The Better Living Challenge announces its Finalists!
The eagerly anticipated shortlist of finalists and exhibitors who have been selected to form the Better Living Challenge Showcase in October 2014 has at last been announced to the public. The Better Living Challenge Selection Panel has made its choice, and it’s now time to share these green solutions aimed at addressing some of the problems in low cost living. The panel has identified 23 finalists and 33 exhibitors – out of an impressive number of 130 total entries received – whose solutions embody the aims of the competition.
The Better Living Challenge has been on the hunt to uncover solutions and ideas to improve the lives and homes of people living in low-income areas. Groundbreaking products and innovations that are affordable, well designed and green, are being brought to life through the competition. Over 130 innovative ideas were entered into the Challenge, in three separate categories, in the hope of landing one of three grand prizes that each consist of half a million rand’s worth of support services to enable these solutions getting to market. Three student entries will each receive a R40 000 cash prize.
After a rigorous selection process involving heated debate and extensive discussion, the Better Living Challenge Selection Panel of 47 industry experts nominated three finalists in the Connected Home category, eight in the Comfortable Home category and 12 finalists in the Structural Home category. In addition, the Selection Panel identified a further 33 projects of merit that will exhibit as part of the Showcase, but are not in line to win an award. To ensure fairness, the selection process was independently observed by KPMG.
The Better Living Challenge Finalists
The three finalists in the Connected Category are ShareMyNet; QMod and Formula D interactive, for a mobile inspection tool to help service delivery in informal settlements.
In the Comfortable Home Category, the eight finalists are: The Counting Chair; The Karnik Filter; BioPanel; Ekasi Water Cap; The Khusela early warning fire detector and alert system; Wegmershaus; Transition POD; and SolarTurtle.
The 12 finalists in the Structural Home category are: Compressed Earth Block (CEB) Construction; IKYA Homes; informexchange; Vernon Collis’ new process of housing delivery along with his California Pine structure; Temporary Informal Dwelling structures; Ikayacap; briGado; Embracing Informality: A sustainable alternative to the RDP; UBU process; Richard Lomax’s lighting solution; and Ekhaya.
These finalists will now vie for a much-coveted award, with a public voting component forming an essential part of the upcoming Showcase. During October, a stimulating, curated exhibition of these shortlisted designs and innovations will be on display at venues that include Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront. This exhibition will be linked to other exciting Better Living Challenge Showcase events, with the full programme to be found on www.betterlivingchallenge.co.za from early October.
The Better Living Challenge is project-managed by the Cape Craft + Design Institute (CCDI), on behalf of the Western Cape Government’s 110% Green initiative, which encourages organisations to commit to the Green Economy. The Better Living Challenge is a collaborative project between the public and private sector, and civil society demonstrating that these partnerships work to promote economic development. It is an official project (WDC#204) of the Cape Town World Design Capital 2014 (WDC2014) programme.
For more information: www.betterlivingchallenge.co.za
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Twitter – @TheBLChallenge
