Design for a Dollar: Upcycling Contest at Pratt in NYC

Pratt was the star of this year’s ICFF Design Schools’ Exhibition with their Design for a Dollar contest. Amazingly, with the design constraint of using a buck or less, the Pratt students invented brilliant eco home ideas (many upcycled from totally discarded items). The competition required students to create designs that include manufacturing costs, transportation, energy, material, labor and waste issues.

 Pratt’s professor of industrial design, Mark Goetz, recently told Fast Company:

“Students really gained a greater understanding, and cautious respect for all that goes into a product before and especially after it is designed…

In many cases, even with the most sincere of intentions, students learned their pieces exceeded the cost of a dollar. But most importantly, they learned why. Our students earnestly continue to search for ways to maximize the value of what they have offer to the world while minimizing the impact their ideas will have on the environment.”

Having personally attended Pratt to learn more about design before going to a larger university, I can honestly say this is a remarkable project for their industrial design department!

Via Inhabitat