While some of us are eager to get back into the gym following a year’s worth of on and off stay-at-home orders, the rest of us are looking for ways to up our home gym game. Now that we know we can enjoy all the perks of a gym in the comfort of our own private homes, many are prioritizing home gym renovation projects over resubscribing to monthly gym fees. Merging the home gym with storage capabilities, the Stoyka from product design studio Dydykin is a power rack for the modern home designed to look like high-end furniture.
Since physical fitness has become integral to our daily routines, the purpose behind Stoyka aims to strike a balance in using living spaces as fitness studios. In finding that harmony, the designers behind Stoyka integrated a storage system into the power rack, which slides out from behind the power rack’s rear wall. These sliding racks carry enough room to store the power rack’s barbells, round weighted plates, as well as rack accessories like support beams and spotter’s arms. Interchangeable by design, the Stoyka seamlessly blends into any home or office space simply by sliding the hidden storage panels behind the power rack’s rear wall. Equipped with the means for strength HIIT training and balance and flexibility exercises, Stoyka comes complete with reinforced racks, hooks, safety stops, crossbars, and removable wall bars.
With storage doors designed similarly to that of sliding doors in the kitchen, the idea behind Stoyka’s hidden storage units aims to bring the home gym into any modern living space without compromising the interior design of any given room. With so many of us itching to get active and near barbells again, what better way than to bring them right to our living room?
Earlier today, Lexus Design Awards announced their winner for the 2021 edition of their award program on April 27th. The winning project ‘Portable Solar Distiller’ by Henry Glogau was declared the Grand Prix Winner, surpassing 2,079 other design entries from 66 countries. Chosen as the project that best encompasses “Design for a Better Tomorrow”, the Portable Solar Distiller provides clean drinking water by filtering polluted water or overly saline sea water using sunlight. Merging local resource production with community architecture, this low-
tech solution also serves as a shaded gathering place.
The ‘Portable Solar Distiller’ was selected as the Grand Prix Winner from a roster of 6 finalists. Initially named the Solar Desalination Skylight, the design went through the mentorship phase under the expertise of Joe Doucet, Sabine Marcelis, Mariam Kamara, and Sputniko! These four world-class creators guided the finalists in surmounting challenges, helping refine and define the project and bring it to a fully refined stage. The 6 finalists were judged by an elite jury panel comprising Paola Antonelli, Dong Gong, Greg Lynn, and Simon Humphries, the elite panels who judged the entries. After selecting the Grand Prix winner, Judge Greg Lynn commented that “The winner was one of the designers who surprised me the most from the application to the final submission. The consistent mission of the winner persisted while the transformation in scale and social function was exemplary. The design became more refined, more functional and more open-source during the [mentorship] process”. Senior Curator at MoMA and Judge of the Lexus Design Award 2021, Paola Antonelli added, “It is heartening, after a year of isolation and “suspension,” to see that designers are still so firmly focused on the widespread issues connected to the environmental crisis. Our Grand Prix Winner tackled water shortage in exquisite low-tech fashion, using universal technologies that make it scalable and deployable worldwide.”
The Portable Solar Distiller by Henry Glogau aims at providing communities with easy access to fresh drinking water by relying on a highly-effective yet low-cost filtration method using sunlight. Its large canopy serves a dual purpose – harvesting sunlight to help purify water through evaporation, and acting as a community center for people to gather under during the day or even at night. The Portable Solar Distiller’s open-source schematic can easily be tweaked and implemented by anyone, allowing the design solution to have a wider reach and impact. The Portable Solar Distiller is designed in a way that can be carried, opened out, and assembled anywhere. Almost like a beach umbrella, it provides shade for groups of people, while having the added benefit of being able to purify water. The un-drinkable water goes into the canopy on the top, and heat from the sun causes the water to evaporate. Pure drinking water condenses on the upper part of the canopy, trickling down into a jerry can that fills up over time, giving people fresh water that can be consumed or used to cook food. Aside from providing free drinking water, the portable nature of the solution and its ability to create community gathering areas under the shaded canopy are what make the Portable Solar Distiller such an effective design that delivers on the promise of a ‘better tomorrow’.
A holistic approach to providing coastal informal settlements with water, energy and natural light. The design utilizes abundant solar energy and seawater to create a Portable Solar Distiller. It emits a natural diffused light, produces drinking water, and utilizes leftover salt brine for energy creation.
Testing was done within an informal settlement home over a one-month long expedition to Antofagasta, Chile. Over a 12- hour period the prototype could produce 540 ml of purified water, with a reduction of salinity levels from 36,000ppm (parts per million) down to 20ppm.
Salt brine waste from the evaporation process is further used to create a source of energy through a reaction when placed in storage tubes holding copper and zinc. These 12 salt batteries provided 9.53 volts, powering a LED light strip during the night and charged by a mini solar panel during the day.
As well as the functional performance, the desalinated water adds a morphing dappled effect that changes mood throughout the day, creating a soft ambiance for the living room space where family activities take place.
