Text from Rafael :

Problem
To develop a plant system, for a circular house, based on the silver generation theme, that would bring a comfortable time for the couple together during cooking, with a healthy life concept behind.

Concept
A product that can help them at the kitchen, integrate the environment (kitchen at the middle of the circular house), providing a healthy life style with organic foods, making the cooking moment easy, simple and fun. A hydroponic indoor system witch the aim is to rescue the pleasure of growing and prepare our own food without working hard or spend so much time, exploring the shape of the DNA molecule, the grow of a new life. The product is made simple, two vertical metal tubes where the germinated seeds of the plants are placed into some small holes around the tubes. A net hold it till it starts to grow.There also a light system, with a mobile light focus that can be programed along the path where it moves, providing the right time of light for certain plant. The hydroponic process is based on the NFT hydroponic system, a active process where a solution with nutrients its bombed from a deposit to the culture channel. Part of the root of the plant its getting a constant water flux, while the other part is in direct contact with the humid air.

Justification
Sören and his wife have not so much time together, so when they are able to have a meal at home, his wife likes to prepare it herself, with calm and love. This rare moments that the couple have together are the main point that this project explores.

Materials and Fabrication Process
3 Metal tubes; 2 running from top to bottom of the kitchen, 1 that works like a path for the light. The tubes have a shape conformation, till it reaches the shape of the DNA. They have small connexions outside the house that makes the water flux works in a cycle, with a bomb to provide this. A small programed engine makes the movement of the light along the third tube, right on the middle of the structure.

This project was based on a briefing of the International Design Award (IDA2009).

Designer : Rafael Fernando and Débora Nogueira

Interview with Nico :

What was the inspiration for your concept?
The inspiration was the experimental approach to molecular cooking. Even after several decades of molecular cuisine, it still seems to be an exclusive game for specialists. So it became my main goal to bring some of the fantastic possibilities and ideas of molecular cooking to all ambitious cooks with an easy to use, affordable appliance.

How does your concept fit into this year’s competition theme “Designs for the next 90 years”?
I think the idea of molecular cooking is forward-looking, but the procedures and methods of preparing molecular dishes are still conventional. I would like to change this with my concept. At first, the idea of printing food seems to be something straight out of a science-fiction movie, but on second thought it is not unrealistic at all. I even think that Moléculaire could be the future kitchen tool that opens up possibilities for food-makers interested in molecular cooking.

What are the main consumer benefits of your concept?
Moléculaire is a futuristic kitchen appliance that offers several new possibilities to professional chefs as well as home users. It’s based on a layer-by-layer printing technique that arranges small particles from a set of ingredients. Within minutes, it prints out three-dimensional desserts, complex structures, shapes for molecular dishes, and patterns for decorating a meal. In addition, it’s easy to use. You simply insert a blister pack into the reservoir, place Moléculaire on top of a plate, and press the start button. Users can also create their own recipes with special software and their own ingredients. Ambitious users can download recipes and share them with other users in an online community.

Describe the consumer research behind your concept.
I conducted interviews with chefs and did a lot of research on the Internet. These approaches helped me to understand users’ interests, concerns, wishes, needs and desires. The outcome shaped my initial ideas and helped them grow. The most difficult thing about designing for the future is predicting the possible social and technological developments (their direction and speed). Therefore, it was very useful to read reports like sociological studies about cooking and future scenarios about the development of new technologies.

What kind of materials would you use to build your concept?
For my concept, I would use polycarbonate as the main material. I plan on applying this material in three different variations, each providing the right characteristics for the different parts of my design. Transparent polycarbonate can be used for the window, black tinted for the lid/display, and white for the body. The robotic printer arm and head could be made from aluminum. A blue (O)LED backlight accentuates the processes inside the printer.

Who is your favorite designer?
I don‘t have a favorite designer.

What are your career goals?
After I graduate in 2010, I want to gain more professional experience in a product-design company. In the long term, I want to further develop my conceptual and strategic skills and step into product-related design management.

Designer : Nico Kläber

Designer : Hieu Tranngoc and Hao Tran via Homedosh via HomeTone

Text from designer :

The idea of Cook Top Vesta is to give young, busy professionals more space to prepare their food and to give them more comfortable during the cooking. Young professionals do have mostly less space in their flats. Through a maximum flexibility in job and therefore in the place of residence they live in small apartments with a little fitted kitchen. So, the working area is very limited to prepare any food. Sinks and cook tops disturbs activities like cutting vegetables or knead the dough for the cake. In some cases you don’t need sink or cook top. Cook top vesta solve this problem through a fold up in a vertical position during the not using. So, it comes to more working area and you don’t want any extra kitchen utensils, like cutting boards to put over the sink or cook top, anymore.

