Deadline: 15.12.2009

The young gerneration contest “lebens(t)räume” (dreams for life) is being organized since 2004 by Vincentz Network, in collaboration with the “universal design GmbH” and “organized by iF”. It aims at young people to design for the older generations as well as for disabled people.

An experts jury winning will chose the winning entries and divide a total prize purse of EUR 6.000,00 between the winners. The prize money is awarded at the awards ceremony, held at the trade fair “ALTENPFLEGE 2010″ (care for the elderly). During the fair all outstanding contributions will be exhibited in the special display “lebensräume” (habitants).

For more information, please visit the competition website: http://www.ifdesign.de/organized_lebenstraeume_index_e

Below are some winning entries from last year:

colors key:

The “Colors key” uses a color-matching way allowing users to quickly find out the correct key for opening the door. The color-matching way on “Colors key” means the same color on the head of key and the keyhole of door. The sticker for the keyhole can be pushed out from the head of key and be stuck on the keyhole. When the color of key matches the color of keyhole, the door can be opened easily. The needed key can be found from a pile of keys by obviously visual color changes.

Recovery Arm Sling

Since there is little use of muscle and ligament while having medical treatment with a plaster cast, the patient should get proper exercises for recovery after removing the cast. Recovery Arm Sling is a medical appliance which is designed for not only functioning as an ordinary arm sling, but also operating as a recovery device after the cast treatment. The upper side of each ring has a structure which enables to lengthen the band, functioning like the safety belt of an ordinary car. This structure allows the patient to hang the arm sling on the neck easily and also to get some repeating recovery exercises.

Inside out umbrella

On a rainy day, when someone goes inside with a wet umbrella, the floor gets dirty and the water drops annoy others. Thus, people usually use a disposable vinyl; however, it gets wasted too much and gives negative effects on our environment. By turning over one portion of the umbrella inside out, the dry cloth appears and wraps the wet umbrella. Therefore, it helps solving the problem of the current umbrella and as it transforms as a bag, it becomes easy to carry. Not only it is portable but also it can be a very fashionable item because the inner layer, the dry cloth can be decorated with various colors and patterns.

Athlete, actor and activist Aimee Mullins talks about her prosthetic legs — she’s got a dozen amazing pairs — and the superpowers they grant her: speed, beauty, an extra 6 inches of height … Quite simply, she redefines what the body can be.

After the talk, several TED.com members looks for new designs that will make artificial limbs available to everyone who needs them. They found an inspiring example from industrial designer Tillmann Beuscher. He built a temporary artificial leg made of cheap materials to “support world-wide victims of land mines and explosive remainings of war”. His design was a winner of the 2009 iF concept award. Check out pictures of the design and the limb at work here. — Bonnie Burkeand the limb at work here.

the concept of a temporary prothetic limb, to support world-wide victims of landmines and explosive remainings of war, became awarded the iF concept award 2009 out of 3200 international entries!

About TedTalk

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker “ideas worth spreading,” talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world’s most inspiring voices.


New Office Workspace (NOW) from CommackHighSchool on Vimeo

A very impressive student design project–researched, designed and built by high school kids.

For more information, please visit http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/huntington/blog/2009/02/commack_students_win_prize_for_workspace_design.html

26th September 2008 (Friday)

9am to 6pm

NUS SDE1, Staff Lounge, Level 2

The Design Incubation Centre is holding our second design workshop for the aging population, “SILVER TALENTS”.

As the workforce in Singapore continues to age, challenges to the economy and employment structure are inevitable. Potential employers seek a company of competent employees while silver workers desire to continue contributing to the economy. Their desire to work and talents are often undervalued, resulting in uncertainty of their retirement careers.

This workshop aims to investigate on the silver working population, discovering this pool of silver talents anddesigning new business services to help them work and age actively with a sense of satisfaction.

We hope to involve 20-30 students, lecturers, and experts in interactive sessions with the retirees,

and dynamic brainstorming using new design tools.

For enquiries, or to register for the workshop (by 15th September) , please contact
Yianling @ Design Incubation Centre.
e: yianling@nus.edu.sg
t: +65 96805510

Registration deadline: 15 Dec 2008

Gone are the days when being “old” equated with being in frail health, heavily dependent on medical care and financially hard up.
Today the media portray senior citizens as being in the prime of life. Elderly people enjoy a high life expectancy and are highly mobile. They are avid consumers, and have the purchasing power to back it up. Nevertheless, life in advanced years, e.g. from 70 onward, has its own special framework. The competition entitled “lebens(t)räume 2009″ puts a spotlight on this framework, inviting students of design, architecture or interior design as well as young designers up until 2 years after graduation

Below are some examples from last year winning entries:

(+ plus minus -) little helper

University: Universität der Künste Berlin
Design: Mechthild Ubl

To unplug an electric appliance is a daily procedure with frequently occurring difficulties. For this, we often misuse the cable, because it seems to be much easier to catch hold of it and pull at. But by doing so, we cause loose contacts or even worse situations. (+plus minus -) is made to ease the act of grabbing a plug. Punched out of a 0.5mm strong plastic foil, it’s wrapped around the plug and builds two loops jutting out from the socket. By using different colours, unities between plugs and electric appliances can be created and recognized easily.

IUVO Injektionssystem - MS

University: Fachhochschule Coburg
Design: Simone Winkler

IUVO (~ich helfe) ist eine innovative Lösung für den Umgang mit der Multiplen Sklerose im modernen Alltag. Das System basiert auf den Möglichkeiten der e-Health. Im Mittelpunkt steht der Injektor für die kontrollierte Verabreichung des Medikamentes. Als Kommunikationsportal zwischen Patient und aller an der Therapie beteiligten Einrichtungen dient die Basisstation. Das modulare Aufbewahrungssystem nimmt alle notwendigen Utensilien auf und ermöglicht einen flexiblen Umgang mit der MS. Ansprechendes Design, Funktionalität und Intelligenz des JUVO sind Motivator für eine konsequente Therapieführung und steigern die Lebensqualität des Patienten.

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For more information, please visit http://www.ifdesign.de/projects_lebenstraeume_index_en

Hannover (Germany) – Universal design GmbH, in partnership with iF International Forum Design GmbH, announces the universal design award 2009. Now in its second year, the universal design award acts as a communication tool to target businesses, researchers and the political community. The competition is meant to not only sensitise the public to the topic of universal design, but to invite the public to actively participate in deciding which entries promise the greatest possible benefit for their target audience.

The competition is open to product designers, graphic designers, manufacturers, service providers and service designers, architects, and interior designers. Designs must demonstrate that they are accessible, flexible, intuitive, safe, affordable and sustainable.