Everything starts with a small building block. Humans, animals, plants, all started as a single cell, multiplying into various multi-cellular organisms… and the world around us is made from materials that are superclusters of individual atoms and molecules. In fact, the very medium you’re reading this on is an organized grid of individual building-blocks called pixels! Titled the “CY-BO”, this packaging concept by Kenji Abe follows the same ‘Think Big but Start Small’ principle found in nature and in life around us. A finalist at the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021, CY-BO relooks at how packaging (and even products) are built, bringing an almost cellular approach to design by basing the packaging around a single 6-pronged unit that can connect together, forming a chain-link that can be used to create complex shapes. When expanded, CY-BO reads CYtological packing material beyond BOundaries… a fitting name as it turns the old ‘Form follows Function’ adage on its head by creating a unit so versatile, it can be turned into any form or fulfil any function. Sort of how a simple brick can create a building of any shape.
In CY-BO’s defense, it isn’t really a modular concept, but rather a molecular one. The unit in question is a six-pronged shape, punched out of a sheet of foam. Each of the prongs comes with one of two elements – a button, or an eye – and individual CY-BO units can be interlocked into each other by passing buttons through eyes, creating a chainlink fabric of sorts. However, the 6-prongs allow the units to form more complex 3D shapes and contours, giving it infinite versatility. Kenji’s vision is to completely reimagine packaging by creating a standardized unit that can ‘weave itself’ around products. Square-shaped products get wrapped in CY-BO in a square pattern, spherical products in a sphere created using CY-BO units, and if the product is abstract-shaped, it can easily be wrapped in CY-BO by piecing together the individual foam units in the shape of said product. This, broadly, does a number of things. Firstly, it creates a standard, eliminating the previous standards of plastic packets, paper boxes, or cardboard cartons. In doing so, it makes it easy to recycle and reuse CY-BO units, massively eliminating waste. Secondly, made from foam, the CY-BO eliminates the need for bubble-wrapping products. Given its inherent ability to cushion, the CY-BO becomes both the packaging as well as the dunnage, saving materials and saving space. Moreover, fragile products can simply be wrapped in additional layers of CY-BO, further expanding on its modular/molecular design. Thirdly, the CY-BO goes beyond packaging, becoming a useful material in its own right. Sure, it can easily be recycled by separating and reusing the individual CY-BO units… but it can be up-cycled too. Quite like how paper and plastic become the fodder for upcycled craft projects, CY-BO can be redesigned into a variety of products like stationery-cases, lamps, coasters, even clothes. Its interlocking design becomes almost like a creative constraint, allowing people to reimagine CY-BO units in a variety of ways, quite like how the same set of LEGO blocks get turned into millions of different things, thanks to the creative community of LEGO users. With CY-BO, it becomes more commonplace and provides a unique circular approach to product packaging, benefiting everyone.
“Benefiting everyone” are the keywords there, illustrating how one simple foam unit could replace the tonnes of paper boxes getting used and thrown every day, or plastic covers ending up in our landfills and oceans. The CY-BO is small, allowing it to easily be pulled apart and reused. Moreover, it could even be built from a variety of other materials, including more biodegradable ones, or even synthesized bio-materials that could serve as nutrition for animals in our oceans. CY-BO’s incredibly versatile design backed by designer Kenji Abe’s systems-approach is what enabled the project to be selected as a finalist in this year’s LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021 with the competition’s theme being “Design for a Better Tomorrow”. Currently in their 9th year, the Lexus Design Awards are on a mission to ideate and innovate for a better future for humanity as well as for the planet. The Awards program’s underlying theme of “Design for a Better Tomorrow” empowers participants to build solutions that have a uniquely positive impact on society, humanity, and allows the LEXUS, in turn, to reward a new generation of designers for their impactful ideas. Creating the perfect environment for a design to grow, LEXUS helps engineer ideas into real, impactful solutions. Apart from accelerating, developing, and promoting design projects, the Lexus Design Award helps kickstart design careers too, with exclusive mentorships from international design stalwarts like Joe Doucet, Mariam Kamara, Sabine Marcelis and Sputniko!, as well as funding for prototypes (up to 3 million Japanese Yen or $25,000 per project) and the opportunity to have your work judged by the biggest figures in design in the final Grand Prix competition. This year’s judges include Paola Antonelli (Senior Curator at MoMA), Dong Gong (Founder and Principal Designer at Vector Architects), Greg Lynn (Architect and CEO at Piaggio Fast Forward), and Simon Humphries (Head of Toyota and Lexus Global Design).
CY-BO is one of the six finalists of the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021. Stay tuned as we feature all the finalist designs following the Grand Prix Winner Announcement here on Yanko Design!
CY-BO is a new form of cytologically-inspired packaging material that can transform into various shapes by combining the pieces together. Infinitely reusable and rearrangeable, it can be converted into all manner of products for different applications depending on the ideas of the user.
CY-BO can envelop fruits such as apples and peaches, dishes etc, and it can also be used as a coaster as it is a material with excellent water resistance.
A clever system of terracotta tiles with water channels woven between them is proving to be a natural, cost-effective way to reduce energy consumption for cooling down subway stations during the summer. Designed by Intsui Design, the Terracotta Valley Wind hopes to drastically reduce energy consumption in the summer by relying on terracotta’s naturally occurring evaporative cooling ability. The material is inherently inexpensive and easy to source, while Intsui Design’s clever tiling design is both eye-catching and functional, earning it a deserved Finalist spot at the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021.
