Rickard Hederstierna from Lund University in Sweden is the winner of the Electrolux Design Lab 2009 competition for inventing Cocoon. The winner was announced at finals in London on September 24, at 100% Design London, the UK’s leading architecture and design event.
“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 motivation
A jury of internationally-recognized designers judged the entries based on intuitive design, innovation, and consumer insight.
Their 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 jury
The jury included Nipa Doshi, furniture designer and co-founder of Doshi Levien design studio, David Fisher, Design Director of internationally renowned product design consultancy Seymourpowell, Marisol Manso Cortina, Manager of the Color Design Group at Nissan Design Europe, and Henrik Otto, Senior Vice President of Global Design at Electrolux.
The award
The Electrolux Design Lab 2009 award is a prize of € 5000 and a six-month paid internship at one of Electrolux global design centers.
The competition theme
For Electrolux Design Lab’s seventh edition, undergraduate and graduate industrial design students were invited to send in their home appliance ideas for the next 90 years in celebration of the Electrolux 90-year anniversary. The brief was to create thoughtfully-designed products that will shape how people prepare and store food, wash clothes, and do dishes over the next nine decades. This year over 900 entries were submitted from students in more 50 countries.
The top eight finalists
- First place: Cocoon, the fish and meat maker by Rickard Hederstierna from Lund University, Sweden
- Second place: Water Catcher, the flying rain catcher and water purifier by Penghao Shan from Zhejiang Sci-tech University, China
- Third place: Renew, the smart steamer by Louis Filosa from Purdue University, USA
- People’s choice (as voted for online): Teleport Fridge, the refrigerator that teleports food by Dulyawat Wongnawa from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
- Le Petit Prince, the robotic greenhouse for Mars by Martin Miklica from Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic
- Moléculaire, the 3D molecular food printer by Nico Kläber from Köln International School of Design, Germany
- Naturewash, the waterless washing machine by Zhenpeng Li from Zhejiang University, China
- Bifoliate, the wall-mounted double dishwasher by Toma Brundzaite from Vilnius Academy of Art, Lithuania
About Electrolux Design Lab
Established in 2003, Electrolux Design Lab is an annual, global design competition open to undergraduate and graduate industrial design students who are invited to present innovative ideas for household appliances of the future.
The competition has had different themes and culminates in a new city every year at an international press event. Previous themes and venues include: Designs for the Internet generation, Zurich, 2008; Green designs, Paris, 2007; Designs for healthy eating, Barcelona, 2006; Designs of the future, Stockholm, 2005; Designs of the future, New York, 2004; User-driven solutions, Budapest, 2003.
For more information and press materials visit www.electrolux.com/designlab. Media inquiries contact Electrolux Media Hotline on +46 8 657 65 07.
For pictures please visit Electrolux Design Lab Flickr page
For videos please visit Electrolux Design Lab YouTube Channel
