5 finalists of Pastoe Design Contest announced

During this year's Dutch Design Week, de Volkskrant newspaper, Pastoe and  Dutch Design Week launched the Volkskrant Design Contest. At this annual contest, de Volkskrant challenges young designers to take on a challenge issued by large, renowned production companies. This year, Pastoe asked: What will the cabinet of the future look like? The first round ended on Friday December 4th and the jury announced the five finalists. With the guidance of Pastoe's Creative Director, Joost van der Vecht, the finalists are developing an operational prototype and are working towards the finale on March 12th.

For most of us books, CDs, photo albums and finances have all been digitised. We have moved from storing things in cabinets to storing things in the cloud, which is significantly more efficient thanks to the cloud's built-in search and share functions. Plus, your data in the cloud is in no way affected by dust or moisture! Has the cloud had an influence on the design of today's cabinets? You would expect so, but modern cabinets are just the same as those of 30 years ago. Inspired by this question, Pastoe sets out to find renewal and innovation in the world of cabinets and is challenging designers to produce the cabinet of the future.

On October 18th 2015, the Volkskrant Design Contest was launched during Dutch Design Week. This contest is intended to provide designers the opportunity to make a name for themselves among large, renowned businesses across a range of disciplines. This year, the de Volkskrant newspaper asked furniture manufacturer Pastoe to define the challenge.

Finalists

The first round recently came to an end when, on December 4th, the jury, consisting of Jeroen Junte (design critic and presiding juror), Francine Houben (architect), Richard Hutten (industrial designer) and Rudy Stroink (director of Pastoe), chose five finalists. 

The five finalists in the competition are:

In de Kast (Mike Vincent) - The cabinet as an app, always with you and always accessible. Relocate your archives from an impersonal Dropbox to a beautifully designed cabinet.

LevenDekast (Liesbeth Rabbinge) - The unusual use of materials, which organically respond to changes in use, the environment and mood, make this cabinet an interesting object.

Multicloset. (Stefan Theunissen) - This cabinet can be produced in a range of shapes and sizes to suit mobile people who constantly inhabit different spaces. It can be set horizontally or vertically.

Plank (Robert Bronwasser) - The cabinet of the future is a shelf. What you put on a cabinet is just as important as its contents.

Humus (Chanel Kapitanj) - This single rail on the wall represents the cabinet reduced to a minimalistic and practical instrument.

The finalists have until February 12th to produce a prototype of their design and they will be guided in this process by Pastoe's Creative Director, Joost van der Vecht. Once the finalists have submitted their prototypes, they will be put on online display until March 12th, during which time the public can vote on their favourite via www.volkskrant.nl/designcontest.
The jury annouces the winner on an event in the Pastoe factory on March 12th.

The Volkskrant Design Contest 2015 is a collaboration of Volkskrant newspaper and Pastoe and is co-initiated by Dutch Design Week.