share on BufferThe Swedish brand, led by designer Thomas Ingenlath, chose ‘progressive’ as this year’s theme.
An exclusive feature of the global Polestar Design Contest is the one-on-one coaching and support from the Polestar Design team.
Entrants first submitted sketches, which were assessed by Head of Design Maximilian Missoni and a panel of Polestar designers. The finalists were then invited to remote coaching and guidance sessions to aid in the development of their ideas.
The Winners
Professional Category
Winner of the professional category is David Vultaggio from France with his “H_UB” design concept – a new garage concept for the mid-21st century, featuring a combination of a brand experience centre and a place to be whilst charging a vehicle.
The design featured a Polestar hydrogen seaplane, Polestar electric bicycle, and the Polestar Precept announced in 2020.
“H_UB” recognises that car brands are moving away from just designing and making vehicles, to offering a complete ecosystem of mobility solutions and different ways to access energy.
Real world-examples of this include Polestar collaborations from the past year, such as Re:Move, a last mile delivery solution and the Makka – Polestar Edition, an electric motorcycle developed together with Swedish electric motorcycle company CAKE.
Student Category
The student category has been won by Mingwei Liu from China with his “Glad to be dirty” design – a car which tackles local pollution with on-board, externally visible air filters.
The vehicle is a small, simple geometric car with an architectural interpretation on the Polestar design vocabulary. It has a core side panel that displays the progressively dirty air filter, showing how much the car has cleaned the environment as it drives along. It allows the user to feel proud of driving a ‘dirty car’.
This design encourages people to embrace the process of cleaning the air, making a difference to the quality of their shared environment.
An honourable mention goes to Kristian Talvitie of Finland for his “‘KOJA’” architectural idea. KOJA is housed in a tree canopy that provides a rich, immersive experience in a natural environment.
This makes it more accessible for people who otherwise would need to travel far to experience the wilderness.
The design maximises a treetop view with a panoramic glazed facade, and minimises ecological impact with a space-efficient, low resource-intensity design. It aims to encourage positive change in society, helping to reduce travel.
About the Contest Brief
The winning designs will be available to view virtually via an in-car app in Polestar 2, developed exclusively for the contest, on the Polestar website, and in-person in selected Polestar Spaces around the world.
The design vision did not need to be a car, but it had to embody the spirit of Polestar and demonstrate that design can be the driving force for positive change. “It was both inspirational and humbling to interact with so much emerging and experienced talent. We saw the designs evolve from creative sketches to 3D models, and show that the design world is a melting pot of exceptional individuals,” says Maximilian Missoni, Polestar’s Head of Design.
Hundreds of entries were received from a truly international mix of designers. Ideas were wide ranging and included buildings, aircraft, cars, driverless delivery vehicles and electric bikes. These were narrowed down to a shortlist of 10, from which the overall winners were chosen.
Juan-Pablo Bernal, Senior Design Manager for Polestar, curator of the @polestardesigncommunity Instagram account and the founder of the contest commented: “Designing for progress – where that might mean creating something that advances society in some way – was always going to be more of a challenge than most contests. I am amazed at how creative the responses were to the brief”.
The winning designs in each category will be brought to life as 1:5 scale models and an exhibition will then visit Polestar Spaces around the world. The winners will receive a trophy and a trip to Polestar headquarters in Sweden to experience both the brand and the cars up close – as well as test drive cars at the Hällered proving grounds. To support in their continued development as designers, they’ll also receive a computer and tablet.
(Image Courtesy: Polestar for Car Body Design)
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