Collab is a collaboration of design professionals supporting the modern and contemporary design collections at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
A volunteer committee founded in 1970, Collab is dedicated to enriching the Museum’s collections with outstanding examples of mass-produced and unique designs, and to making the collections accessible to the general public, students, and the design community. Now among the most important in the country, the design collections of more than 1,000 objects range from appliances and furniture to ceramics, glass, posters, wallpapers, and lighting.
Collab supports a wide range of educational programming at the Museum, including exhibitions, publications, lectures, symposia, and a citywide, college-level Student Design Competition, as well as a distinguished annual Design Excellence Award. Collab also supports focused installations that showcase the work of their Design Excellence Award recipients—design professionals who have made a significant contribution to the field. Past honorees include Florence Knoll Bassett, Milton Glaser, Michael Graves, Richard Meier, Karim Rashid, George Nakashima, Gaetano Pesce, and Philippe Starck.
Collab ensures that the best of modern and contemporary design is preserved and displayed at the Museum, where it will educate and inspire generations to come.
Support Collab's work to bring the best of international design to Philadelphia through Museum membership and Collab add-on benefits!
For more information, please contact Collab by phone at (215) 763-8100 or by e-mail atcollab@philamuseum.org.
The 2009 Competition: Tabletop Luminaire
Competition BriefCollab will hold its Seventeenth Annual Student Design Competition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Monday, November 16, 2009. This year’s competition will be held in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition Marcel Wanders: Designer celebrating the innovative design work of the Dutch designer, the recipient of Collab’s 2009 Design Excellence Award.Marcel Wanders: Designer presents the designer’s own favorite work from among the hundreds of products he has created for various European manufacturers as well as for Droog Design and Moooi, of which he is also art director and co-owner. Trained in The Netherlands and Belgium as an industrial designer, Wanders has consistently challenged the premises of modernism. “We can no longer fall in total awe at a tube being bent. We can no longer tell our audience that a product is better because it is easier to make,” he said in 2007. “We have to challenge industry so they will learn to follow instead of lead.” With wit, humor, formal elegance, and above all, discipline, Wanders has taken up that challenge, advancing technological research into production methods and materials in designs that can be both environmentally friendly and playfully quirky at the same time. A true visionary, Wanders has created a body of work that is innovative and entirely original.The exhibition will be on view from November 21, 2009, through June 6, 2010, at the Collab Gallery, Perelman Building, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Theme
Students are asked to consider the way Marcel Wanders examines history, innovative use of materials and technology in designing objects that connect to the human experience. To quote the designer’s motto, Wanders is “here to create an environment of love, life with passion and make our most exciting dreams come true.”Tabletop Luminaire: As a decorative object, there is a long history of forms and types, from candlesticks and candelabras to all manner of lights, lighting and light objects. Equally important to their functionality, students are asked to consider their design as a decorative object. A table top light can be a simple object; it may illuminate a specific task, set a mood, or even serve a ceremonial purpose, for example.Challenge
Students will design a tabletop luminaire investigating the form and the meaning of the luminaire. Research is considered a critical component of the design process. The design should reference historical form from pre-20th century sources. Any materials and technology can be considered, and the piece must be reproducible in multiples.Submissions
All submissions must include the following components:- Presentation board: 11" x 17" presentation board, mounted vertically (portrait format) on 1/2" foamcore, containing:
- Design statement outlining concept, technical and materials information
- A final high-resolution image of the design
- Model: 3-Dimensional model — projects should be full scale, where applicable.
- CD: A CD containing:
- 300 dpi image of luminaire in JPG format
- Microsoft Word document with design statement and registration form information
- Registration Form: A completed Registration Form. Forms may be photocopied.
Instructions
All entrants must complete a Registration Form form and place it in a sealed envelope along with the CD. The envelope is to be securely taped to the back of the presentation board and submitted with 3-D model.Addendum: Models may also be adjusted to fit the constraints of their materials and/or production (i.e. 3-D printers). Please note scale where applicable.Date and Location for Submissions
Entries are to be submitted by 9:00 a.m. on Monday, November 16, 2009 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Entries are to be hand-delivered to the Seminar Room, accessed through the Handicapped/Accessible Entrance on the south side of the Museum. Please use this entrance only when submitting entries.Prizes
First Prize: $1,000; Second Prize: $750; Third Prize: $500Two Honorable Mentions
Judging criteria
- Evidence of applied research of process and materials
- Originality and creativity of the concept
- Functionality of design and ability to make multiples
- Construction (craft of submission)
Announcement of Winners
Entrants are asked to return to the Seminar Room at The Philadelphia Museum of Art on the same day at 3:00 p.m. for the announcement of the winners and a feedback session with the judges. A reception for the students will follow.Student work will also be presented during the Marcel Wanders Design Excellence Award event on Saturday, November 21, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Students are encouraged to attend the event. For tickets and information, call the Museum Ticket Center at 215-235-7469.Publication
After the competition, a selection of the winning projects will be published on the Philadelphia Museum of Art website and presented in the Collab Journal.Return of Entries
All entries must be picked up on the day of the competition following the student awards presentation. The Museum cannot be responsible for any projects left at the Museum after 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 16, 2009.Eligibility
Students submitting projects to the Collab Student Design Competition must be currently enrolled in a college or university. Entries cannot be delivered by post. All students must be physically present to deliver their work on the morning of the competition and be present to hear the judges’ decisions later that day. No joint or team projects.Competition Judges
For more information, please contact Collab by phone at (215) 763-8100 or by e-mail atcollab@philamuseum.org.
