduce the indoor temperature through evaporation...
To test the construction techniques, joints and bearing strength of the ceiling, a 3 m long test section was built as well as small part of the roof beam construction. These constructions were then tested and analysed in the laboratory to ascertain their structural capacity. The results of the tests led to modifications in the construction technique.
StickSafe is an award-winning medical innovation that will significantly reduce the incidence of needlestick injuries, protecting healthcare workers from potentially life-threatening diseases. As well as reducing the associated costs of treating these injuries, it will simultaneously reduce the cost of sharps waste in hospitals.
Needlestick injuries are accidental skin puncture wounds caused by needles and other medical sharps, after they have already been used to treat patients. Such injuries are a daily risk to healthcare workers, occuring in the course of performing routine and frequent procedures using needles. Needlesticks carry the risk of infection of many potentially lethal diseases including HIV and Hepatitis, which can require a lengthy and expensive treatment process, including tracing the source of contact, blood tests, post-exposure drug prophylaxis and, in instances of proven infection, long term drug treatment. In the UK alone, needlesticks are the second biggest cause of injury in the NHS, affecting over 100,000 healthcare workers, and costing the NHS at least £300 million per year in prevention and treatment.
Michael Korn, an industrial design student at London's Royal College of Art, decided to look more closely into the issue as part of a healthcare design project. Through the College's Helen Hamlyn Centre, Korn was paired with medics from St Mary's Hospital, spending weeks observing ward practices. The result was a complete redesign of the paper-pulp trays used by nursing staff and a completely new way of using them. Korn's invention, called StickSafe, incorporates a special safely feature that allows one-handed safe use of needles.
StickSafe is a simple, environmentally friendly, low cost device that can significantly reduce needlestick injuries from hypodermic needles and vacutainers. Its innovative design intuitively encourages healthcare workers to adopt safer workplace practices. StickSafe is a redesigned medical tray, which incorporates a patented, easy-to-use clutch mechanism, that allows the healthcare worker to safely unsheath the needle from the cap, and once they have completed their procedure, then allows them to safely recap the needle. The risk of carrying an unsheathed needle around a busy ward is eliminated, and as needles can now be disposed of capped instead of uncapped, so too is the risk of needlesticks from incorrect disposal. StickSafe will also greatly reduce the amount of sharps waste, as the needle can now be disposed of without the syringe attached. In the UK, this means a potential cost saving for the NHS of £160 million.
The project was developed in collaboration with the Norwegian Design team, Norway Says and encompasses lighting and furniture elements from bollards to bicycle stands through to a bench. The formal concept is carried throughout the range and enables planners to create an esthetically coherent cityscape, something which also convinced the iF Award judging panel.
The judging criteria for the award included, amongst other things, the quality of the design, workmanship, choice of material, degree of innovation, environmental impact and functionality. ewo managed to convince the top-class judging panel composed of international experts with their product range 'Up'.
ewo is responsible for the development of the technology and Norway Says for the design of the product range.
The international expert judges for the iF Award judged 2,486 entries from 39 countries, 778 of which received the label for design excellence.
American company Trufig creates flush-mounting system that seamlessly integrates every day devices and technologies—including light switches, data jacks, and speakers into a wall or ceiling. Trufig offers an aesthetically pleasing approach to integrating those can’t-live-without items into the architecture.
Each year, Wallpaper* magazine celebrates a year’s worth of beautiful designs, bright ideas, movements, and creative shakes from around the world at an annual awards ceremony held in London.
Trufig was founded in 2008 by Scott Struthers and Geoff Spencer, founders of Dana Innovations, parent company of Sonance® and iPort®. Founded in 1982, Dana Innovations’ legacy of standard-setting design includes the world’s first high-fidelity in-wall speaker system, the world’s first integrated in-wall iPod® docking station, and the reigning design standard for architectural audio—the flush-mounted Sonance Architectural Series speaker system.
Material ConneXion announced the launch of its first annual medium award for material of the year, naming UK-based company Concrete Canvas’s Concrete Cloth as the inaugural winner.
Concrete Cloth’s groundbreaking cement impregnated flexible fabric technology, which allows it to be quickly and easily molded and set into shapes, is a natural choice for 2009’s winner.
“With the simple addition of water, Concrete Cloth makes it possible
to create safe, durable, non-combustible structures for a wide range of
commercial, military and humanitarian uses,” says Dr. Andrew H. Dent,
Vice President, Library & Materials Research at Material ConneXion.
“This innovation is especially remarkable for enabling the construction
of rapidly deployable shelter and food storage structures in disaster
relief situations,” Dent adds.
Concrete Cloth has been chosen as winner for its groundbreaking cement impregnated flexible fabric technology that can be quickly and easily molded and set into shapes. This innovation is remarkable for enabling the quick construction of safe and insulated infrastructure for a wide range of humanitarian, commercial, and military uses, including the creation of rapidly deployable shelter and food storage structures in disaster relief situations.
