On 5th June 2007, French magazine L’argus de l’automobile will launch its 6th Utility Vehicle European Design competition. Until the 5th November, students will have to imagine a new commercial vehicle on the theme : “How to optimize urban goods delivery in large cities”.

The competition is open to students attending design colleges within the European Union (automotive and industrial design, fine arts, architecture…).

The submission deadline is 5th November 2007.

The theme: "Optimizing urban goods delivery in large cities"

"Traffic flow is an issue for most of today’s cities. There are differences from one city to another in terms of topography, city planning, traffic flow planning or even local culture, but all cities share the problem of goods delivery."

• The student will first need to select a series of cities, which he/she has grouped on the basis of their common points: similar situations, comparable urban problems, same type of issues of urban development and transport. The cities do not necessarily have to be in the same geographical and cultural areas.
• The student will then list the general obstacles to and the specific problems of goods delivery that people have in these cities.
• The student will finally suggest an innovative commercial vehicle concept that provides solutions to the problems, justifying his/her choices.

The 2006 edition winning project: Ki by Sebastien Roux

Submitted projects must include 4 plates:

• 1 context plate with the project explanations and the guided commentary;
• 1 sketch plate;
• 2 drawing plates, including:
  • Views from different angles (exterior, interior and focusing on certain functions);
  • Captions (chosen materials, labels of the interior lay out, the vehicle architecture, the ergonomic design, the dimensions, the specific functions, etc.).

Prizes

The winner will receive a sum of 3,000 €, as well as an internship at the style department at Citroën.

Scarabé by Hichem Vincent and Jean-Marie Playe

The designer of the project in 2nd place will win 1,500 € and the designer in 3rd place 500 €.

Every projects short-listed for the final will be exhibited during the award ceremony on Wednesday 5th December 2007 at the Eiffel Tower.

For more information visit www.argusauto.com/trophees or contact concoursdesign@argusauto.com.

About the 2006 Edition

The theme for the past edition was to design a global and universal Utility Vehicle for emerging countries.

The grand winner was Sébastien Roux from the Créasud school in Bordeaux with its "Ki", a project developed in partnership with Benoît Serieyssol. He received a cheque for €3,000, and was offered a work placement in Renault's style office.

Second prize, the sum of €1500, was awarded to Hichem Vincent of Evry Ensaama/IUP for his project "Scarabé", developed with Jean-Marie Playe, who had won the second edition of the Argus' competition.

The third place was taken by Miguel Angel Iranzo Sanchez of EASD Valencia (Spain) with the "Zoco", which earned him an award of €500.

(Source: L'Argus)