The way the Terracotta Valley Wind cools spaces is simple and frankly ingenious. Water is fed through channels running through the inside of the tiles. The porous tiles absorb the water, which then evaporates through the outer surface, cooling the tile and the air around it. To circulate this cooled air, the Terracotta Valley Wind ingeniously uses the subway train’s movement as free energy! The trains whoosh through the station, pushing the cold air around as they go, acting exactly as a bellow pump would. The periodic nature of the train’s movement completely nullifies the Terracotta Valley Wind’s electrical needs, making it a cost-effective solution that requires absolutely no energy and emits zero pollution… while using reclaimed water all along, yet another abundant resource!
The Terracotta Valley Wind’s brilliant use of evaporative cooling, reclaimed water, and the moving train’s wind energy to uniformly cool subway stations makes it the perfect candidate for the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021, aligning wonderfully with its theme of “Design for a Better Tomorrow”. Currently in its 9th year, the Lexus Design Award is on a mission to ideate and innovate for a better future for humanity as well as for the planet. With its underlying theme of “Design for a Better Tomorrow”, the awards program looks at solutions that have a uniquely positive impact on society, humanity, and in the process, to reward a new generation of designers for their impactful ideas. Creating the perfect environment for a design to grow, LEXUS helps engineer ideas into real, innovative solutions. Apart from accelerating, developing, and promoting design projects, the Lexus Design Award helps kickstart design careers too, with exclusive mentorships from international design stalwarts like Joe Doucet, Mariam Kamara, Sabine Marcelis and Sputniko!, as well as funding for prototypes (up to 3 million Japanese Yen or $25,000 per project) and the opportunity to have your work judged by the biggest figures in design in the final Grand Prix competition. This year’s judges include Paola Antonelli (Senior Curator at MoMA), Dong Gong (Founder and Principal Designer at Vector Architects), Greg Lynn (Architect and CEO at Piaggio Fast Forward), and Simon Humphries (Head of Toyota and Lexus Global Design).
The Terracotta Valley Wind is one of the six finalists of the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021. Stay tuned as we feature all the finalist designs following the Grand Prix Winner Announcement here on Yanko Design!
A terracotta evaporative cooling system that cools subway stations during summer and reduces energy consumption. Terracotta is an inexpensive and accessible clay material. Its nature allows water to quickly evaporate, while utilizing the unused wind resource in subway stations, maximizing the value of train-induced wind.
The team studied that in a ventilated environment, terracotta’s porous nature allows for water to easily move through the walls, which accelerates the evaporation speed of the water. By transmuting water to air, it absorbs a relatively large amount of heat, effectively reducing the temperature of the environment.
This principle of terracotta can work perfectly with the train-induced wind and airflow in the subway station. The concept of Terracotta Valley Wind as in-station passive cooling wall is composed of spliced terracotta slabs, with an automatic water supply system consist of stainless steelframe implanted with water pipes. Ideally, the slabs are humidified by reclaimed water, which evaporates faster when the wind is induced by train, and thus to achieve a cooling effect in the subway station. The whole system is pollution-free and does not require any electricity.
Technology keeps us connected, but it can’t replace the emotional connection we get from actually being around the people we love. Heartfelt, a LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021 finalist project, is hoping to change that. The idea for Heartfelt was born after one of the designers attended a virtual funeral of a family member during lockdown. Realizing that the physical separation affected the grieving process and prevented people from really emotionally connecting and healing together, designers Gayle Lee and Jessica Vea began working on Heartfelt, a device that added a physical element to the now-commonly used phrase “sending virtual hugs”.
Heartfelt works across long distances, and in pairs. It comes in the shape of a heart, and works when you hold it with both hands. Place your thumb onto the indentations and they light up in red and blue to notify the other person. When both people hold their Heartfelt devices at the same time, the hearts warm-up, creating the warmth associated with hugging someone. “While video-calling helps, most people seem to miss the warmth that a physical hug brings, and we hope to somehow reproduce that comforting feeling”, say Gayle and Jessica. Sensors within both Heartfelt devices will read your body’s current temperature, letting the opposite person feel ‘your warmth’ based on your body temperature. The hearts will even gently pulsate, allowing you to really connect with the person on the other side of the device, and the soft, skin-like outer material will give you the impression of actually hugging another person.
The technology within Heartfelt isn’t new, but its application comes at a critical time when social disconnection is at an all-time high. While modern-day technology allows us to see and listen to each other, Heartfelt was designed to build actual connections, share emotions, and be vulnerable around each other by focusing on the one thing social media and the internet today can’t do… enabling physical proximity. When used together, Heartfelt devices help people connect, heal, and de-stress naturally by enabling the brain to release endorphins, or the ‘happy hormones’ associated with physical contact.
This human-centric ability led to Heartfelt getting selected as one of six finalists at the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021. Currently in its 9th year, the Lexus Design Award is on a mission to ideate and innovate for a better future for humanity as well as for the planet. With the theme of “Design for a Better Tomorrow”, the awards program looks at solutions that have a uniquely positive impact on society, humanity, and in the process, to reward a new generation of designers by helping bring their impactful ideas to fruition. Along with accelerating, developing, and promoting design projects, the Lexus Design Award helps kickstart design careers too, with exclusive mentorships from international design stalwarts like Joe Doucet, Mariam Kamara, Sabine Marcelis and Sputniko!, as well as funding for prototypes (up to 3 million Japanese Yen or $25,000 per project) and the opportunity to have your work judged by the biggest figures in design in the final Grand Prix competition. This year’s judges include Paola Antonelli (Senior Curator at MoMA), Dong Gong (Founder and Principal Designer at Vector Architects), Greg Lynn (Architect and CEO at Piaggio Fast Forward), and Simon Humphries (Head of Toyota and Lexus Global Design).