The award recognizes materials juried into the company’s Materials Library within the past year that demonstrate outstanding technological innovation and the potential to make a significant contribution to the advancement of design, industry, society and economy.
Award-Winner and 11 Finalists to be showcased in an Exhibition at Material ConneXion, from January 11 to February 19, 2010
A palm-sized modular toy created by Kelly Harrigan, a fourth-year industrial design student in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech, has been awarded a design patent.
The toy, named Ferra, won first place last year from Swiss Toymaker Naef Speilzeug.
Naef asked for game or design objects appropriate for ages 3 to 99, made primarily of wood. There were 107 entries in the company's inaugural toy competition.
Harrigan layered the wooden shapes of her toy with magnets "because people are fascinated by them at any age," she said.
"I wanted to design a toy that makes you want to experiment and learn about the capabilities of magnetism." The name, Ferra, came from the type of magnet she used -- a ceramic magnet called ferrite. "The curvy modular design allows for smooth movement between pieces and the opportunity to create several configurations," added Harrigan. "And it feels good in your palm."
Industrial designer Hannu Kähönen (born 1948) has received the Kaj
Franck Design Prize 2009.
Hannu Kähönen graduated in 1971 from the
University of Art and Design Helsinki. He is a versatile expert in
design, whose perspective ranges from the practical design work to
national design policy. He has helped to develop the field through his
work in national and international positions of trust. Hannu Kähönen
has also written about design and has taught design at the university
level.
photo: Liisa Valonen
"Design is no longer the creation and development of new models. Instead, it has become a notable competitive factor. At present it is difficult to find any significant innovations with reference to old concepts. Design today must take note of the environmental issues – the requirements of sustainable design and changing needs of people and a population that is ageing. Pure materials, ecological and service design solutions will stay important issues in the future”, tells Hannu Kähönen.
Padlock series, 1994 Abloy
Ava, Abloy
Scala bus, 1999-2001
Helsinki city tram, 1996-1998
Trice chair, 1980-1985
2F-chair, 2005
Bamboom party fork
Metal detector, 1984
The Kaj Franck Design Prize of 2009 – Hannu Kähönen 30 October–29 November 2009 Design Forum Finland, Erottajankatu 7, Helsinki Free entrance
Swedish design student Rickard Hederstierna from Lund University wins Electrolux Design Lab 2009 with his concept 'Cocoon', the meat and fish maker.
'Cocoon' is a sustainable response to the world’s growing population and its desire to consume meat and fish. Similar to heating popcorn in a microwave, Cocoon prepares pre-packaged meat and fish dishes by heating muscle cells identified by radio frequency identification (RFID) signals. The signals detect the specific dish and then suggest the required cooking time. This process uses science to create food, lifting a burden on the planet by reducing the need for further intensive farming and fishing.
Jury's motivation: “Cocoon addresses a controversial issue that is very real: humankind’s continued desire to eat meat and fish. A great design concept polarizes opinion, and this is exactly what Cocoon achieves by exploring this issue. An inviting, tactile design, the Cocoon resembles a gemstone with a metal accent reflecting the heritage of the Swedish art-glass industry. Cocoon meets all of the brief’s criteria: it is daring, cutting edge and truly innovative in its focus on social and environmental issues.”
The Electrolux Design Lab 2009 award is a prize of EUR 5,000 and a six-month paid internship at one of Electrolux global design centers.
A life-saving student design that could replace the smoke alarm as the essential home gadget has won the international James Dyson Award.
Automist, which was chosen from the final shortlist by inventor James Dyson, can both detect fires and put them out by aerosolising the water from a standard kitchen tap.
Automist can be fitted directly onto any standard kitchen tap to create domestic alternative to a sprinkler system. In the event of a fire, a wireless heat detector triggers the under-sink pump driving water through a nozzle – quickly filling the kitchen with a fine mist to put out the blaze.
London product design graduates, Yusuf Muhammed and Paul Thomas, will receive a £10,000 cash prize. There university department at the Royal College of Art will also receive £10,000.
James Dyson appreciated the inventors’ ingenuity, saying, “This simple but clever device should become a permanent safety feature in the home. Smoke alarms are essential part of modern life but have remained fundamentally unchanged for forty years. Automist not only detects a fire but can put it out as well.”
60% of domestic fires originate in the kitchen. Each year more than 400,000 fires occur in US homes, resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries.
The idea for the design came from a brainstorming session with a number of firemen at Chelsea Fire Brigade in London. The team worked on the design with trauma and stress experts, fire engineers, international sprinkler specialists and fire fighters. A working prototype was tested in a fire facility.
Muhammed was thrilled to learn his idea had won, “It’s fantastic news. Paul called to let me know we’d won at 2.30 in the morning. We’re hoping to use the prize money on testing and getting Automist on sale.”
The James Dyson Award is an international design award that celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers. It’s run by the James Dyson Foundation, James Dyson’s charitable trust, in 21 countries.
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