5.21.10 | Temple, TX | Each year Wilsonart International, a leading decorative laminate manufacturer, sponsors a design competition known as Wilsonart Challenges. The industrial design department of a single college or university is selected to participate, with the goal of creating a series of chairs made predominately of Wilsonart's product. Through in-depth visits with Wilsonart experts and design professionals, the students are instructed in practical manufacturing techniques while also receiving contextual lectures on the history of chair design and laminate manufacture. 

The design of the chair must be functional and should also include the "chip chain" image that is an iconic part of Wilsonart's brand identity.  This year Brooklyn based Pratt Institute rose to the challenge, and the student's  chairs were unveiled at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Below is the winning chair and the four runners up.

The "One for Two" (142) Chair  by Esin Arsan
The inspiration for the chair comes from an exploration of situations where people need a little encouragement to start interacting with each other. "One for Two" (142) is a loveseat that is designed to be a hug embracing one or two people. The backrest wraps around to give the sitter a pat on the shoulder. This "pat" is intended to make the users feel understood, accepted and supported.

The Nabolis Chair by Mike Jozewicz

The Nabolis Chair is a bold experiment in layering of material, color and meaning.  Wilsonart laminate, itself a product composed of multiple layers of material, is applied in a series of layers to form a topographic surface.  The character of the chair's surface was derived from the designer's photographic study of weathering in commonplace man-made materials. 

Lunch  Bag Chair by Alexandra Pulver

The chair is a simple stool inspired by a brown paper bag, which is a classic icon of a working class lunch. The designer abstracted the wrinkles and folds that give paper bags so much character into simple facets, thereby alluding to the bag without making an obvious reference.
For more info go to popuplunch.com

Wilson Primitive by Jonathan Gillen
Based on the style "Primitive Maximilism" this chair places an emphasis on the process of creation, work intensive practices, and primitive craft. The result is a chaotic idea placed into structure and order, a visual clean repeating system designed to interact with the user. Built from reclaimed laminate samples, this chair took over 70 hours to weave.

Tempo by Sushir Kadidal
The main inspiration for the visual language of the chair, are the sine waves which we already employ in our visualization and depiction of sound.