We’re living in a cross-over culture, a time of convergence between art, design, architecture and technology. To celebrate this new world’s multitasking machines and products with a purpose, we’ve teamed up with Mercedes-Benz and six of Europe’s leading academic institutions to push the boundaries of product design.
‘The :contest’ is an exploration of form, function, content and style, reflecting not just the wealth of young talent and technology involved, but also the design qualities of the new Mercedes-Benz GLK. The GLK is a compact 4x4 that blends the angular muscularity of the iconic G-Class utility vehicle with the dynamic styling synonymous with the modern Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes-Benz GLK
Each of the invited design schools will draw on its talented students to form a project team. The six teams will then each dream up a designated product, the only stipulation being that it must be as distinctive as the GLK itself.
The schools involved are some of the most venerable in the industry. Paris’s Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD), nearly 250 years old, has trained generations of artists, designers and industrialists. Alumni include Francis Picabia and Ronan Bouroullec. Barcelona’s Istituto Europeo di Design is one of seven IED locations worldwide, each offering the disciplines of industrial design, audio/visual design, fashion and business communications.
The Istituto Marangoni in Milan (with outposts in Paris and London) is a leading fashion and design school, founded in 1935. Hamburg’s sophisticated University of Applied Sciences has an expansive design department, with courses in everything from fashion to engineering.
Switzerland’s Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne (ECAL) is a traditional fine arts academy dating from 1821 that also offers up-to-the-minute instruction in industrial design. Visiting tutors include the Campana Brothers and Konstantin Grcic. In 2006, Budapest’s Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME), founded in 1880, was renamed after Hungarian modernist László Moholy-Nagy, once the youngest professor at the Bauhaus.
Design schools with history as well as skills, the six selected institutions will be tasked with applying the GLK’s visionary approach to a whole host of innovative products.
INFORMATION
To find out more about The design:project and the designer action,
click on
www.the-design-project.com
The :insight videos
IED, Barcelona
Istituto Marangoni, Milan
University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg
ENSAD, Paris
ECAL, Lausanne
Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest
Design team video interviews
IED, Barcelona
Istituto Marangoni, Milan
University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg
ENSAD, Paris
ECAL, Lausanne
Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest
