Electrolux Design Lab, an annual competition drawing on the creativity of students around the world to showcase futuristic and innovative appliance designs, will open for entries this Saturday. The theme for the 2014 competition centers on optimizing the future home for healthy lifestyles, while minimizing impact on the environment.
Budding designers are invited to submit their concepts relating to the theme "Creating Healthy Homes" with a focus on one of three specific areas.
Culinary Enjoyment relates to a perceived growing interest in the food we eat, where it comes from and what it looks like before we eat it. Electrolux says that this points to an increasing desire to eat healthily with higher quality ingredients and as such, is looking for design solutions to inspire clean eating in future homes.
The second focus area, Fabric Care, relates to linen or clothing designs that strike a balance between quality, aesthetically-pleasing garments and minimal use of natural resources, water and electricity.
Air Purification, the third and final focus area, calls for creative solutions for air purification that accommodate typical household activities, from cooking to entertaining to caring for our pets.
Taking the honors in last year's Electrolux Design Lab was Colombian designer Adrian Perez, who caught the eye of the judges with his army of flying, surface-cleaning mini robots. Dubbed Mab, the fleet of 908 solar-powered units are assigned cleaning duties by a central unit which scans the home for mess.
The 2014 competition is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students currently enrolled in university, along with those who graduated in 2013. Entrants can submit their concepts up until Sunday the 6th of April with a top prize of €5,000 (US$8,300) up for grabs, along with a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design center.
Source: Electrolux Design Lab
