L’Argus 2007 Design Competition: the winners

The 6th L’argus de l’automobile competition awards ceremony was held at the Eiffel Tower on last 5 December 2007.

The Carrosse concept by Maxime Pille

London Royal College of Art student Sergio Loureiro won the competition with his “CŒUR” concept, with the idea of optimising deliveries by exploiting the underground network at night. Sergio wins €3,000 awarded by L’argus and the opportunity to do an internship at the Citroën design centre.

This year, the L’argus de l’automobile design competition challenged the participating students with the theme: "optimizing urban goods delivery in large cities."

The topic involved concrete challenges, such as time management for delivery personnel (how to avoid traffic jams), the ergonomics and useful features of vehicles, and urban space management (parking, loading and unloading).

The 12 best competitors were able to argue their designs’ merits at the oral, before a jury made up of design experts, professional designers and journalists.

For additional information visit www.argusauto.com.

The Winners

• 1st prize: Sergio Loureiro Da Silva – Royal College of Art – Coeur Concept

He was awarded €3,000 and the opportunity to do an internship at the Citroën styling office.

After five years’ experience as a mechanical engineer, Sergio decided last year to resume his studies at the Royal College of Art, where he is currently studying for an MA in vehicle design.

• 2nd prize: Margaux Keller, Pauline Jaramillo, Pauline Gilain – Ensaama – VEOL

They will be sharing €1,500.
In their second year on the BTS [higher technical diploma] course in product design at the ENSAAMA, Margaux and the two Paulines pulled off a feat of teamwork on each of the stages of their project.

• 3rd prize: Maxime Pille – School of Art and Design – Carrosse

He wins the 3rd prize of €500. After several years at the l’ENSAAMA, and then at the University of Evry, Maxime will be graduating this year with a BA in automobile design at the University of Coventry (School of Art and Design).
He already has several design projects to his credit and recently undertook work experience at Ford.

About the L’Argus 2007 European Design Competition

“Optimising deliveries in major cities” was the topic of the 6th L’argus de l’automobile design competition. Set for design and industrial design students throughout the European Union, the topic set the rising generation of designers to work on concrete challenges, such as time management for delivery personnel (how to avoid traffic jams), the ergonomics and useful features of vehicles, and urban space management (parking, loading and unloading).

As L’argus de l’automobile chair Alexandrine Breton said, the design projects bore witness to detailed thinking and great maturity of approach: “The students have had to cast aside a purely ‘product-oriented’ approach and address the overall picture, dealing with the issue of the urban environment or system into which their vehicle had to be integrated.”

Out of 312 initial entries, 184 projects qualified this year, 50% up on last year. Involvement on the part of the European Union’s main design schools is one of the key factors for the competition’s success: Creapole, Coventry School of Art and Design, ENSAAMA Olivier de Serres, Strate College, Swansea Institute, IUP d’Evry, Creasud and Ecoles de Condé all take a close interest in the competition and gear their students up for it, thus ensuring that the calibre of the prizewinners’ list increases year by year.

The jury, which was made up of design experts, professional car designers and journalists, questioned the 12 finalists who came to argue their designs’ merits at the oral, held on the morning of Wednesday, 5 December. The winner was announced that same evening at the Eiffel Tower. As Renault did in 2007, Citroën is offering the winner a period of work experience this year. The manufacturer, a competition sponsor, has been heavily involved in establishing the subject matter and supporting the competition from start to finish.

The conclusion drawn by L’argus de l’automobile chair Alexandrine Breton after the design competition’s 6th year was positive: “Over the years, the Argus design competition has turned into nothing short of a catwalk where young European designers can display their talents to the motor car manufacturers. And this year, we have for the first time had the pleasure of seeing a group of girls among the prize-winners!”

(Source: L’Argus)