Interesting design competition with focus on sustainable design.
Ken
From: Phil Agre <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 23:50:18 +0100
To: "Red Rock Eater News Service" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [RRE]Viridian Meter Competition
[I've always wanted cars to be equipped with a meter that reads off
in dollars and cents (or francs and centimes, etc) and not just miles.
The whole world is increasingly distorted because people will drive
fifteen miles -- a hidden cost of maybe $4, depending most heavily
on insurance -- to save a couple bucks at a store. This competition
calls for something similar, and they have actual prize money. I've
reformatted it to 70 columns -- apologies for any glitches.]
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Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 19:49:57 -0600
From: Bruce Sterling <[log in to unmask]>
To: Viridian List <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Viridian Note 00135: Viridian Meter Competition
Key concepts: cash prizes, Sustainability Institute, Balaton Group,
energy meters, judges, feature articles, industrial production,
Viridian Actual Products
Attention Conservation Notice: There's money involved! And attention!
And lots of work! They're not kidding! This is for real!
** ** ** ** ** **
DESIGN COMPETITION ANNOUNCEMENT
** ** ** ** ** **
The Sustainability Institute
in cooperation with
The International Network of Resource Information Centers
(aka the Balaton Group)
announces
THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL
VIRIDIAN DESIGN COMPETITION
A Total of $8000 USD in Prizes
will be awarded for excellence in the design of a functional and
aesthetically dazzling
VIRIDIAN ELECTRICITY METER
The Viridian Electricity Meter is a household energy consumption
meter that resides in a prominent place inside the home. Its purpose
is to provide accurate, compelling, and artistically fascinating
feedback to homeowners about their current energy use. Users are
rewarded aesthetically for reducing energy consumption (and for
switching their energy source to a renewable one). In other words,
the more sustainable their energy consumption, the more beautiful and
fascinating the meters' display.
Viridian Meters should be technically accurate, artistically creative,
adaptable to many different cultural contexts, marketable, and above
all, very, very cool. Commercially produced Viridian Meters should be
capable of generating consumer desire. The ideal Viridian Electricity
Meter would be so attractive, people would simply want one, regardless
of whether they personally cared very much about saving energy.
Design specifications and submission instructions (below) should
be followed carefully. Background on the Viridian design movement
follows.
Background on The Viridian Movement and the Viridian Meter
The term viridian == a word referring to a bluish shade of green --
was adopted by U.S. science fiction author Bruce Sterling as the name
for the design movement he initiated in 1999, and launched formally
with a Manifesto on January 3, 2000. The intent of the Viridian
Movement is to stimulate the reinvention of everyday products
and technologies in the industrial world, so that they are both
environmentally benign and aesthetically superior to products now in
use. (To read more about the Viridian Movement, visit its website:
www.bespoke.org/viridian)
The concept of the Viridian Electricity Meter originated with Stefan
Jones, a member of the Viridian Curia (an international core group
of designers and writers, linked by internet). The Meter began, like
most Viridian ideas, as an imaginary product, for which Bruce Sterling
wrote the following imaginary advertisement:
"One of the most offensive artifacts of the twentieth century is
the standard household energy meter. This ugly gizmo clings like a
barnacle to the outside of your home, readable only by functionaries.
Clumsily painted in battleship gray, this network spy device features
creepy, illegible little clock-dials, under an ungainly glass dome.
Look a bit closer, and this user-hostile interface deliberately
insults you, with a hateful anti-theft warning, and a foul little
lockbox.
"This crass device is designed to leave you in stellar ignorance of
your own energy usage. It publicly brands you as a helpless peon,
a technically-illiterate source of cash for remote, uncaring utility
lords.
"But today, thanks to the Viridian Electrical Meter, the tables are
turned. The Viridian Meter is not some utility spy device, but a
user-owned art object!"
The purpose of the competition is to bring forward as many different
design ideas for the Viridian Meter as possible, to increase the
likelihood of discovering one or more ideas with the potential for
being manufactured and distributed in the mass market.
The competition sponsors therefore encourage maximum design creativity
and diversity in reinterpreting the Viridian Meter concept, together
with technical accuracy, functional utility, and consumer ease-of-use.
Procedure for Submissions
The Competition will proceed in two rounds. In the first round,
entering teams or individuals will submit a one-page written
description of their proposed Meter, a one-page description of the
individual or team submitting the design, and (optional) a one-page
artist's conceptual drawing or technical schematic drawing of the
proposed Meter. The written description should be clear, colorful,
and compelling, while also conveying the following key facts:
** Visual appearance of the meter
** Manner in which information on energy consumption will be
displayed
** Basic technical description of how energy usage will be monitored
** Intended position within a residence (e.g., wall-mounted,
table-top, etc.)
** Materials and components to be used in construction
Participants should also indicate whether they are able to construct a
working prototype of their design.
In the second round, up to fifteen Finalists will be invited to
submit a more detailed schematic proposal and, if feasible, a working
prototype.
The competition judges will then select anywhere from one to eight
winners, depending on the quality of the submissions, and divide the
prize money as they see fit.
Winners will have their work featured on a competition web site,
and their designs may be introduced to potential manufacturers and
retailers. Features articles about the competition will be written
and submitted to leading art and design magazines. Entrants will
retain all rights to their designs, but Finalists will sign agreements
allowing the Sustainability Institute to reproduce images of their
submissions.
Submissions on paper should be sent to:
Sustainability Institute/Viridian Competition
PO Box 174
Hartland Four Corners, VT 05049 USA
Email Submissions should be sent to:
[log in to unmask]
If your submission is also available on a web site, please include the
URL.
For additional information, please write to the address above or send
an email to [log in to unmask]
Competition Timeline
Deadline for initial submissions: May 31, 2000
Announcement and notification to Finalists: June 15, 2000
Deadline for Finalist submissions: August 15, 2000
Announcement of winners and prizes awarded: October 1, 2000
Note: All submission documents become the property of Sustainability
Institute and will not be returned. Please retain copies for your own
records.
First International Viridian Design Competition
Sustainability Institute/Viridian Competition
PO Box 174
Hartland Four Corners, VT 05049 USA
[log in to unmask]
--
Forwarded to this list by:
Ken Friedman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Leadership and Strategic Design
Department of Knowledge Management
Norwegian School of Management
+47 22.98.51.07 Direct phone
+47 22.98.51.11 Fax
Email: [log in to unmask]
Home office:
+46 (46) 53.245 Telephone
+46 (46) 53.345 Telefax
Email: [log in to unmask]
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