Hungarian Design Student Wins Electrolux Design Lab 2007 with E-wash Washing Machine

E-wash is compact washing machine that uses soap nuts instead of detergent. The winning designer is Levente Szabó from Moholy-Nagy University of Art & Design in Hungary.

Yahoo Finance, Wednesday November 28, 4:52 pm ET

STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 2007 Electrolux Design Lab, the fifth edition of this annual competition, challenged students to come up with environmentally-sound, commercially-viable products and solutions that would enable consumers to live in greater harmony with the environment.

In India and Nepal, people have used the soap nut (sapindus mucorossi) for centuries to get their clothes clean. Szabó says that a kilogram of soap nuts would last the typical person a year. Soap nuts, he explains, are good for people with allergies and gentle on clothes.

“E-wash is a brilliant connection between ancient knowledge and high-tech,” comments juror Henrik Otto, head of Global Design for Electrolux. “It takes an open-minded person to seek out solutions one culture and apply them to another.”

Fellow juror Matali Crasset, award-winning French designer, agrees, and adds, “It is a global system. It doesn’t just address one part of the process.”

Szabó says that his starting point was looking for alternatives to the production, packaging and transportation of the detergent. “I was looking for a substance that could replace detergent,” he explains. “The soap nut is a natural plant and can be cultivated. It does not harm nature but is a part of it.

“I also changed the form of the conventional washing machine. I reduced the size and made it flat, so it would fit into a small apartment, but also would be able to wash a lot of clothes at the same time.”

The award for second place went to Pebble by Laura Pandelle from École Boulle, France. Pebble is a portable, solar food cooker that uses spray-on solar cells and induction heating for precise, energy-efficient cooking.

“This is a fascinating design that’s plausible and really useful,” says juror Jason Bradbury, a UK technology presenter. “Solar paint is an innovative use of a really exciting technology.”

“I like the fact that it is a readily transportable object,” adds juror Celine Cousteau, an environmental advocate. “You are not stuck in the kitchen. You can put it anywhere. You can also leave it and do something else, so it’s liberating. It is also very appealing from a tactile standpoint.”

Third place went to Go Fresh by He Cheng Fei from Jiangnan University, China. Go Fresh is an energy-saving fridge with individual, honeycomb-shaped compartments that preserve each type of food at the right temperature and can be removed to be taken on a picnic, for example. “Essentially, he’s attempted to redesign the bicycle,” Bradbury says. “The fridge hasn’t changed a whole lot since the 1950s. He’s made it into a three-dimensional, portable object.”

Crasset adds, “With the food stored at the ideal temperature, people may waste less. Also, the refrigerator is more than just a functional appliance in a corner. It can, for example, be used as a room divider.”

The Design Lab ‘07 award is a prize of 5,000 Euro and a six-month internship at one of the Electrolux Group’s global design centers.