Heartfelt is one of the six finalists of the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021. Stay tuned as we feature all the finalist designs following the Grand Prix Winner Announcement here on Yanko Design!
Heartfelt aims to explore what ‘being present’ might look like during the age of a pandemic, and seeks to assist with the anxiety and emotional stresses of being alone through simple long-distance devices. “Small device, big heart.”
Heartfelt will work long-distance and come in pairs. While one person cradles their device in their hands, the other sister device will warm to the same temperature at the same time. The temperature will reflect the person holding it, and if not being held, will drop to room temperature (neutral). This seeks to imitate what it would be like holding or hugging another person. Furthermore, an LED will be used for the visual expression of both heartbeats, 2 differing LEDs pulsing at the same time, each half of the heart lit up in different colors to represent each user.
Not many people know about Jacquard, a small side-project from Google’s labs that aimed at designing a ‘smart fabric’. The project, which was announced years ago, culminated in something pretty elementary… a jacket that let you play or pause music on your phone. Designer Irmandy Wicaksono’s KnitX smart fabric aims at doing much more.
Imagine if your clothes could respond to certain stimuli? Imagine fabrics that were smart enough to know when it’s cold or hot outside, or interactive enough to be able to respond to your actions? Boston-based designer Irmandy Wicaksono believes that fabric has the unique ability to be more than fashion… it can be an interface too. A PhD Student in the Responsive Environments department at MIT Media Lab, Irmandy is working on interweaving (quite literally) fabrics with tech in unbelievably complex and innovative ways. By relying on computerized knitting machines that are capable of creating customized, complex 3D weaves, the KnitX can integrate functional yarns, such as resistive, conductive, thermochromic, photochromic, and thermoplastic fibers with polyester, nylon, spandex, mink, and other synthetic yarns. This results in being able to create fabrics that respond to physical stimuli such as proximity, pressure, touch, and stretch, or environmental conditions like light and darkness, or cold and heat. Irmandy’s current explorations include a strip of cloth that’s capable of functioning like a musical keyboard, allowing you to play notes just by touching the cloth, as well as responsive cloth backpacks that change color when exposed to UV light, and even three-dimensional, thermo-formed responsive knit textiles that can instantly change shape on command. Future explorations of this unique series of digitally knit functional textiles even includes clothes that can become warmer in the cold or more breathable in the heat, and even change appearance based on your personal mood or sense of style!
The possibilities of the KnitX are literally endless, as they provide the ability to completely transform how clothes are made, and how clothes behave. By turning fabric into a digitally capable product, the KnitX has the potential of truly changing the world and making tech more accessible to and beneficial for everyone. Since it possesses the ability to quite literally alter and upgrade the ‘fabric’ of society, the KnitX finds itself as a finalist in the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021. Currently in their 9th year, the Lexus Design Awards are on a mission to ideate and innovate for a better future for humanity as well as for the planet. With their underlying theme of “Designing for a Better Tomorrow”, the awards program looks at solutions that have a uniquely positive impact on society, humanity, and in the process, to reward a new generation of designers for their impactful ideas. Creating the perfect environment for a design to grow, LEXUS helps engineer ideas into real, impactful solutions. Apart from accelerating, developing, and promoting design projects, the Lexus Design Award helps kickstart design careers too, with exclusive mentorships from international design stalwarts like Joe Doucet, Mariam Kamara, Sabine Marcelis and Sputniko!, as well as funding for prototypes (up to 3 million Japanese Yen or $25,000 per project) and the opportunity to have your work judged by the biggest figures in design in the final Grand Prix competition. This year’s judges include Paola Antonelli (Senior Curator at MoMA), Dong Gong (Founder and Principal Designer at Vector Architects), Greg Lynn (Architect and CEO at Piaggio Fast Forward), and Simon Humphries (Head of Toyota and Lexus Global Design).
The KnitX is one of the six finalists of the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021. Stay tuned as we feature all the finalist designs following the Grand Prix Winner Announcement here on Yanko Design! If you want to know more about the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD, click here to visit the award website.
KnitX is a set of functional textiles computationally-integrated with digital knitting. The use of active and electronic fibers in the design enables garment and interior fabrics that dynamically respond to gesture and sunlight, change their appearance, and provide thermoregulation.
Irmandy combined conductive, thermochromic, and composite yarns with high-flex polyester yarns to develop KnittedKeyboard, both with its soft physical properties and responsive sensing and display capabilities. The individual and combinations of keys could simultaneously sense discrete touch, as well as continuous proximity and pressure. The KnittedKeyboard enables performers to experience fabric-based multimodal interaction as they explore the seamless texture and materiality of the electronic textile.
Three-dimensional, thermo-formed responsive knit textiles that can actuate through capacitive touch for intelligent interiors/lighting.
Hybrid fur textile by digital knitting of high-flex polyester and mink fibers in checkered pattern.
According to most studies, the number one fear people have is public speaking. We’re a heavily social species, which is why public perception or interaction can oftentimes be a leading cause of anxiety. Especially after nearly a year of being locked at home, the very idea of being around too many people, especially strangers, can be daunting for some, and triggering for others. The InTempo, a project that secured a finalist position at the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021, hopes to alter that by relieving social anxiety.
