Furnitureland South Hosts Project UDesign

October 18, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Green on October 19, 2010

Furnitureland South will host the finalists and winner of Cargill BiOH polyols' Project UDesign contest for a discussion of eco-friendly furniture design.

The discussion is set for Wednesday, 10 a.m.-noon in the Jamestown, N.C., retailer's South Eco-Link, the area's first sustainable home furnishings gallery. The event will follow Wednesday's announcement of the Project UDesign winner. The three finalists' eco-friendly, wing chair designs were selected from six semi-final designs created by students who have recently completed SCAD's soft furnishings design course.

The Project UDesign competition is the first in the furniture industry to "crowdsource" a design that consumers will eventually be able buy. Additionally, Century Furniture has pledged to put the winning design into production in early 2011. The company will pay the contest's winner a royalty for each unit of the winning chair design it sells, and the winner will also receive a $1,000 award from Cargill's BiOH polyols business. Project UDesign co-sponsors include Toray International's Ultrasuede brand of upholstery covers made using the company's EcoDesign manufacturing process, and North Carolina-based Century Furniture, a 2009 AHFA SAGE award finalist and Sustainable Furnishings Council member.

During Wednesday's event, finalists will discuss the inspiration for their designs, and join in the conversation with SCAD students and Furnitureland South Design Consultants about the latest eco-friendly collections, and what consumers ultimately want in sustainable home furnishings.

Furnitureland South also will hold an online chat via Facebook and Twitter with industry and design professionals who are unable to attend the event. Tweets should be directed to the hashtag #FLSecoDZINEchat.