Back in April Mercedes-Benz and Wallpaper* invited design talent from six universities to take inspiration from the Mercedes-Benz GLK.
Read more about Mercedes-Benz GLK: The contest
Students from six top European designs schools, led by a team mentor, were encouraged to explore the GLK’s design vocabulary, mixing disciplines to examine how future objects could embody the same levels of design, desire and excitement. The resulting designs were judged by a jury chaired by Professor Peter Pfeiffer, Mercedes-Benz’s former chief designer. Judges included designers Fiona Swarovski-Grasser and Werner Baldessarini, A&W editor in chief Barbara Friedrich and Wallpaper’s own editorial director, Richard Cook.
The institutions taking part included Paris’s 250-year-old Ecole Nationale Supérieure des
Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD), Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Barcelona, the Istituto Marangoni in Milan, Hamburg’s Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften (HAW), Ecole Cantonale d’Art
de Lausanne (ECAL) in Switzerland, and MOME, the Moholy-Nagy University for Art and Design,
in Budapest.
See the stars of tomorrow show off their creative drive
The prize for the best design concept was awarded to the team of Istituto Marangoni, overseen by Davide Montagna, art director for special projects. Under Montagna’s tutelage, the product design, fashion styling and fashion design students put together a fashion-focused spread of four design items, each extrapolated from the visual elements of the GLK.
Each item embodied ‘four moments of the GLK life’, such as well-being, spare time, relaxation and beauty. Barcelona’s IED, represented by the I+ED multidisciplinary department, attained the prize for best design exhibit for a unique architectural installation: its SOUL project. Paris’s ENSAD was acknowledged with an honourable ‘empathy award’ for its project – the creation of a cinema-style world that had the GLK at its heart.
‘The design:project’ celebrated the GLK, a 4x4 that neatly dovetails the need for compact functionality with expressive design and a strong sense of the typical design features of Mercedes-Benz cars. It’s also proved the perfect springboard for creative experimentation.
-
Alcova 2024 offers up contemporary independent design in historical domestic backdropsAlcova 2024 moved to Varedo to take over the spaces of Villa Bagatti Valsecchi and Villa Borsani (on view until 21 April)
-
Ama Bar, in Vancouver, is sexy and a little disorientingAma Bar features ‘Blade Runner 2049’-inspired interiors by &Daughters
-
Kembra Pfahler revisits ‘The Manual of Action’ for CIRCAArtist Kembra Pfahler will lead a series of classes in person and online, with a short film streamed from Piccadilly Circus in London, as well as in Berlin, Milan and Seoul, over three months until 30 June 2024
-
Peugeot’s sparky 308 gets hybrid power and handsome linesThe Peugeot 308 proves that mass-market design needn’t be dull, blending hybrid power with sharp lines and excellent detailing
-
BMW Motorrad brings out the big guns for its newest cruisersBMW Motorrad R 18 Bagger and Transcontinental set the tone for high-voltage cruising with a brand collaboration with speaker specialist Marshall
-
Dacia’s new Manifesto concept is a true outdoor utility vehicleUtilitarian auto brand Dacia sets a bold new agenda with its Manifesto, a concept car pitched at the active outdoor market
-
The sun sets on traditional supercars at California’s Monterey Car WeekMonterey Car Week, the world’s most prestigious car gathering, is showcasing ever-more extravagant special editions, coachbuilt cars and all-new electric concepts. Here are seven key machines from 2022
-
Is McLaren’s GT a sports car, a tourer, or the best of both?The McLaren GT is a capable all-rounder dressed up in svelte supercar clothes. It might also be the last of its type
-
Rolls-Royce puts the Phantom back on its lofty pedestalA mid-life refresh ensures the flagship Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II is at the top of its game, a last hurrah for traditional engines before an electrified future
-
Prodrive’s new racing simulator is shaped by Callum to be front of the gridThe racing simulator shapes up – this new design from Prodrive and Callum is honed for the high-end games room
-
928 by Nardone Automotive: a restomod Porsche with Gallic verve and Italian style928 by Nardone Automotive is a gracefully modernised version of Porsche’s endearingly different 928