Designed by Alina Holovatiuk as a coping mechanism to get one through social situations without anxiety or panic, the InTempo are a pair of fingerless mitts that help calm you down. They use a combination of techniques and therapies to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety and help distract your mind. Perhaps one of the most telling indications of a panic attack are to feel your hands going cold and clammy. A burst of epinephrine in your body causes the blood vessels in your hands and feet to constrict, forcing blood to rush to your heart and brain instead. By virtue of their design, the mitts keep your hands warm while also absorbing any sweat off your palms. The fingers remain exposed, allowing you to be able to bite your nails if that’s your response to anxiety. It even ensures you can go about your life as usual by being able to use your phone’s touchscreen, etc. However, the most important feature of the InTempo mitts is the presence of a special set of touch-sensitive pads around the palms. Clad in metallic cloth, these pads act as a tactile device that encourages you to tap on it to the rhythm of music playing on your smartphone. The idea lies in the power of Rhythm Therapy, which can help destress a person without antidepressants, beta-blockers, or other medicines.
The outer and central layers of the touch-pads are conductive. When pressed, the layers get compressed together, forming a closed electric circuit. These tiny electrical signals are then sent to your smartphone, which times them with the rhythm of the music you’re listening to. When the rhythm of your finger-taps coincide with the beat of the song, the mittens send positive tactile feedback by mildly vibrating. This reward helps boost your confidence while distracting your mind and effectively reducing your anxiety.
Selected as one of the six finalists of the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021, the InTempo mitts encapsulate the award theme of “Designing for a better tomorrow”. Currently in their 9th year, the Lexus Design Awards are on a mission to ideate and innovate for a better future for humanity as well as for the planet. With the theme of “Designing for a Better Tomorrow”, the awards program looks at solutions that have a uniquely positive impact on society, humanity, and in the process, to reward a new generation of designers by helping bring their impactful ideas to fruition. Along with accelerating, developing, and promoting design projects, the Lexus Design Award helps kickstart design careers too, with exclusive mentorships from international design stalwarts like Joe Doucet, Mariam Kamara, Sabine Marcelis and Sputniko!, as well as funding for prototypes (up to 3 million Japanese Yen or $25,000 per project) and the opportunity to have your work judged by the biggest figures in design in the final Grand Prix competition. This year’s judges include Paola Antonelli (Senior Curator at MoMA), Dong Gong (Founder and Principal Designer at Vector Architects), Greg Lynn (Architect and CEO at Piaggio Fast Forward), and Simon Humphries (Head of Toyota and Lexus Global Design).
The InTempo is one of the six finalists of the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021. Stay tuned as we feature all the finalist designs following the Grand Prix Winner Announcement here on Yanko Design!
InTempo are mitts to aid people facing emotional stress (e.g. Sociophobia) in public spaces/during public actions. Touching certain spots on the mitts to the rhythm of music may help a person to calm themselves down.
The InTempo concept envisions an expansion of the musical experience combined with personalized soothing therapy. A person’s perception of rhythmic pulsations and attempts to repeat them will help reduce the overall level of stress and focus you on something else.
These InTempo mitts are distinguished by fingerprint-shaped touch buttons on the palm side – a plastic consisting of five layers that form a durable touch panel. The outer and central layers are conductive. In addition to these, there are two more insulating layers on either side of the central one. The element is activated by touch: when touched, the layers are compressed, forming a closed electric circuit. These influences are measured and interpreted using electronic controllers (in the form of a button) associated with sensors, which convert the action into a signal for a controlled electronic device (player, smartphone, computer, etc.).
By placing sensors under the fingers on the inner side of the palm, while beating the rhythm, you clench your hand into a fist and this method of coping with anxiety symptoms remains unnoticed by others and, at the same time, you can calm down without anyone’s intervention. With the help of InTempo, fine motor skills of the hands are also developed and the perception of information by hearing improves, which in turn helps to cope with dysgraphia and dyslexia.
What if the sun could purify our water? What if it didn’t require human intervention or energy? What if this low-cost solution could empower coastal regions with an abundance of saline water but minimal access to drinking water? Designer Henry Glogau’s Solar Desalination Skylight knocks multiple proverbial birds with one stone. It serves as a no-cost lighting solution for low-income households, while also using the sun to desalinate drinking water.
The Solar Desalination Skylight is a finalist of the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021. Currently in their 9th year, the Lexus Design Awards are on a mission to ideate and innovate for a better future for humanity as well as for the planet. With their underlying theme of “Designing for a Better Tomorrow”, the awards program looks at solutions that have a uniquely positive impact on society, humanity, and in the process, to reward a new generation of designers for their impactful ideas. The Lexus Design Award’s core objective has always been to foster great ideas and great talent. Creating the perfect environment for a design to grow, LEXUS helps engineer ideas into real, impactful solutions. Apart from accelerating, developing, and promoting design projects, the Lexus Design Award helps kickstart design careers too, with exclusive mentorships from international design stalwarts like Joe Doucet, Mariam Kamara, Sabine Marcelis and Sputniko!, as well as funding for prototypes (up to 3 million Japanese Yen or $25,000 per project) and the opportunity to have your work judged by the biggest figures in design in the final Grand Prix competition. This year’s judges include Paola Antonelli (Senior Curator at MoMA), Dong Gong (Founder and Principal Designer at Vector Architects), Greg Lynn (Architect and CEO at Piaggio Fast Forward), and Simon Humphries (Head of Toyota and Lexus Global Design).
