Natural Light Design Competition jury settled
The VELUX Group and Little Sun are excited to present Olafur Eliasson, Patricia Urquiola, Ije Nwokorie, Melody Sarudzayi Joachim and Koyo Kouoh as members of the final jury who will oversee the Natural Light Design Competition, celebrating VKR Holding’s 75th anniversary. These five internationally recognized jury members within the fields of architecture, design and art will together select the winning design of a special edition solar lamp.
In November 2014 the social business Little Sun and the VELUX Group joined forces to launch a design competition inviting young design students to create a special edition solar lamp in honor of VELUX’s 75th anniversary. Utilising Little Sun’s micro-entrepreneurial distribution model, the Natural Light project will donate an initial supply of solar lamps to kick-start distribution in off-grid African communities at affordable prices.
The VELUX Group and Little Sun are happy to announce the jury for the Natural Light Design Competition. The jury consists of exciting leaders within their respective fields:
Olafur Eliasson, Patricia Urquiola, Ije Nwokorie, Melody Sarudzayi Joachim, Koyo Kouoh, along with VELUX A/S Chief Marketing Director Michael Rasmussen and Little Sun Founder and Engineer Frederik Ottesen.
Olafur Eliasson, who chairs the jury, founded Little Sun, a social business and global project that is bringing sustainable, clean solar light to areas of the world without electricity. In addition to Little Sun, Eliasson is best known for his inspiring art installations around the world such as The weather project at London’s Tate Modern (2003), Your black horizon at the Venice Biennale (2005), and the New York City Waterfalls (2008).
I am extremely pleased to be chairing the jury of Natural Light. It is a great opportunity to connect with the next generation of talented design students. They are young people with the muscle and energy needed to find a response to the global problems we are facing. Great and innovative design can really make a difference for the future!
In addition to Olafur Eliasson, the jury’s four other members each bring their own areas of expertise to the table.
Jury member Patricia Urquiola is one of the most distinctive names of interior design today. Patricia has worked with top design brands such as Moroso, Boffi, Foscarini and Missoni. Her Fjord armchair is part of the permanent collection at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Patricia was born in Spain and studied architecture in Madrid prior to moving to Milan and graduating from Milan Politecnico. In 2011 Patricia Urquiola was awarded the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes and was presented with the Order of Isabella the Catholic by King Juan Carlos I of Spain.
Jury member Ije Nwokorie is the CEO of Wolff Olins, which is widely recognized as one of the world’s most influential brand businesses with clients such as Virgin Media, Skype and GE. Ije Nwokorie was born in the United States but spent most of his youth in Nigeria, where he began his architectural studies before going on to complete his Master’s degree at Columbia University in New York City. Ije also functions as advisor to numerous start-ups and actively supports the rise of creative industries in Africa.
Jury member Melody Sarudzayi Joachim is a Plan International Alumnus and played an integral role in the founding of Alight Zimbabwe Trust, Little Sun’s distribution partners in Zimbabwe, where she serves as Vice Chairperson of the board.
Jury member Koyo Kouoh is an internationally renowned curator and cultural producer. Cameroonian by birth and Senegalese by heart, Koyo has a deep affinity for the African continent. She is the founder and artistic director of Raw Material Company, a centre for art, knowledge and society in Dakar, Senegal.
The jury will review the submitted designs in March 2015, and the winning design will be announced in May 2015.
The Natural Light Design Competition
For nearly 75 years, the VELUX Group has worked to improve living conditions around the world by bringing daylight into people's homes. To mark this milestone, the VELUX Group has partnered with Little Sun, a social business and global project founded by internationally renowned artist Olafur Eliasson and engineer Frederik Ottesen, to improve living conditions for people in areas of the world without electricity.
The global competition invites design students from around the world to bring sustainable light to off-grid areas in Africa by designing a Little Sun special edition solar lamp. 29,000 units of the winning design will be produced and a substantial amount of lamps will be sold in off-grid regions of Africa at locally affordable prices.
How to enter Natural Light
- Registration for the Natural Light competition opened on November 3, 2014.
- Deadline for submitting a design is March 15, 2015.
- All designs must be submitted as a JPG or bitmap image in a quality that is viewable on a 12.5 inch monitor with a resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels. Images must be accompanied with a project description of maximum 500 words, written in English. In addition, participants have to submit a 30 sec. video demonstrating the project. Find all specifications on submission at www.naturallight.org
I am excited to be part of the Natural Light jury. Access to natural renewable energy is a global issue and a critical challenge for our future. Inspiring young designers of tomorrow to engage with this is a prospective vision. I cannot wait to see all the inspiring entries.