RCA/Imperial College students bring their ideas to life with the help of KI Award
Two students undertaking the joint Royal College of Art (RCA)/Imperial College Innovation Design Engineering double masters course have been presented with KI Awards. Receiving £1,000 each, the students who won the prizes best demonstrated through their final projects, an innovative way to improve future working or learning environments.
Christian Felsner’s ‘Aktor’ is an exploration of deployable structures. The material softens when it is activated with electricity and can be moulded to take on organic forms. An efficient manufacturing process generates minimal waste, the structure can be manipulated to suit numerous functionalities and applications at different scales such as furniture, packaging, disaster relief and healthcare. Christian comments: “The KI award enabled me to make the material technology reality.”
Christina Petersen’s ‘LYS’proposes a radical concept - that artificial lighting “will be connected to the human rather than to the architecture.” It has been suggested that the proliferation of smart devices and other sources of artificial light are having a harmful effect on human health. Much like exercising control over one’s diet, this ‘LYS’ will empower the user to manage their own light regime. This ‘personal sun’ would gather data and emit variable intensities and wavelengths of artificial light based on the wearer’s circadian rhythm. This is particularly useful for users who do shift work, or operate in poorly-lit conditions.
Christina comments: "The KI award gave me the resources to design and build a prototype that brings together different technologies to envision how we can improve the working spaces of the future."
Jonathan Hindle, Group Managing Director, KI EMEA comments: “The future of the UK furnishings industry is dependent on nurturing skills and innovation. The KI Award gives us an opportunity to directly support talented individuals undertaking a world-leading course that combines the rigorous discipline of engineering with the creative problem solving fundamental to good design. We wish both Christian and Christina all the best and look forward to seeing exciting things from them in the years ahead.”
The KI Award was given to students whose projects could help improve the product development or production process, to create better working or learning environments in the future. The winners will exhibit their works at KI’s London offices during London Design Festival (September 2016), followed by the Young Furniture Makers’ Exhibition (October 2016) at the Furniture Makers’ Hall in the City of London.
CONNOR HOLLAND WINS MIXOLOGY16 STUDENT DESIGNER OF THE YEAR AWARD, SPONSORED BY KI
Connor Holland, who recently graduated from Kingston University with a Bachelor of Science (BSc), Industrial and Product Design, has been named Student Designer of the Year at the prestigious Mixology Awards. Connor was presented with his award by Jonathan Hindle, Group Managing Director, KI EMEA, in front of over 1,100 attendees at the prestigious annual ceremony held at London’s Old Billingsgate on 23 June 2016.
His ‘Lilo Bench’ demonstrates originality, innovative material exploration and fine craftsmanship. Using a homemade version of ‘hydroforming’, it appears to be pillowed, inflated and soft, akin to its namesake. Its robust structure provides strength and stability to support the mattress-like seat.
Connor comments: “Winning 'Student Designer of the Year' is an honour, which will be invaluable in helping to promote my work to a wide audience and potential clients. I am very grateful for the support I have received at the beginning of my career, and providing the opportunity to be part of such a prestigious event within the design community.”
Working in association with the Furniture Makers Company, the furnishing industry’s charity, the judging panel for the Mixology Awards selected a shortlist from the recent graduates whose works were displayed at the Young Furniture Makers exhibition. Connor was also awarded with the Young Furniture Makers Bespoke Award at this event, hosted at the Furniture Makers’ Hall in the City of London in October 2015.
Connor’s design will be on display at KI’s London HQ & showroom during London Design Festival in September 2016. Jonathan Hindle commented:“This award recognises, and helps encourage, the talented individuals on which the long term competitiveness of the UK furnishing industry depends. We wish Connor all the best and look forward to seeing exciting things from him, and all the other award nominees in the years ahead.”
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