Oct 31 2007
The VisionWorks Award is unique in the history of Bayer MaterialScience so far. The purpose of the competition, which is open to students at selected European design schools, is to encourage talented young designers and inspire them to develop new applications using products manufactured by the Group.
The competition is divided into two categories: firstly, ideas for applications that belong in the distant future, and secondly, applications that could have market potential today. Selected concepts are presented to the public and followed up if there is sufficient market interest.
The selection procedure:
VisionWorks - the mission statement of Bayer MaterialScience - is also the mission statement of the competition. The participants are provided with information from the "Future Living 2020" study and also material and technology know-how on Bayer MaterialScience plastics. This they use to produce sketches for new applications. A panel of Bayer MaterialScience experts then selects certain ideas from a total of 90 design concepts for further development. On the basis of these, the designers create a total of
28 prototypes. An independent jury then assesses, in addition to the intelligent use of materials and the idea itself, the degree of innovation, the functionality and the technical quality of the submitted concepts.
In the Vision category, the students must convince the judges of their futuristic ideas, while in the Works category, feasibility plays a decisive role. Bayer MaterialScience awards two prizes in each category. The first prize is worth 1,500 Euros, the second prize 750 Euros.
Choosing the design schools:
Bayer MaterialScience chooses schools from the whole of Europe to take part in the VisionWorks Award to ensure a good mixture of national and cultural influences. The students receive financial assistance, but above all technical support in developing their ideas. A certain budget is made available to cover travel expenses and the cost of building and shipping the models. At the start of the competition, Bayer MaterialScience invites the participants and their teachers to Leverkusen to give them important information gleaned from practical experience and to ensure that the conditions are the same for all those taking part. The students can make useful contacts and find out all about the possibilities of polymer-based plastics technology. At the same time, the students get to know one another, which has a beneficial effect.
The jury:
A jury of seven internationally recognized experts judges the work. The members are:
- Konstantin Grcic, designer, Munich (Chairman)
- Mateo Kries, Vitra Design Museum, Berlin
- Professor Lutz Fügener, transportation design, Pforzheim University
- Nicola Stattmann, product design, materials expert, Frankfurt -Thomas Edelmann, journalist, architecture and design, Hamburg
- Michael Golz, Corporate Communications, Bayer MaterialScience, Leverkusen
- Monika Brandt, Polyurethanes Business Unit, Bayer MaterialScience, Leverkusen
VisionWorks Award 2007 "People in Motion":
The theme of this year’s VisionWorks Award was "Mobility". The young designers were asked to think how people might move around in the future - at home, at work or in their leisure time - and draw up appropriate concepts. The theme was based on the "Future Living 2020" study, in which Bayer MaterialScience’s Creative Center, working within the company network, conceived two future scenarios that described how people throughout the world might live and work in 13 years’ time.
The participating design schools:
- International School of Design, Cologne, Germany
- College of Fine Arts, Hamburg, Germany
- Free University of Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy
- Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, Prague, Czech Republic
- Elisava School of Design, Barcelona, Spain
VisionWorks Award 2007 prizewinners in the Vision category:
- Krystian Majewski, Cologne International School of Design, for "Delto"
- Marcin Jez, College of Fine Arts, Hamburg, for "Seaguard"
VisionWorks Award 2007 prizewinners in the Works category:
- Maciej Puzon, Cologne International School of Design, for "Pumpboard"
- Ina-Marie von Mohl, Andreas Schöller, Robert Korn and Christian Dobbert, College of Fine Arts, Hamburg, for "Sleeping Policeman"