Global student design competition received 1,700 submissions

Electrolux has announced the six finalists for this year’s Electrolux Design Lab, a global design competition for students offering solutions to Culinary Enjoyment, Fabric Care and Air Purification. 

The first prize offers a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design centre, plus €5,000. Second prize receives €3,000 and third prize €2,000. The People’s Choice Award will be given to the concept which received the most public votes online and will receive €1,000. 

The six finalists are:

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• UrbanCone by Michael Po?piech from Poland. UrbanCone creates healthy microclimates outdoors as it can purify the air around the city, as well as in homes. Purification comes through exchangeable filters and flies in the air thanks to an ultra-light construction and solar panel wings.

• Lotus by Fulden Dehneli from Turkey. Lotus is an air purifier with three portable balls and rechargeable air cleaning balls named Pure Ball, Odor Ball and Humid Ball. Super Plasma Ion technology helps to eliminate biological contaminants.

• Set To Mimic by Sorina R?steanu from Romania. Set To Mimic is a set of smart kitchenware that recreates tastes and smells. A non-invasive gel patch with a microchip is placed on the head, plate and glass to communicate wirelessly with the brain. 

• Future Hunter Gatherer by Pan Wang from China (UK Central St Martins). Future Hunter Gatherer is a virtual grocery shopping experience that projects a hologram to let to user gather food by fishing, hunting etc. The food is then transmitted to local stores and delivered to the user’s home. 

• PETE by Kovács Apor from Hungary. PETE merges plastic bottles to create garments. Consumers can choose clothing type, colour and cut which the machine prints from PET bottles turned into polyester. 

• Pure Towel by Leobardo Armenta from Mexico. Pure Towel (pictured) is a smart towel hanger that cleans towels after usage using an ultra violet ray and a high speed fan to purify and dry the towel. Up to 99.9% of bacteria would be eliminated. 

Lara Erikson, head of Electrolux Design and the Design Lab jury, said: “For this year’s global design competition, we asked students to submit concepts based on our theme ‘Creating Healthy Homes’. In the end, we selected six finalists out of 1,700 entries. The finalists’ concepts are truly innovative and offer new ideas on how we might be living our lives in the future, whether it’s eating healthier or being more sustainable.”