Slovakian student Adrian Mankovecký has won first place in the 2011 Electrolux Design Lab competition finals at the Room Home Intelligence Conference, held this week at London’s Business Design Centre.
Mankovecký, who studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Slovakia, took the top prize with his design concept the Portable Spot Cleaner, after beating 1,300 entrants from over 50 countries.
The jury, which included Danish designer Cecilie Manz, award winning architects Hayes and James Slade, and Henrik Otto, senior vice president of Global Design at Electrolux, was impressed by his concept and praised his “creative and insightful thinking”.
“The Portable spot cleaner is built on a very solid consumer insight and it is highly relevant,” they said in a statement.
“It is an instant laundry device that has a positive impact on the environment by reducing consumption. Its usage and interaction are very intuitive. We all want one.”
The design is a small spot cleaner, powered by a sugar crystal battery, that refreshes clothing and removes stains using negative ions and steam.
Students were invited to create home appliances for preparing food, cleaning and doing dishes, along the competition’s theme of ‘Intelligent Mobility’.
They were briefed that the appliances should not only physically be more portable, but also provide flexible control to free people from being at home, while reflect Scandinavian design values of being sensitive to the environment, providing intuitive ease of use and aesthetic appeal.
Henrik Otto at Electrolux, said he liked how the Portable Spot Cleaner was similar to the Ergorapido being “a new fresh way of tackling a clothing care problem on the go, and with consideration for sensitive materials”.
He added that he was looking forward to welcoming Mankovecký when he starts his internship at the Electrolux Design Centre in Stockholm, part of his prize.
Second prize went to Australian student Enzo Kocak’s Ribbon which was praised by the jury as “incredible simplicity in form and application and its usage is highly intuitive. The concept is very familiar and easy to recognize yet different enough to be truly innovative”.
Third prize went to New Zealand student Roseanne de Briun’s Smoobo blender, described as “a very refreshing concept, especially with its social aspect it expands much beyond today’s usage of home appliances,” while People’s Choice Award went to Matthew Schwartz’s Onda Portable Microwave.
The concept models will tour worldwide and will be displayed at design fairs, and participation in Electrolux Design Lab has led directly to jobs and business opportunities in the design field for many of the contestants.
Several finalists are currently employed in one of the Electrolux Global Design centres and last year’s winner is doing his 6-month internship.
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