In celebration of the exploratory spirit, Core77 and the Eames Office with sponsorship from Herman Miller are proud to invite creative professionals and enthusiasts to create a 2-minute video response to the Charles and Ray Eames seminal film, Powers of Ten. The competition is the interactive culmination of Powers of Ten celebrations around the world that kicked off on 10/10/10, with major sponsorship from IBM, who supported the Eames Office’s work on the original film.
In 1977, Charles and Ray Eames unleashed into the world a short film entitled Powers of Ten, one of the most influential and beloved design movies ever made. Distributed by IBM and with a running time of only 9 minutes, the film (inspired by the 1957 book Cosmic View by Kees Boeke and Charles’ Cranbrook dialogues with Eliel Saarinen) gives a visceral sense of exponential growth by depicting the scale of the Universe through factors of 10, zooming out from a scene of a couple on a picnic blanket, to the (then) observable universe, and back down to the protons and neutrons of a carbon atom in the picnicker’s hand. The film is archived by both the National Film Registry and the Library of Congress and has inspired countless designers, scientists, thinkers and doers for over 40 years.
The Powers of Ten competition is managed by Core77 and is part of its new innovative platform, the Core77 Design Arena. Powered by Jovoto, a global platform to enable creative excellence through mass collaboration, the Core77 Design Arena will leverage Core77’s audience of designers, firms, educators, students and design enthusiasts, inviting them to submit videos to the competition site www.challenges.core77.com. Participants will be able to upload as many projects as they’d like, and all registered participants of the competition will be able to provide feedback and encouragement.
The competition will be judged after online voting is closed on January 16, 2011 by an esteemed jury of designers and design thinkers including: Eames Demetrios, filmmaker, artist, writer and Director of the Eames Office, founded by the legendary design team of Charles and Ray Eames; Gary Hustwit, a filmmaker based in New York and London; Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of the Department of Architecture & Design of The Museum of Modern Art; Adam Bly, the founder of Seed, CEO of Seed Media Group and creator of the newly launched Visualizing.org; Ayse Birsel, Co-founder of Birsel + Seck, a design and innovation studio in New York City that partners with Fortune 500 clients, and; Allan Chochinov, partner at Core77, a New York-based design network serving a global community of designers and design enthusiasts.
“Herman Miller is excited to support the Powers of Ten competition on the Core77 Design Arena,” says Marg Mojzak, Director, Retail at Herman Miller. “Our participation in this project is a perfect way for Herman Miller to express its commitment to the Eames heritage and its appreciation of the profound vision and notable influence of Charles and Ray Eames, while encouraging others to express their own unique view of scale and design.”
Eames Demetrios says “The importance of Powers of Ten has never been greater than today. Indeed, much of the magic and many of the problems of the world are matters of scale. To be good citizens of the world, we must be fluent in this language. In essence, scale is the New Geography. So what better way to get these ideas out there than through the Core77 and design communities pouring their creativity in to such ideas? I can hardly wait to see these magical works.”
The Jury Prize Winner will receive, among other awards, $2,000 and an Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair (Value $1,250), as well as a $2,000 donation to the Eames Foundation in the name of the winner. The Popular Vote Winner will receive $1,000 in cash and an Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair.
The Powers of Ten Competition is sponsored by Herman Miller. Powers of Ten Day celebrations are sponsored by IBM, with additional support from Herman Miller, Vitra and Penfolds. For more information about the Powers of Ten Design Competition or to participate in the discussion visit www.challenges.core77.com.
About Core77
Since 1995 Core77.com has served a devoted global audience of industrial designers ranging from students through seasoned professionals. Core77 publishes articles, discussion forums, an extensive event calendar, hosts portfolios, job listings, a database of design firms, schools, vendors and services. Core77 provides a gathering point for designers and enthusiasts alike by producing design competitions, lecture series, parties, and exhibits. The Core77 Design Arena is a collaborative platform that provides a means for companies and organizations to harness the network’s collective creativity and design thinking skills to address a communications, social or public issue, solve a product design problem or access a specialized, select group of creatives for a specific project.
About Herman Miller
Herman Miller works for a better world around you—with inventive designs, technologies and related services that improve the human experience wherever people work, heal, learn, and live. Its curiosity, ingenuity, and design excellence create award-winning products and services, resulting in more than $1.3 billion in revenue in fiscal 2010. Innovative business practices and a commitment to social responsibility have also established Herman Miller as a recognized global company. In 2010, Herman Miller was again cited by FORTUNE as the “Most Admired” in its industry and among the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America, while Fast Company has named Herman Miller among its 2010 “Innovation All-Stars.” Herman Miller trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol MLHR.
