Electrolux Design Lab’s 10th Anniversary challenge to international design students is tied to Electrolux professional knowledge and exprience in a theme that stimulates all senses.

Electrolux Design Lab is a global annual design competition inviting students and recent graduates of industrial design to compete for a six-month paid internship and prize money by submitting ideas that develop the sensory experience of home appliances. This year the jury will also take special note of the aesthetic qualities of the concept and the way textures and surface materials have been used.

Brief: Design Experience
As demonstrated in the Cube by Electrolux, the world of professional cooking is all about the experience. It’s not about achieving the perfect inner temperature of a steak for the sake of science or performance. It’s about designing the best possible experience for your guests. The creative force behind the experience is the merger of intuitive and innovative appliances with the creativity of the chef and carefully selected high quality ingredients.

The brief for Electrolux Design Lab 2012 challenges design students to draw inspiration from professional experience creators (chefs, architects, interior designers, hotel designers etc.) to design home appliances that will provide a fuller sensory experience. It might be through state of the art technology or it might be through a clever blend of textures and surfaces

Entrants will also need to consider the heritage of Electrolux. Submissions should reflect Scandinavian Design values by being sensitive to the environment, providing intuitive ease of use and aesthetic appeal.

“I believe the importance of our sensory perception is underestimated in a lot of today’s design. Too much importance is accorded to the visual. What if we could incorporate our other senses into design? Could we smell who’s calling? Or feel what’s on TV?” says Henrik Otto SVP of Global Design at Electrolux.

Autumn finals in Europe
Eight finalists will each be invited to participate in a final event in the autumn of 2012 held within a European city (to be announced) to present their individual concept to a jury of expert designers. The jury will consider entries based on intuitive design, innovation, aesthetic qualities and consumer insight when awarding the first prize of a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design centre and 5,000 Euros. A second prize of 3,000 Euros and third prize of 2,000 Euros are also on offer.

Deadline for entry is 23:59 CET June 1, 2012

For more detailed information please see the Competition section where you can read the full brief presentation, read up on the rules and register.

Electrolux challenged Masters students at the Domus Academy in Milan, to rethink kitchen appliances. Nine concepts, based on existing technology that consider sustainability and culture under the theme of ‘ReSource’, are presented here to coincide with 2011 Milan Design Week and just before entry to the annual Electrolux Design Lab contest closes (23:59 CET May 1st, 2011).

“To re-source is to re-generate, re-energize, re-mix and re-lax,” says Bruno Lizotte, Design Manager at Electrolux, “and the appropriate space for this multi-tasking is, more than ever before, the home and its vibrant centre – the kitchen.”

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