It also contains a scanner that can read RFID chips, which are predicted to replace barcodes on product packages. These chips could contain information about cooking times and temperatures and even recipe suggestions. So, Vesta saves space, time and provides more comfort for the Internet generation.

Designer : Matthias Pinkert

Antoine Lebrun says :

The concept was the result of an extended process, not a sudden insight. “When I started this project, I didn’t have any image in mind,” he recalls. “I wanted a fresh start without any preconceived ideas. My only desire was to develop a simple and useful appliance.

The “internet generation” comprises many different people with their own lifestyle. Even if the @ generation can be easily described by a few trends, all these young people have different needs and lifestyles. That’s why I designed Coox, a simple appliance which allows each user to cook in accordance with his own lifestyle. This flexible cooking table follows you in your flat, and allows you to cook at your desk when you work, near to your couch if you want to chill, or with your friends around a coffee table. Thanks to this product, the user doesn’t have to break his current activity to cook and eat. You can also stay near to people when you have guests instead of cooking alone in the kitchen. The wheels allow you to easily move this product from a room to another one. You also have the possibility to adjust the height of the appliance in order to create an extension of your desk, coffee table or dinner table… A single design with a wide range of possibilities.

Designer : Antoine Lebrun

Text from Adam about the background of this concept :

“In my research, I found that 97% of the iGeneration owns a computer and 75% are on Facebook or other social networking sites,” says the device’s creator, Adam Brodowski, a design student at Savannah College of Art and Design in the U.S. state of Georgia. “I also found that they are all hypertaskers who do multiple things all at once. Eating dinner, text messaging, doing homework and watching TV are all strung together.

“They are also very comfortable with technology and the Internet. They run personal blogs, surf the web all day long, email back and forth and so on. Most importantly, they enjoy creating content to fuel the web and be noticed.”

All Units: This shows the various units of the Sook off the dock and ready to be used.

Docked: Shows all of the Sooks parts docked together. In this form the Dock and Touch can still be used.

Sook Touch: The Sook Touch is used to display and drag ingredients to build custom recipes. Ingredients are added when the Dock or Cut understands food near it. This then gives the user a bank of items to incorporate into there meal.

Sook Cut: The Sook Cut a cutting board containing a moisture sensor, weight sensor, and electronic tongue. It uses these sensors to identify what food is bring cut on the board and how much is being used. It then transmits this information to the Sook Touch to begin generating a recipe.

Sook Dock: A picture of the Sook Dock. Along with charging the Sook Cut and Touch the Dock works as a RFID scanner to identify what foods are near it, be it new groceries it can use for meals later, or food that is being set out to cook something currently.

Designer : Adam Brodowski

Public telephones and other public services (such as Automatic telling machines, Internet services, informational services) that are put in streets for more convince to customers consume electric energy. Not only for illumination but for different digital devices such as computers, LCDs, information panels, wireless devices… More and more of these services will be available on streets and more energy will be needed to support them. Solar public multipurpose booths provide, whatever the apparatus is inside, with necessary energy. Also every booth has lights that are powered by the same solar panels.

Bus stops with their large protective panels provide ideal space for application of solar cells. Generally, bus stops do not use much energy and in this way they can help other users from the SOLAR STREET FAMILY that use more electricity. Even more, the electricity collected by the Solar bus stops can be used by any other user as they are all connected to each other as well as to electric company. Lights of the bus stop itself are positioned in the base of solar panel and in the bus stop seating directed toward ground.

Solar park lamp uses the same MoSESS (Movement Sensors Energy Saving System) as Solar street lamp to reduce energy consumption. In the same way it recharges its batteries during the day and in the night uses it for illumination.

Solar street stand booths are popular way of shopping. They can sell and show different kinds of things ranging from food, clothes, souvenirs to information pamphlets and ads. These street stands consume electric energy for illumination, refrigerators, cooking…etc. Solar panel stores electric energy in batteries that are placed in the storage box. Solar street counters are independent from electric company network. They can be easily moved and placed into different locations by trucks (and small transportation wheels underneath the construction of the counter itself).

Designer : Nikola Knezevic

This brilliant kitchen sync concept has won a prestigious International Housewares Association design award, hopefully this digital cookbook can continue into real production.

Designer : Noah Balmer via TheKitchn

The Intended user is primarily the single person and or commuter, where time is precious and preparing a meal is more of a chore than an experience to be savoured. Families, with busy schedules could benefit, together with wider ranging demographics.

Taking styling cues from current trends the concept aims to deliver a contemporary take on kitchen appliances and remove those initial semantic values associated with kitchen appliances, to give an air of ?what is that??

Looks like we have more choices for our kitchen in the future, modular kitchen by Fevzi Karaman is still a concept, hopefully this compact cooker by Alex Bradley can be mass produced.

Designer : Alex Bradley via Dezeen