Everyday, all over the world, there are inventors dreaming up new contraptions in the hope that their light-bulb moment will fill a gap in the market and become a can’t-live-without product.
Just a few years ago mydeco’s 3D room planner tool was just the figure of someones imagination, but has now progressed into a vital program for designers, graduates and homeowners wanting to redesign and visualise a new home or design project.
Eager to find that stand-out invention of the future is innovative global electrical company Electrolux. In partnership with renowned British department store John Lewis, the electrical giants have begun their search for a new idea through their annual Electrolux Design Lab competition.
The contest invites industrial design students from all over the world to pitch daring ideas and solutions for tomorrow’s home appliances.
Making it to the final stage of the competition is US designer Matthew Schwartz with his Onda Portable microwave (watch the video above to see how it works).
This hand-held appliance enables users to cook ready-made meals on the go. Powered by paper batteries, the device is simply clipped onto the edge of the plastic tray and heat is pumped through the foil packaging.
I think the design’s portability makes it an ideal camping tool, especially for ravenous festival goers and Beach Break party animals where food isn’t exactly high on the agenda… Its sleek shape would suit those households with compact kitchens as it can easily be tidied away in a drawer and won’t use up the large counter space taken by conventional microwave ovens. Unfortunately, this really is just a design concept and it will be a while before it’s on the shelves.
Vic Sinclair, electrical buyer for John Lewis, scared me when he told mydeco that predictions that we’ll all be living in teeny tiny apartments within 60 years will become a reality. Yep, teenier and tinier than what resident New Yorkers currently live in. And I was hoping to upgrade, not downgrade…
A representative from Electrolux agreed with Vic’s gloomy premise, commenting that houses of today ‘have to act like a Swiss army knife,’ as smaller living spaces force homeowners to fit three rooms into one. If that means I have to squeeze my three favorite Conran chairs into one, three meals into one, or three Jimmy Choos into one, think again! Except, perhaps, three eligible bachelors into one. That could work…
My other favorite finalist designs include a portable bagel toaster (above) – I love bagels, and I sure hope they ain’t gonna get smaller in the mini-living future; a robotic vacuum cleaner – for the lazy lady in me (a smaller apartment will not make cleaning any more appealing); and funky bouncy ball food blender. How fun would it be to chuck this around the house with the excuse that you’re making a healthy snack? Well, maybe not so much fun for my insurance policy…
3D room design by kishwick
mydeco user kishwick has incorporated this concept into her 3D room, Modern Efficiency (above). The neon yellow and chrome design squeezes a bedroom, kitchen, dining room and living room into one compact area.
Clever spacing of furniture and the use of a glass screen section off different living areas and make the room appear less crowded and much larger.
Find out the winner of the Electrolux Design Lab contest on their website after September 7 when it will be announced in London.
To plan for your small apartment of the future or your current humble lodgings use mydeco’s free, innovative and realistic 3D room planning tool which allows you to position furnishings in your own home’s floor plan to see how it will fit and what it will look like.
Our ears on the ground in the USA. We have a team of writers who scour the United States for the best design events, designs, products and images to show how much of a hotbed for design the USA is. Read more posts by USA Correspondent.
