City of Marbach honors seating furniture designed by Industrial Design students

Three industrial design students were honored in Marbach on July 15 for their unique designs in public spaces. Their seating furniture won the "Marbacher Stadtstuhl" competition, a cooperation project between the city marketing department of the Schiller city and the School of Design under the direction of Prof. Manuel Aydt. A total of 17 students presented their work during an exhibition in the foyer of Marbach town hall.

As an iconic piece of furniture, the city chair is intended to reflect Marbach's identity and invite people to linger in public spaces. During the summer semester, the students designed seating furniture that combines functionality, design and a sense of place. In doing so, they explored the architectural and social characteristics of the city of Schiller.

Jury honors three projects

In the morning, the students presented their designs to a jury made up of representatives from the city administration, city society, university and city marketing. In the afternoon, the exhibition opened its doors in the town hall foyer and welcomed citizens, town hall employees and random guests. It will be on display at the town hall during regular opening hours until July 31.

The works presented impressively demonstrated how much creative potential there is in the topic of "seating in public spaces". The designs were convincing in terms of form, material and function: from foldable modules to poetic concepts and sustainable plug-in systems, they included a wide range of innovative ideas.

The jury awarded three prizes:

• 1st prize (€2,000):FACH³ by Nika Semikolennykh - a triangular stool that is plugged together without tools and quotes the Marbach half-timbered structure with its shape.
• 2nd prize (€1,000):MarbachLounge by Maximilian Noltemeyer - a flexible piece of seating furniture that can also be used as a table by rotating it.
• 3rd prize (€500):Join by Benedikt Soulier - a CNC-milled chair made from a single wooden panel, completely without screws or waste.

Exemplary cooperation

"The presentations and designs show how imaginatively the students have thought about seating in public spaces in terms of material, posture and possible interactions," says Lorenz Obleser from the city marketing association. "The design here was forward-thinking."

For the Stadtmarketingverein, the project is a successful example of cooperation with a university: it shows how concrete, high-quality design can emerge from student ideas and what contribution it makes to the quality of life in the urban space.

Which of the award-winning works will be realized in Marbach's urban space in the future will be decided in the course of the autumn. The technical and financial feasibility must first be examined.

Photos: Stadtmarketing Schillerstadt Marbach e.V. | Florian Gerlach