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Finalists showcased in Electrolux Design Lab 2010 competition

Finalists showcased in Electrolux Design Lab 2010 competition
The finalists in the Electrolux Design Lab 2010 competition have had their design concepts showcased in video form
The finalists in the Electrolux Design Lab 2010 competition have had their design concepts showcased in video form
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The finalists in the Electrolux Design Lab 2010 competition have had their design concepts showcased in video form
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The finalists in the Electrolux Design Lab 2010 competition have had their design concepts showcased in video form

The jury has wielded the axe on the 25 semi-finalists in the Electrolux Design Lab competition, leaving just eight finalists from the original 1,300 entries to battle it out for the prize of a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design center and 5,000 Euros (approx. US$6,350). The 2010 brief asked industrial design students to consider how people will prepare and store food, wash clothes, and do dishes in the homes of 2050, when 74 percent of the global population are predicted to live in an urban environment. Let’s take a look at the lucky eight entries vying for the title.

External Refrigerator

Nicholas Hubert is a French industrial designer, based in Shanghai, China. He used his daily experiences there to come up with a creative solution for a space-saving food-cooling design – the External Refrigerator. Fixed directly on the outside wall of residential buildings, the concept is an elaboration on a way of life in northern China where food is kept on balconies in the winter to save space and energy. During cold seasons and at night, the low external temperatures are used to provide the right climate for items in the fridge. During warmer weather, the sun is used to transform light into energy through solar panels.

Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Finalist: External Refrigerator by Nicolas Hubert, France

Dismount Washer

This solution that combines the cleaning vessel with the washing basket comes from Lichen Guo, a Chinese industrial design student. Recognizing conventional washing machines as an unnecessary space hog the dirty laundry capsule is placed on a wall mountable motor (or ‘energy stick’) which takes up very little space. The energy stick also dispenses steam to aid the cleansing process.

Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Finalist: Dismount Washer by Lichen Guo, China

Bio Robot Refrigerator

This design comes from Yuriy Dmitriev, a Russian industrial design student. Four times smaller than a conventional refrigerator, this concept uses a special non-sticky, odor-free gel that morphs around products to create a separate pod that suspends items for easy access. Without doors, draws and a motor 90 percent of the appliance is solely given over to its intended purpose. At the same time, all food, drink and cooled products are readily available, odors are contained, and items are kept individually at their optimal temperature by bio robots. The fridge is adaptable – it can be hung vertically, horizontally, and even on the ceiling.

Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Finalist: Bio Robot Refrigerator by Yuriy Dmitriev, Russia

Eco Cleaner

Iranian design student Ahi Andy Mohsen, has created a dishwasher concept designed to clean and compost – for a time in the future when food may be supplied in capsule form. It uses ultrasonic waves to ionize food and turn it in to reusable waste.

Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Finalist: Eco Cleaner by Ahi Andy Mohsen, Iran

Clean Closet

Michael Edenius is a Swedish design student, who designed a means of cleaning clothes without water. Textiles are scanned for impurities while they are hanging in the Clean Closet and cleaned accordingly with molecular technology that removes dirt and odors. The concept replaces the laundry basket, the washing machine, and drying cabinet to save space and, and uses no water.

Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Finalist: Clean Closet by Michael Edenius, Sweden

Kitchen Elements

Matthew Gilbride, from the USA, designed a kitchen concept that combines cooking, air conditioning, refrigeration and lighting in a wall-mounted, flexible solution. The appliance draws power wirelessly through technology applied to the wall, which is supplemented through solar energy as required. Multiple units and surfaces automatically work together through wireless smart networking, whilst customization is offered by being able to install the units as the user prefers.

Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Finalist: Elements Modular Kitchen by Matthew Gilbride, USA

The Snail

An industrial design student from India, Peter Alwin, created a portable cooking and heating device that attaches to pots, pans and mugs to heat the contents. Powered by ‘replaceable high density sugar crystal battery’, the Snail converts the energy from the sugar, heating up a coil to conduct the magnetic induction process to the utensil. Inbuilt sensors detect the food type being heated so as to automatically adjust the time and temperature.

Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Finalist: The Snail by Peter Alwin, India

Kitchen Hideaway

Daniel Dobrogorsky, a design student from Australia, developed a virtual reality concept whereby the user puts on a helmet, thinks about the meal they would like, and their thoughts are transmitted to a team of robots working in the kitchen of the user’s communal building. The real meal is then delivered directly to their door.

Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Finalist: The Kitchen Hideaway by Daniel Dobrogorsky, Australia

The eight finalists will be invited to present their concept to a jury of expert designers on September 23rd 2010 at 100% Design in London, England. The jury will consider entries based on intuitive design, innovation and consumer insight. In addition to the first prize, a second prize of 3,000 Euros (Approx. US$3,810) and third prize of 2,000 Euros (approx. US$2,540) are also on offer.

See Electrolux Design Lab for more details.

4 comments
4 comments
Ravenacious
This whole thing is ridiculous. It basically seems like a drawing competition, since there is apparently no necessity for the inventions to be grounded in any kind of physical reality! I wouldn\'t call it design really, since they can apparently use magic to get most of the work done, like the bio robot refrigerator, for example. It cools the food using a non-existent (and not likely to exist in the next 50 years) magic gel and controls the temperature via also non-existent magic robots. Please. And the kitchen hidaway, well that\'s also a magical one, with a mind-reading helmet and an army of robots. Seriously?
The drawings are nice though. Very \"designy\".
Michael Randle
Admittedly the mind reading helmet and the gel fridge are a bit far fetched however The snail heater concept and the modular shelving/refrigeration/aircon/lighting/cooking seem like very good ideas and would make the cooking area much more ergonomic. Also they all look very stylish and i would be fine with any of them in my kitchen
Brian Callender
Yeah I second everything Ravenacious says. How disappointing. We have all had ideas far better than these, and ideas that would actually work.
Facebook User
\"The magic gel\" and all the other components does exist and all these ideas could be implemented today if they would be \"allowed\" to do so.
The reason why they \"must wait\" it is simply because it\'s too early.
Make no mistake when the time is right these wonderful ideas will materialize.