The first Aectual Screen Design competition was an absolute success. After announcing the competition October 7th, within a super-short period of just 2,5 weeks no less than 87 designs were submitted. The jury, consisting of none other than British designer Tom Dixon; Co-Founder of Thonik, Nikki Gonnissen; Editor-in-Chief of Elle Decoration NL, Evelien Reich; Director of Zaha Hadid Architects, Michele Pasca di Magliano; and Co-Founder House of DUS / Aectual, Martine de Wit, chose designer Gabi Potsa, founder of studio Entrive, as the winner.
About the brief
The task was to design a hanging partition screen based on the design guidelines provided. Participants had to share just one sketch or drawing to make the competition fun with a low participation threshold (but were allowed to submit more content if they’d like to). Aectual announced the competition October 7th 2021, and participants could submit until October 22nd, so there were just 16 days to create a design.
The team of Aectual was overwhelmed that 60 different participants submitted no less than 87 designs.
The internationally renowned judges evaluated the screen designs based on the following criteria:
Originality
Aesthetics
Spatial use
Can it be manufactured by 3D printing
From the jury report
“The entries we received were above our expectation, in quality as well as in quantity. We were really overwhelmed and will surely organize this more often.”
“It was great fun to see the wide array of entries and design perspectives on one specific product. The work was beautifully presented and involved several fresh ideas that truly inspired us as a jury and the team at Aectual. Lots of designers took inspiration from nature, often successfully combined with (geometrical) computational design. But also on the opposite, very free forms and extraordinary artworks seduced the jury.”
“Throughout the competition entries, the jury saw two main directions of entries: One being an entirely free artistic approach where the jury needed to interpret the 3D effect of it themselves, and on the opposite technical 3D printing / computational methods mostly resulting in a grid-like design. As a jury, we selected a winner that combines these two directions in one simple yet very detailed design. The intelligent play of the winning design that creates a 2D flat panel with the optical illusion of a 3D form, in which then again 3D details are used, was the deciding factor of making it the winner. It’s a fresh yet comforting concept, very well developed and presented.”
About the winner
The winner was announced during a festive Ceremony November 24th during Dutch Design week at the Aectual Exhibition, where the judges were present live and via video connection. On November 3rd, Gabi Potsa was invited to the Aectual HQ to receive her award in person and review the first printed prototype of her winning design. In the coming weeks, the prototype will be perfected for final production and then Gabi will receive her own unique screen, which will then also be revealed to the public.
Industrial designer Gabi Potsa founded idea-driven industrial design studio Entrive in 2020, prior to having worked in China, Belgium, Hungary and The Netherlands. It’s her aim to transform great ideas into satisfying, personal experiences that contribute to the success of her clients.
Congratulations Gabi, we look forward to the unveiling of your screen design soon!
Read more about the Aectual Screen Design Competition 2021
