Floating air cleaning appliance wins Electrolux Design Lab 2012

A hands-free stirring utensil. A tasting spoon that tells you what ingredient is lacking. This is what the future of household and cooking appliances looks like at the 10th annual Electrolux Design Lab competition. Aeroball by Jan Ankiersztajn from Poland was awarded first prize in finals at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan.

The Electrolux Design Lab 2012 jury, comprising Design Director at Electrolux Thomas Johansson, award winning chef Davide Oldani, distinguished designer Dante Donegani and popular design blogger Kelly Beall, selected the winner from ten global finalists. The winning concept is a collection of luminescent, hovering balls that can filter and fragrance the air in a room. They float using helium and drift down to the ground when they are ready to be changed.

The jury was impressed with how the student’s creative and insightful thinking reflected this year’s theme, Design Experience, and how successfully the concept met the challenge of creating a holistic sensorial experience. “We rely on our senses for almost everything, so considering the senses is an important factor when designing appliances,” says Thomas Johansson, head of the jury. “This year’s winning concept is a truly innovative concept that uses space in a unique way and delights our surroundings. It also changes our perception of an air cleaner, because it is delicate in aesthetics, it is emotional and also relevant, because it addresses the consumer’s needs.”

The second prize in the competition went to Ben de la Roche from New Zealand. His design concept is a refrigerated wall that allows the user to press storage containers and bottles directly into the wall. Impress uses thermo-acoustic technology and gases such as argon and helium that are non-ozone depleting and harmless to the environment. The jury’s motivation was: “Impress is a visual experience that is energy saving and simplifies the user’s life.”

Third prize went to Tastee by Christopher Holm-Hansen, from Denmark. His design concept is a taste indicator, in the form of a spoon, that utilizes receptors based on the human taste bud to tell you what ingredients you need to improve your cooking. The jury’s motivation was: “Tastee is a tool that offers guidance for your palate in order to bring out the chef that is inside of you.” People’s Choice Award went to Tastee after receiving over 1,000 unique votes on Facebook.

Electrolux Design Lab is an annual global design competition open to undergraduate and graduate design students world-wide. Established in 2003, the competition is encouraging and facilitating young designers in the pursuit of innovative home appliance design.

“Creating new value and propositions is what innovative design is all about. Electrolux is committed to innovation in design, research and development and Electrolux Design Lab is one way of exploring new arising ideas. In addition the competition is a chance for us to meet the design talent of tomorrow”, said Stefano Marzano, Chief Design Officer at Electrolux.

Electrolux Design Lab 2012 challenged design students to draw inspiration from professional experience creators such as chefs, architects, interior designers and hotel designers to design future home appliances that will provide a fuller sensory experience. The brief for 2012 was looking for concepts that best reflect Electrolux proud heritage of Scandinavian Design whilst working to create new home appliances that stimulate, engage and enlighten all of our senses. The jury considered entries based on intuitive design, innovation and consumer insight.

One of the purposes of the competition is to function as an innovative arena for the introduction of new talents and products to the market. First prize is EUR 5,000 and a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design center. Second prize is EUR 3,000 and third prize of EUR 2,000.