Needless to say, the Solar Desalination Skylight’s purpose aligns perfectly with the awards’ theme of Designing for a better tomorrow. The design uses free and abundant solar energy and seawater to create a diffused light as well as clean, potable freshwater. The residual brine in the purification process is further used as chemical energy to power the diffused light after nightfall. The result is a design that’s cheap, impactful, and makes brilliant use of the resources at its disposal. Seawater is fed through a pipe into the chandelier-shaped skylight. Aside from illuminating interiors, the design uses energy from the sun to distill the salty seawater, which is accessible through a tap at the very base of the skylight. At night, the residual saltwater is used to generate an electrical charge which powers the light, creating a closed-loop that uses abundant resources to their maximum extent to benefit humanity.
The Solar Desalination Skylight is one of the six finalists of the LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2021. Stay tuned as we feature all the finalist designs following the Grand Prix Winner Announcement here on Yanko Design!
A holistic approach to providing coastal informal settlements with water, energy and natural light. The design utilizes abundant solar energy and seawater to create a Solar Desalination Skylight. It emits a natural diffused light, produces drinking water, and utilizes leftover salt brine for energy creation.
I’ve noticed something rather interesting over the past couple of years. The purpose of a design, any design, is to see itself evolve in a way that benefits users as well as the designer that had the idea in the first place. A well-designed product isn’t something that can exist in isolation with a ribbon pinned to it… yet most award programs do just that. They look at products, identify a few of them which look promising, give them a certificate or trophy, and move on to the next product… and the process repeats itself year after year. Most award programs don’t incubate great ideas into wonderful products… they just identify them and put them on a website for others to see, and that’s something I’ve come to identify with a lot of awards, but not the Lexus Design Award.
Imagine having great designers gather around your idea and nourish it into something truly fruitful. Imagine having all the resources you need to prototype your idea into something that WORKS… not on paper, in reality. Imagine spending 3 months under the wing of industry-leading mentors who help guide you through the design process. The Lexus Design Award isn’t really like other awards… it’s part award, part internship, part incubator, and part institute. When you apply for the Lexus Design Award, you’re enrolling yourself into a 3-month course with internationally-recognized mentors like Joe Doucet (Founder, Joe Doucet x Partners), Mariam Kamara (Principal Architect, Atelier Masomi), Sputniko! (Associate Professor of Design at the Tokyo University of the Arts), and Sabine Marcelis (Founder, Studio Sabine Marcelis. Out of all the award participants, 6 Finalists are chosen to be a part of this mentorship experience. During this time, the mentors work with you ON your project (sort of like the most personalized internship ever), taking your rough concept to fruition, while Lexus incubates the product with as much as 3 million Japanese Yen or $25,000 dedicated to prototyping the projects to a working proof-of-concept.
The Lexus Design Award’s core objective has always been to foster great ideas and great talent. Creating the perfect environment for a design to grow, Lexus helps engineer ideas into real, impactful solutions for a better future. The awards are free for all, focusing on young talent looking to find their footing in the industry, and offering them the ability to take their nascent ideas to new heights, with advice from established professional mentors. At the end of the mentorship phase, a Grand Prix finalist is chosen by the award’s esteemed judging panel comprising of Paola Antonelli (Senior Curator at MoMA), Greg Lynn (Architect and CEO Piaggio Fast Forward), Dong Gong (Founder & Design Principal of Vector Architects), and Simon Humphries (Head of Toyota and Lexus Global Design).
Entries for the 2021 edition of the Lexus Design Award are now open, with the theme echoing Lexus’ brand principle – “Anticipate, Innovate and Captivate for a better tomorrow”. Head to the Discover Lexus website to submit your own designs for a chance to collaborate with world-class mentors and incubate your ideas into reality, or scroll down to check out some of the past winners of the Lexus Design Award as inspiration!
Submit Your Designs Now for Lexus Design Award 2021. Last Date for Submissions: October 11th, 2020.
Lexus Design Award Past Winners
Lexus first launched this annual international award in 2013 to nurture up-and-coming designers and help them realize their vision around the future of design.
Open Source Communities by BellTower (2020 Grand Prix Winner)
A vast number of Kenyans suffer from a combination of problems like water shortage, diseases caused by consumption of unfiltered/unfit water, having to walk miles to get water on a daily basis, or alternatively having to pay high rates for local water distribution. “In Nairobi, high-tech coexists with urban poverty”, say the team at BellTower, who designed the Open Source Communities project which creates a new format of community-building that relies on efficient allocation of resources that help the lower-income communities get access to basic necessities like water. The project creates a centralized water-reservoir – a structure that sits between hundreds of homes, providing water to every single one of them. The structure’s innovative format allows it to harvest and conserve rainwater, while actively filtering it of dirt, microorganisms, and other impurities. During the monsoons, surplus water helps generate money for the communities too, allowing them to get an extra source of income while bridging the vast resource gap. However, the best part about the Open Source Communities is that it exists as a public-utility template. Its open-source nature gives it unlimited flexibility, allowing it to be modified to fit in practically any scenario.
