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Project UDesign: We Have a Winner
October 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on October 20, 2010
The Alifair wing chair from Savannah College of Art and Design student Ryland Quillen has won Cargill's BiOH Polyols' Project UDesign Competition.
Alifair received 1,881 votes from consumers and members of the home furnishings industry attending the High Point Market. During the award presentation Wednesday morning, Quillen was cited for his unique interpretation of the wing chair's function in a contemporary living room setting.
Designs and related video footage are displayed on Cargill's Experience BiOH blog and You Tube channel.
Project UDesign was sponsored by Cargill's Biobased Polyurethanes business unit, makers of the soy-based ingredient which replaces a percentage of petroleum in foam used for upholstered furniture cushioning.
"The attention Project UDesign has garnered here at the High Point Market, as well as online from the public and the media over the past few months, has been quite significant--confirming that consumers and the trade want to see more sustainable products in the marketplace," said Yusuf Wazirada, Cargill's Biobased Polyurethanes business unit leader.
"Sustainability is about more than being 'green' and using eco-friendly products and processes," said SCAD BFA furniture design student Ryland Quillen, a resident of Johnson City, Tenn. Its also about investing in our futures.
North Carolina-based Century Furniture, a 2009 AHFA SAGE award finalist and Sustainable Furnishings Council member, has pledged to manufacture the new wing chair, the first furniture design to be crowdsourced prior to production, with a finished frame from sustainably harvested and certified woods. The chair will be available for purchase by consumers in 2011.
As the winning designer, Quillen will receive a royalty for each unit of the chair Century sells. He was also awarded a $1,000 prize from Cargill's BiOH polyols business during the ceremony. Runners up in the competition received gifts from co-sponsor Toray International, makers of Ultrasuede EcoDesign upholstery covers.
"The Project UDesign Competition has been a rewarding experience for the students who participated, but it's been an equally rewarding endeavor for all of the sponsoring companies involved," said Helen Brier, sales and marketing manager, Interiors, Toray International. "The students obvious talent and passion for eco-friendly design as 'the right thing to do' has been energizing for everyone involved."
"Just because its sustainable, doesnt mean it has to look it, or even flaunt its sustainable message," said Matt Gray, SCAD MFA furniture design student, and another competition favorite.
"Design is becoming a hub for collaboration, where the design world is colliding with the green world," said Emily Carpenter, SCAD BFA furniture design student, and Project UDesign finalist.