Design contest sees two winners off to Dubai

At the Middle East and Africa (MEA) regional finals, the South African finalists will compete against 10 students from 5 other countries for the first place and the 2011 MEA Conceptualife title, the grand prize of $5000, an LG Optimus smartphone and a one month internship at a renowned design firm in Dubai.

Each of the participating students will showcase their designs to an expert panel who will evaluate their work on uniqueness of design, eco-friendliness and practicality of the overall design, as well as the use of innovative kitchen appliances that considers space, storage and worktops.

This annual contest encourages all young interior design students to show their creativity and design skills by presenting their very own distinctive depictions of futuristic and eco-friendly kitchens.

Winning designs

Schott was honoured for her 'cooking pod' concept of modularity that lends to a green future constructed from recycled plastic, glass and aluminium. Van der Westhuizen was commended for her design that was inspired by the game Jenga and utilises adjustable building blocks to create a self-sufficient and eco-friendly kitchen that can be adapted to suit all user's needs.

Abegail Williams from BHC Design School was awarded the runner-up award for her 'hide and seek' design and also received a SolarDom oven as a prize.

Judges

This year's panel of judges included world recognised and acclaimed South African designer, Brian Steinhobel, lifestyle and décor deputy editor of Visi magazine, Annemarie Meintjes and House and Leisure deputy editor, Graham Wood.

"The competition has been a good initiation for the designers to think about integrating two design disciplines into one - interior design in the form of kitchen pollinating and product design in the form of appliances - all of which could give birth to a new category where we have fully integrated apparatus delivering the needs of kitchen requirements in a completely novel manner into the future. This is what design competitions are all about, delivering innovative directions for future trends," says Steinhobel.

Meintjes adds, "I cannot believe how high the standards were. It gives me hope for the future designers of our country. The 'cooking pod' design will change the way people design homes and most probably take kitchen designers out of business - I want one now."

"With so many phenomenal designs entered into the contest, the judges had to deliberate long and hard before we arrived at a winner," says Wood. "The winning entries are testimony to the depth of talent among young South African designers and they will undoubtedly hold their own on the international stage."

"All of the designs showed that South Africa not only has innovative aspiring designers but very talented artists that understand the importance of eco-friendly kitchen designs and appliances that will one day improve all our households," says Michael Bang, general marketing manager for LG Electronics South Africa.

To view short listed designs from this year's competition, join the LG Conceptualife Kitchen Design Facebook fan page.