Algorithmic Lace by Lisa Marks (2019 Grand Prix Winner)
Bringing Algorithms and Attire together in a beautifully crafted garment with a noble purpose, Algorithmic Lace uses advanced three-dimensional modeling to handcraft bespoke bras for breast cancer survivors who have undergone mastectomy surgery. Algorithms have a long-standing love-affair with the textile industry, as one of the first machines to use algorithms was the Jacquard Loom back in the 1800s. The loom was controlled by a series of punched cards, which contained information that the loom read. Different cards had different algorithms into it and by switching the cards in the loom, you could tell it to alternate between complex textile weaves like brocade, damask and matelassé. Algorithmic Lace builds on that rich history, by using lines of code to create bras that are custom-built for their wearers. These garments are made specifically to functionally suit women who’ve undergone surgery, and the algorithmic pattern helps create a well-fitted, comfortable brassiere that’s also incredibly aesthetic to look at, empowering the wearer with confidence, along with their new lease of life.
Pixel by Hiroto Yoshizoe (2017 Grand Prix Winner)
There’s sheer magic in how the Pixel can actually take what you see and reduce its resolution to a handful of pixels… creating an illusion of being in a low-res world. At its heart is a uniquely crafted module that takes light as an input, and through repeated internal reflection, turns inputted images into square outputs. Imagine how the mirrors on a periscope work, taking an image from the top and carrying them down to the viewfinder below… this module does something similar, but with a different result. Stack enough of these modules together and you get the Pixel, a dynamic wall that instantly pixelates anything behind it. The Pixel relies on a powerful light source, and in this case, uses a projector. Project an image on it and the modules average out the light entering them, instantly pixelating the image and giving us a new perspective on the way we see light and shadows!
Agar Plasticity by AMAM (2016 Grand Prix Winner)
As its name suggests, the Agar Plasticity project uses Agar, a gelatinous marine algal material, as a replacement for plastics, creating a naturally occurring alternative to one of nature’s largest pollutants. Perfectly encapsulating the Lexus theme of ‘designing for a better tomorrow’, the project envisions a use of Agar as an alternative to the plastics found in packaging. Given that packaging for a product is often discarded immediately after purchase, Agar Plasticity hopes to create a solution that is eco-friendlier. Agar itself is derived from nature, and when treated a certain way, can be molded into containers, trays, and films that can replace single-use plastics. When discarded, the Agar can easily degrade in water or land, turning into nutrition for microorganisms and helping reduce waste. Japan-based design-trio AMAM is currently working to get larger institutions and corporations to look into the use of Agar as a safe plastic-alternative.
Inaho by Hideki Yoshimoto and Yoshinaka Ono (2013 Grand Prix Winner)
Yet another example of how lighting can be more of an experience, Inaho captures the tranquil beauty of watching rice-plants sway in the breeze. Created by Japanese duo Hideki Yoshimoto and Yoshinaka Ono, Inaho captures a strong Japanese cultural element, creating something that’s not just eye-catching but also rooted in history. The lights come mounted on tall, flexible metal rods, which gently lean towards people as they approach it. The interactive element doesn’t just make the Inaho interesting in a tactile sense, it also creates a wonderful series of moving highlights and shadows as the rice-plant-inspired lamps lean in your direction as you approach them, prompting you to move closer. The word Inaho literally translates to ‘a ear of rice’ in Japanese.
Submissions are being accepted until October 11th, 2020.
I’ve noticed something rather interesting over the past couple of years. The purpose of a design, any design, is to see itself evolve in a way that benefits users as well as the designer that had the idea in the first place. A well-designed product isn’t something that can exist in isolation with a ribbon pinned to it… yet most award programs do just that. They look at products, identify a few of them which look promising, give them a certificate or trophy, and move on to the next product… and the process repeats itself year after year. Most award programs don’t incubate great ideas into wonderful products… they just identify them and put them on a website for others to see, and that’s something I’ve come to identify with a lot of awards, but not the Lexus Design Award.
Imagine having great designers gather around your idea and nourish it into something truly fruitful. Imagine having all the resources you need to prototype your idea into something that WORKS… not on paper, in reality. Imagine spending 3 months under the wing of industry-leading mentors who help guide you through the design process. The Lexus Design Award isn’t really like other awards… it’s part award, part internship, part incubator, and part institute. When you apply for the Lexus Design Award, you’re enrolling yourself into a 3-month course with internationally-recognized mentors like Joe Doucet (Founder, Joe Doucet x Partners), Mariam Kamara (Principal Architect, Atelier Masomi), Sputniko! (Associate Professor of Design at the Tokyo University of the Arts), and Sabine Marcelis (Founder, Studio Sabine Marcelis. Out of all the award participants, 6 Finalists are chosen to be a part of this mentorship experience. During this time, the mentors work with you ON your project (sort of like the most personalized internship ever), taking your rough concept to fruition, while Lexus incubates the product with as much as 3 million Japanese Yen or $25,000 dedicated to prototyping the projects to a working proof-of-concept.
The Lexus Design Award’s core objective has always been to foster great ideas and great talent. Creating the perfect environment for a design to grow, Lexus helps engineer ideas into real, impactful solutions for a better future. The awards are free for all, focusing on young talent looking to find their footing in the industry, and offering them the ability to take their nascent ideas to new heights, with advice from established professional mentors. At the end of the mentorship phase, a Grand Prix finalist is chosen by the award’s esteemed judging panel comprising of Paola Antonelli (Senior Curator at MoMA), Greg Lynn (Architect and CEO Piaggio Fast Forward), Dong Gong (Founder & Design Principal of Vector Architects), and Simon Humphries (Head of Toyota and Lexus Global Design).
