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Final Call For Entries: "One Good Chair 2010: Minimum/Maximum" Design Challenge

Furniture World Magazine

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World Market Center announced that less than two weeks remain to register early for the "One Good Chair 2010 Minimum/Maximum" design competition, which challenges participants to design a chair that’s not only sustainable but also comfortable. To date, more than 150 people from all over the globe have registered.

The One Good Chair competition, now in its third year, is sponsored by the Sustainable Furnishings Council and the Las Vegas Design Center at World Market Center Las Vegas and is being organized by architect, designer, green advocate and author Lance Hosey, whose upcoming book "Shape of Green Design" explores how form and image can enhance conservation and comfort at every scale of design. Other supporters of the 2010 competition include Dwell magazine as a media partner, Savannah College of Art and Design and manufacturers Handy Living and Weyerhaeuser serving as production partners.

"This year’s theme, Minimum/Maximum, challenges designers to use as little material as possible to create a comfortable, durable, beautiful chair," said Hosey. "Not any easy task, so I’m very excited to see how innovative the contestants can get. The competition gets better every year and this year’s entries are sure to be inspiring."

Specifically, the challenge posed to designers includes demonstrating that smart design can not only minimize material consumption but also maximize comfort. Contest judges will be looking for pieces that minimize material, production, shipping and assembly while maximizing comfort, utility, durability and beauty in the product.

Margaret Casey, director of programming for World Market Center Las Vegas and vice president of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, said "The One Good Chair competition has literally become an international design competition with entries being received from all over the world. We are very excited that this year we’ve also seen entries coming from more universities and other academic programs."

The entry fee for the One Good Chair competition is $50 U.S. dollars until May 1, after which time the fee increases to $70. Registration can be completed online at http://www.onegoodchair.com/register-check no later than June 15, 2010.

This year’s competition will be conducted in two phases. Phase I will take place at the Summer Las Vegas Market scheduled for Aug. 2 – 6, 2010, where finalists will be selected by a panel of judges from all the entries received. After the announcement of the finalists, their designs will be sent to various manufacturers to be made into prototypes. Phase II of the competition will occur during the Winter Las Vegas Market, scheduled for Jan. 24 – 28, 2011, where the prototypes will be exhibited and a winner will be selected from the finalists to share a cash prize of up to $5,000 from World Market Center Las Vegas.

The panel of judges for both phases of the competition will be comprised of renowned designers, researchers and academics with specific expertise in eco-friendly design.

The One Good Chair judge’s panel for Phase I includes:

  • Lance Hosey, author & architect (jury chair and organizer)
  • Jose Atienza, William McDonough & Partners
  • Kate Bolick, author, Deceived with Ornament: The Inner Life of the American Home
  • Shashi Caan, The Shashi Caan Collective
  • Helene Cany, finalist, One Good Chair 2009
  • John Cary, Public Architecture
  • Dawn Danby, Autodesk
  • Ingrid Fettell, author, The Aesthetics of Joy
  • Pliny Fisk, Sustainable Earth Technologies
  • Nataly Gattegno, Future Cities Lab
  • Toby Israel, Design Psychology
  • Janine James, The Moderns
  • Wendy Jedlicka, Jedlicka Designs
  • Jason Johnson, Future Cities Lab
  • Antonio Larosa, Savannah College of Art and Design
  • Richard Liddle, Cohda Design
  • Andrea Mangini, Adobe
  • Daniel Michalik, DMFD
  • Neri Oxman, Material Ecology
  • Andrew Whalley, Grimshaw Architects
  • Adam Yarinsky, Architecture Research Office

Judging for Phase II will take place during the 2011 Winter Las Vegas Market with a diverse group to include eco-model and activist Summer Rayne Oakes as well as a handful of other world-renowned individuals.

The competition is a part of World Market Center’s One Good World initiatives. Visit www.onegoodchair.com, www.LasVegasMarket.com or www.sustainablefurnishings.org for more information.

About Sustainable Furnishings Council

The Sustainable Furnishings Council is a non-profit coalition of industry players created to promote sustainable practices among manufacturers, retailers, and consumers alike with a public tagging program to identify good choices. We are over two hundred and fifty members strong and growing fast. The solution starts with you. For more information, visit www.sustainablefurnihsings.org.

About World Market Center Las Vegas

World Market Center Las Vegas is an integrated home and hospitality contract furnishings showroom and trade complex. The state-of-the-art campus showcases furniture, decorative accessories, gift, lighting, area rugs, home textiles and related segments, as well as the Las Vegas Design Center (LVDC), now open daily to consumers and designers. World Market Center currently hosts the biannual Las Vegas Market™, the preeminent total home market. In August 2010, World Market Center will launch the inaugural Gift + Home™ show catering to the gift, decorative accessory and seasonal industries along with Vegas Kids™ which will provide youth furniture, juvenile products, toy and game, children’s books, children’s apparel and gift. In January 2011, INSPIREDESIGN™ returns at World Market Center representing a dynamic alternative for manufacturers and companies serving the hospitality design marketplace. Find us on Facebook and Twitter.

For more information on World Market Center Las Vegas, visit www.LasVegasMarket.com.