Lexus Design Award, young designers want to change the world

The six finalists of the Lexus Design Award 2020, the competition that the homonymous automotive company dedicates to innovative projects developed by emerging designers, come from Kenya, Russia, Pakistan, China, United States, Italy and France. Chosen by an exceptional jury (Paola Antonelli, John Media, Joanne Gang and Simon Humphries) from over two thousand entries, the prototypes combine the idealism that aspires to improve the world, and a solution-oriented pragmatism that results from a confrontation with specific scenarios.

Lick, by the Russian designer Irina Samoilova, is a device conceived for hospital settings that allows to wash patients who do not have access to a bathroom. Nature has inspired the product in a twofold way: if the shell shape is clearly organic, the self-cleaning mechanism takes its cue from the conical papillae that distinguish cats' tongues.

Ensuring the economic self-sufficiency of visually impaired people is the goal of the Pakistani Aqsa Ajmaland: in a country where the textile industry represents one of the most significant components of the gross domestic product, her Pursewit sewing machine is an accessible and user-friendly tool thanks to an emphasized tactile dimension. Flood relief is the field of intervention chosen by Chinese designer Yaokun Wu. His Flash Pack is a smart inflatable personal flotation device designed for groups of students; in case of flood, it can be strapped together to form a more stable and resistant raft.

Developed by BellTower, a collective of five Kenyan designers, the Open Source Communities project looks at non-proprietary technology as a platform for affordable housing solutions. Their objective is to provide basic home designs that are potentially self-sufficient both in energy and food production, thanks to an aquaponic plant. Feltscape, designed by Théophile Peju and Salvatore Cicero, is also conceived for the home environment. Inspired by the ethereal shape of a cloud, their large felt and thermoplastic surface captures noise and lets light filter through, allowing a modular and bespoke configuration that could also fit offices and public spaces.

Infine, non si nega l’ambizione più audace del secolo il progetto dei designer losangelini Paul e Garrett Sutherlin Santo. Il loro Bio.Scales è un biopolimero stampabile che si promette di immagazzinare CO2 e altre sostanze nocive, purificando l’aria circostante. Modulare e scalare, può essere disposto su pareti verticali e orizzontali ed è pensato per il mercato consumer: nelle intenzioni dei Sutherlin Santo, ciascuno potrà in un futuro controllare e incidere sui parametri di salubrità dell’aria che respira proprio regolando la disposizione e la grandezza di supporti come questo.

Nei prossimi mesi, i prototipi saranno ulteriormente sviluppati in vista della loro presentazione ufficiale, prevista nei giorni del Salone del Mobile 2020. Ogni progetto riceverà 25.000 dollari e un mentor d’eccezione (Joe Doucet, Bethan Gray, Philippe Malouin, Shohei Shigematsu) per affinare performance e implementazione del prodotto in vista della nomina del Grand Prix Winner, che sarà annunciato durante la Milano Design Week.