BASF Design Contest Winner Announced, Innovative Soap Dispenser Takes the Top Prize

The winners of the “Love Design, Love Life” design competition launched by BASF at the 2016 CHINAPLAS International Rubber and Plastic Exhibition were announced today. An integrated innovative design of a sponge wipe and soap dispenser won the first prize in this competition. The design comes from Nikhil Banwaskar of the Shanghai design team. Its unique and interesting design helps modern families improve the convenience of home life and save space.

Andy Postlethwaite, Global Senior Vice President, Performance Materials Asia Pacific, BASF, said: “This year’s competition has attracted many excellent works, and the active participation of the contestants has fully demonstrated the role of material innovation in inspiring creative thinking. Using BASF’s Innovative materials, designers can transform design ideas into outstanding product solutions, making our lives healthier, smarter and more sustainable.”

In this design competition, BASF invites designers to submit ideas to address the challenges of urban life, such as quality of life, energy-efficient transportation and durable and environmentally friendly buildings. Using advanced materials from BASF, designers unleash their creativity to transform the homes we live in, the cars we drive, the furniture we own and the sports equipment we use.

Chris Lefteri, a judge of the competition, co-founder of Chris Lefteri Design Studio and materials expert, commented: “Materials and innovation have always been inseparable. As a designer, the infinite possibilities of new materials have brought me a steady stream of inspiration.” Motivation and inspiration allow us to use new ways to create products. We are very happy to see a large number of excellent works emerge in this competition, which fully reflects the influence of materials on design creativity.”

Banwaskar’s ingenious all-in-one soap dispenser and sponge design impressed the judges. It combines the soap dispenser and scrubbing material into one, and through the three steps of “liquid supply”, “foaming” and “cleaning”, it greatly improves the convenience of dishwashing, and can even be used to clean goblets. Its ergonomic design also helps save storage and drying space where space is limited. BASF’s Ultradur polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and polyurethane foam were used in the design for the soap dispenser and sponge, respectively. Ultradur is characterized by high stiffness/hardness, dimensional stability, low water absorption, excellent resistance to many chemicals and excellent heat aging resistance. Polyurethane foam is not only extremely durable, but also offers different densities and stiffnesses through the structure, and its rough surface also has a good scrubbing effect.

More than 100 entries from various countries participated in this competition, and the judges evaluated the entries according to the degree of innovation and the possibility of realization.

BASF also announced the second to fourth winners of the contest:

? Eljas Linna (Elospaces LLC), Winner: Bubble Furniture

? Wang Yu, Fan Danmiao, Xie Bingyao (Zhejiang University of Technology), award-winning work: Modular electronic equipment liner bag

? Chen Yifang (SMP Industries Co., Ltd.), the award-winning work: Cornbell sports equipment

The winner will receive a prize of RMB 20,000 and the opportunity to visit the designfabrik center at the headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The first and third prizes will be awarded RMB 10,000 and RMB 5,000 respectively.

The second “Love Design, Love Life” design competition is hosted by BASF designfabrik Design Consulting Center (Shanghai). As part of the Asia-Pacific Design Center, designfabrik Design Consulting Center (Shanghai) is committed to helping designers in the region bridge the gap between creativity and different materials, and transform design ideas into reality.