Judges Seek "Eco-Chair" Contest Entries by June 9, 2008

Furniture World News

Las Vegas Design Center at World Market Center Las Vegas, the Sustainable Furniture Council and Western Interiors & Design magazine invite designers everywhere to enter the first-ever “One Good Chair” design competition. The program encourages designers to contribute their vision for a new kind of “eco-chair” that focuses first and foremost on form. Judges are looking for lounge chair or casual seating chair designs that demonstrate a new attitude and new conceptual design toward an old problem and transcend basic green standards by transforming the very nature of the chair. Competition entrants should consider: - What kind of shapes can minimize resources while maximizing comfort and enjoyment? - How can design integrate ecology and ergonomics? Cash prizes, intended to support the fabrication of a prototype of the winning chair designs, will be awarded at a reception sponsored by World Market Center and Western Interiors & Design magazine. The ceremony will take place during the Summer 2008 Las Vegas Market held July 28-August 1, 2008. Lance Hosey, AIA, LEED AP, a Director with the Charlottesville, Va.-based William McDonough + Partners, said the program’s focus is on how form and image can enhance conservation and comfort. “Furniture is an important subject, yet I have found very few compelling examples of furniture that optimizes both resources and comfort through design rather than strictly through materials and methods,” Hosey said. “A competition seemed to be a great way to solicit ideas and spur interest in the topic. It will be exciting to see the results.” Winners and select entries will be featured in industry publications Treehugger, Inhabitat, Western Interiors & Design and other media, with select entries considered for inclusion in Lance Hosey's book, The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology and Design. Hosey said entries will be judged on material conservation, physical comfort and emotional resonance. The competition is open to any designer, architect, student or interested person anywhere. Margaret Casey, director of programming at World Market Center Las Vegas and a founding member of the Sustainable Furniture Council, said the One Good Chair design competition is supported through World Market Center’s Las Vegas Design Center and Las Vegas Market’s Living Green Pavilion. “Our judges for this competition are incredibly prestigious and their involvement makes One Good Chair an outstanding opportunity for all designers, both up and coming and established.” The judges of One Good Chair represent a cross section of renowned designers, researchers and academics with specific expertise in green design. The One Good Chair jury includes: - Lance Hosey (jury chair and competition organizer) Director, William McDonough + Partners - Galen Cranz, a Professor, University of California at Berkeley - Michael Wollaeger, Editor-in-Chief of Western Interiors and Design magazine - Bill Dowell, Director of Research, Herman Miller Inc. - Jill Fehrenbacher, a Green Designer and Founder of Inhabitat - Eric Pfeiffer, a Designer and Founder of Pfeiffer Lab - Susan Szenasy, Editor in Chief of Metropolis magazine All finalists will be featured on the competition website, and many or all will also be exhibited at various public events. The “One Good Chair” registration closes May 16. Entries are due June 9. For more information or an entry form, visit www.lasvegasmarket.com, www.sustainablefurniturecouncil.com or www.onegoodchair.com. About World Market Center Las Vegas World Market Center Las Vegas is an integrated home and hospitality contract furnishings showroom and trade complex in Las Vegas. When fully built, at 12 million square feet in 8 buildings, World Market Center will be the largest trade show complex in the world. The $3 billion, state-of-the-art campus will showcase furniture, decorative accessories, lighting, area rugs, home textile and related segments, as well as the Las Vegas Design Center (LVDC) open year-round to the trade. World Market Center produces the semi-annual Las Vegas Market, held every January and July, and is the fastest growing home furnishings trade show in the world. World Market Center is now leasing the third building to a broad cross-section of the home furnishings industry.