Two Canadian students from the Université de Montréal are the winners of Formica’s 2021 North American FORM Student Innovation Competition. Second year Industrial Design students, Bénédicte Laurent and Martin Gonzalez Godoy have set themselves apart with their “Toboom” design, a multi use piece of furniture for children.
Projects were submitted under the theme of “Design for the Next Generation,” which called for students to interpret their design vision for a variety of post-pandemic commercial settings using products from the 2021 Specialty Collection by Formica Corporation. The winning students will receive cash prizes and the “Toboom” design will be created and showcased at NeoCon, Oct. 4-6, 2021, at the Mart in Chicago.
“This year again, the quality of the designs and the number of entries speak for themselves! We are very proud to report that the FORM Student Innovation Competition attracted 102 entries from across Canada. In their projects, the students demonstrated a great deal of care, creativity and talent,” said Christelle Locat-Rainville, Marketing Director at Formica Canada. We are particularly delighted that students from our country distinguished themselves and won, for the second time in a row, the first place of the competition.” “This North American competition was created to stimulate creativity and promote the talent of the next generation of architects and designers. The participation of each student is a great learning experience, and I am convinced that the winners and all the participants of this 2021 edition will be strongly stimulated by their performance.”
Toboom is a multifunctional piece of furniture designed to provide a child with a space to play, study, store items and relax. The piece was created as part of a university course during a two-month, three-phase process: research and contextualization, brainstorming, and concept development and optimization.
The piece’s design flows thanks to dynamic curves, and the absence of angular corners makes it easy to clean and keeps users safe. The curved upper surface has a wave that invites a child to slide down it. The child can climb up on this piece of furniture from the two easy-to-handle modular chairs. In the upright position, the chairs offer a seat with a backrest to maintain good posture. The adjacent table has a writable surface that allows children to unleash their creativity. The piece also has built-in storage compartments for books and toys. In the centre of the structure, two large circular openings create a tunnel play area or a cozy corner to relax. This design uses Formica Laminate in Enamel, Solar Orange and Buff Elm as well as Formica Writable Surfaces.
Maria Rodriguez of Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded second prize for her “Portal Desk” design, which rethinks the design of modern workspaces. Ryan Todys, from Milford, Ohio, was awarded third prize for his “You, Me and a Tree” bench design. This design connects people to nature and is meant to welcome all with an interchanging space for a live tree, allowing for more social distancing between patrons
Two Canadian students receive an honorable mention Simon Boudreau and Marc-Olivier Desjardins from the Université du Québec à Montréal received an honorable mention for their “ILO” desk design, as did Eva Lloyd from North Carolina State University for her “LiveCycle” table design.
