U.S. Student Designers Rock Design Week Milan '09
Written on May 13th, 2009 - 12:00am
Milan. Design week. A design-lover’s playground.
Well, we’re happy to report it was everything we thought it would be… and more! There was truly no anticipating a design event of this magnitude. Situated among some of the edgiest, most globally imaginative design pieces– ranging from lighting features to furniture and more, our three winners exhibited their work in the world famous Zona Tortona district of Milan from April 21 through the 27.
The prototypes were brought to life by our first-class fabrication partners at Sterling Surfaces, an award-winning fabrication shop based in the Boston area. Both in form and function, each was truly evidence of the limitless possibilities of LG’s highly-versatile Solid Surface product, HI-MACS.
For those of you who need a refresher, our winners and their pieces included Michael Rall from North Carolina State University, with "Echo,” a fascinatingly curvy nightstand combo in orange and arctic white that keeps onlookers perpetually uncertain of how it remains standing… but it does! And the design embodies a contemporary finesse that makes it just perfect for beside a super-hip how-low-can-it-go platform bed either in an urban-chic loft or to add flair to rooms at urban, modern, trend-savvy hotels.
Soo Kang Lee from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign showed off her "Outdoor Chair X" in a stunning lunar sand color with a scarlet red cushion. Larger than life, this luxurious lounge chair feels like your own private vessel of bliss– but makes all that lounging around look really chic. This piece is perfect for use in spa lounges and poolside at the most stylish and comfort-conscious hotels and resorts.
Paul Vu from California State Polytechnic University-Pomona, who after the Atlanta press conference took home both a grand prize and the Journalist Award for "The Jinza Table," proudly revealed his ode to nature and balance. Up lit from its base, the table was polished and stunning. It was quite the conversation piece. But not only that– it was obviously versatile, suitable for the home as well as commercial environments such as retail, hospitality and dining, offices.
But let’s not forget– this was an international design challenge. In concert with our teams at LG Hausys in Geneva and Seoul our light-filled HI-MACS exhibit in trendy Zona Tortona featured 23 incredible design prototypes altogether. Each piece was created by a talented student designer hailing from Europe, North America, or Asia and was made primarily of solid surface.
And talk about exposure! This was the largest Design Week Milan has ever seen, featuring more than 3,000 exhibitors and drawing more than 300,000 design professionals and 5,000 media from more than 140 countries. Our U.S. team, fabricator partner and students all enjoyed numerous opportunities to see firsthand the cutting edge of design while networking with media and other designers from around the world, and sightseeing in one of the world’s most magnificent cities for architecture and design.
Congratulations to our student winners, and stay tuned for more on LG BEYOND 2010!
For more on the Zona Tortona experience, we suggest you visit www.zonatortona.com to check out photos and www.zonatortona.tv where you will find more than 50 video interviews featuring some of the most relevant personalities of the international design community.
From: http://www.lgbeyond.com/showcase/detail.php?action=view&id=36#
