Launched the International Outdoor Design Competition SUN.LAB 2012

NATURE INSIDE is the theme of the International Outdoor Design Competition for young outdoor designers (under 35). Organized by SUN, International Outdoor Exhibition , this will be the 5th edition of SUN.LAB.

SUN.LAB is a free platform for research and experimentation that SUN organizes to encourage the emerging of new proposals, innovative design approaches, and new ways to conceive outdoor living. SUN.LAB 2012 will gather the best production of Italian and foreign designers under 35 years of age and of the students of the main international universities, capable to create experimental scenarios, brand new concepts, and projects not yet in production.

A showcase of prototypes and concepts expressing the growing wish to rediscover the pleasure of living in the open, the renewed approach to nature and to respect for the environment, the strong will to regain control of one's time and spaces. The competition is aimed at displaying, during the days of the Show, product prototypes and concepts conceived by young outdoor design talents. An event that enjoys great media coverage and is intended to establish a link between creative minds and companies in the sector.

THE THEME

NATURE INSIDE aims at inspiring a fertilization, cultivation, and hybridization between design and organic-inspired disciplines. This “translation” activity is offered as an opportunity to meditate about the relation between nature and artefacts.

OBJECT

This kind of design is intended to create permanent or temporary, public (hotels, bathing establishments, parks and roads, shopping malls, etc.) or private (gardens, balconies, terraces, etc.) outdoor furnishing and accessories integrating nature or taking inspiration from nature at the different stages of the product's life - conception, production, and/or use. The requested artefact should then be inspired by a natural element/principle in its look and/or function, or should contain a natural element in its structure or in the performance of its function.

The theme for this edition is NATURE INSIDE. The suggested theme is aimed

The purpose is to provide to the public and to companies a key for interpretation inspired by nature (vegetal, mineral, animal) to create innovation and experimentation providing technical change, as well as new aesthetic concepts, lifestyles, needs, languages, and consumption models. The study of nature through the lens of design should then stimulate solutions to such crucial issues as defining the relation between form and function, morphological evolution, and sustainability.

PRIZES

The selected projects shall be granted a free exhibiting space inside the show SUN.LAB: FOR A CREATIVE OUTDOOR. The event shall be set up at the heart of the business area of SUN, in close contact with the main specialized companies.

Moreover, each project shall be mentioned in the SUN website and in the official catalogue of the show, and shall be entitled to enjoy free of charge the public relations and press office service provided by the relevant departments of Fiere e Comunicazioni, before, during, and after the show.

TERM FOR PROJECT SUBMISSION

All the entries shall be submitted by 12.00 a.m. on Monday, May 14, 2012 to the following e-mail address: sunlab@fierecom.it

The official ranking of the selected projects shall be posted by Friday, June 15, 2012 in website www.sungiosun.it