Entries for the 2021 edition of the Lexus Design Award are now open, with the theme echoing Lexus’ brand principle – “Anticipate, Innovate and Captivate for a better tomorrow”. Head to the Discover Lexus website to submit your own designs for a chance to collaborate with world-class mentors and incubate your ideas into reality, or scroll down to check out some of the past winners of the Lexus Design Award as inspiration!
Submit Your Designs Now for Lexus Design Award 2021. Last Date for Submissions: October 11th, 2020.
Lexus Design Award Past Winners
Lexus first launched this annual international award in 2013 to nurture up-and-coming designers and help them realize their vision around the future of design.
Open Source Communities by BellTower (2020 Grand Prix Winner)
A vast number of Kenyans suffer from a combination of problems like water shortage, diseases caused by consumption of unfiltered/unfit water, having to walk miles to get water on a daily basis, or alternatively having to pay high rates for local water distribution. “In Nairobi, high-tech coexists with urban poverty”, say the team at BellTower, who designed the Open Source Communities project which creates a new format of community-building that relies on efficient allocation of resources that help the lower-income communities get access to basic necessities like water. The project creates a centralized water-reservoir – a structure that sits between hundreds of homes, providing water to every single one of them. The structure’s innovative format allows it to harvest and conserve rainwater, while actively filtering it of dirt, microorganisms, and other impurities. During the monsoons, surplus water helps generate money for the communities too, allowing them to get an extra source of income while bridging the vast resource gap. However, the best part about the Open Source Communities is that it exists as a public-utility template. Its open-source nature gives it unlimited flexibility, allowing it to be modified to fit in practically any scenario.
Algorithmic Lace by Lisa Marks (2019 Grand Prix Winner)
Bringing Algorithms and Attire together in a beautifully crafted garment with a noble purpose, Algorithmic Lace uses advanced three-dimensional modeling to handcraft bespoke bras for breast cancer survivors who have undergone mastectomy surgery. Algorithms have a long-standing love-affair with the textile industry, as one of the first machines to use algorithms was the Jacquard Loom back in the 1800s. The loom was controlled by a series of punched cards, which contained information that the loom read. Different cards had different algorithms into it and by switching the cards in the loom, you could tell it to alternate between complex textile weaves like brocade, damask and matelassé. Algorithmic Lace builds on that rich history, by using lines of code to create bras that are custom-built for their wearers. These garments are made specifically to functionally suit women who’ve undergone surgery, and the algorithmic pattern helps create a well-fitted, comfortable brassiere that’s also incredibly aesthetic to look at, empowering the wearer with confidence, along with their new lease of life.
Pixel by Hiroto Yoshizoe (2017 Grand Prix Winner)
There’s sheer magic in how the Pixel can actually take what you see and reduce its resolution to a handful of pixels… creating an illusion of being in a low-res world. At its heart is a uniquely crafted module that takes light as an input, and through repeated internal reflection, turns inputted images into square outputs. Imagine how the mirrors on a periscope work, taking an image from the top and carrying them down to the viewfinder below… this module does something similar, but with a different result. Stack enough of these modules together and you get the Pixel, a dynamic wall that instantly pixelates anything behind it. The Pixel relies on a powerful light source, and in this case, uses a projector. Project an image on it and the modules average out the light entering them, instantly pixelating the image and giving us a new perspective on the way we see light and shadows!
Agar Plasticity by AMAM (2016 Grand Prix Winner)
As its name suggests, the Agar Plasticity project uses Agar, a gelatinous marine algal material, as a replacement for plastics, creating a naturally occurring alternative to one of nature’s largest pollutants. Perfectly encapsulating the Lexus theme of ‘designing for a better tomorrow’, the project envisions a use of Agar as an alternative to the plastics found in packaging. Given that packaging for a product is often discarded immediately after purchase, Agar Plasticity hopes to create a solution that is eco-friendlier. Agar itself is derived from nature, and when treated a certain way, can be molded into containers, trays, and films that can replace single-use plastics. When discarded, the Agar can easily degrade in water or land, turning into nutrition for microorganisms and helping reduce waste. Japan-based design-trio AMAM is currently working to get larger institutions and corporations to look into the use of Agar as a safe plastic-alternative.
Inaho by Hideki Yoshimoto and Yoshinaka Ono (2013 Grand Prix Winner)
Yet another example of how lighting can be more of an experience, Inaho captures the tranquil beauty of watching rice-plants sway in the breeze. Created by Japanese duo Hideki Yoshimoto and Yoshinaka Ono, Inaho captures a strong Japanese cultural element, creating something that’s not just eye-catching but also rooted in history. The lights come mounted on tall, flexible metal rods, which gently lean towards people as they approach it. The interactive element doesn’t just make the Inaho interesting in a tactile sense, it also creates a wonderful series of moving highlights and shadows as the rice-plant-inspired lamps lean in your direction as you approach them, prompting you to move closer. The word Inaho literally translates to ‘a ear of rice’ in Japanese.
Submissions are being accepted until October 11th, 2020.
