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MATERIALISE LIGHTS WIN DESIGN AWARD IN LONDON AT 100% DESIGN
Naomi Kaempfer, art director of Materialise Lights:' We did not know what to expect except that we would have a 20mē booth situated in a hall full of prominent design companies presenting the latest in international design at London's largest contemporary design exhibition. Not only the enthusiastic visitors' responses surpassed the wildest expectations but also the announcement of the 100% Design/Blueprint Award for best Newcomer.' Over 400 exhibitors - hand-picked by a panel of leading industry experts - showed hundreds of designs new to the UK market. New products by international designers were shown alongside brand new designers' talent. The show provided visitors with an exciting and highly relevant mix of products. Since Materialise knew that 100% Design has always recognised and sought to actively encourage new design talent and projects, they were keen on launching the new label of Materialise lighting products at this event. Materialise's application for 100% Design took a promising start. They were elected as one of the 100% Foundation winners: ten outstanding first-time exhibitors were awarded additional stand space in order to show their designs alongside more established companies. The collection of elegant lamps presented in London has been designed by Janne Kyttanen and Jiri Evenhuis at the Dutch design company 'Freedom Of Creation' (FOC). The lamps displayed at the stand have names as Twister, Lotus, Helix, Lily, Torus, Metropolis and Open cube. The designers explored the rapid prototyping techniques stereolithography and selective laser sintering for their exceptional lampshade designs. Materialise is aimed at unleashing a new era of mass customised design and Rapid Manufacturing by using their 3 dimensional printing experience in the technical prototyping industry to produce these exclusive lighting products. The hollow organic structures of the lampshades would be unreachable in any other production method. Rapid prototyping technologies can easily be depicted by comparing it with the familiar inkjet printing. A 3D object is constructed by adding one slice on top of another in a vessel of liquid resin (for stereolithography) or powder (for selective laser sintering) that is hardened by a laser beam. This new idea of Rapid Manufacturing drew a broad public: (interior) designers, architects, shop owners, press agents, consumers,... Young and old, high-professional and layman, everyone was impressed by this innovative mixture of art and technology. Summarising the reactions - 'Techno-beautiful', 'Cool', 'The Lotus-design makes me feel happy', 'Why did I not come up with this?', 'Great innovative use of technology'- confirms once more the company's belief in this new type of customised design. 'Lily' was chosen as one of the 6 best lighting products at the show. The judges of the 100% Design / Blueprint Awards 2003, who included designer Simon Pengelly and the London Design Festival Chairman John Sorell, said of Best Newcomer winner Materialise: 'we enjoyed the innovative use of technology and were impressed by the company's truly beautiful lighting products; a nice combination of elegance and technology.' Other winners were Gubi for Best Product and Shin and Tomoko Azumi for Best Contribution.
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