Press Release
Ufuk Bircan Özkan Is Honored with the Bronze A' Design Award for Agile 4525L Passenger Seat in Product Engineering and Technical Design
Ufuk Bircan Özkan acknowledged for product engineering and technical design by the international grand jury of the 2018 - 2019 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 20, 2019 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Agile 4525L Passenger Seat by Ufuk Bircan Özkan, designed for Inova Otomotiv, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Product Engineering and Technical Design category. The recognition forms part of the 2018 - 2019 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Bronze A' Design Award Explained
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
About Agile 4525L Passenger Seat
Agile 4525L gives an impression of pace at short distances with dynamic lines flowing to front at sides and sweeping upwards at the back. The unique twist form at backrest creates an unconventional aesthetic perception, helps safety belts to work efficiently and prevents hunchbacks. Innovative height-adaptive belts that don’t need any adjustments can adapt to passengers in any height. Extended leg space obtained by a thinner backrest guarantees comfort. Metallic colors of accessories and buttons help visibility in low light while enhancing the perceived quality.
About Ufuk Bircan Özkan
Born in 1986, Ufuk Bircan Özkan graduated from Middle East Technical University, Department of Industrial Design in 2009. He designed products for market-leading brands including Burosit, Grammer, TEMSA, Mercedes-Benz and MAN. Mostly focused on transportation seating and vehicle interior designs lately, Özkan explores the unexpected forms and wows the users at first sight. For more information please visit http://ufubo.design
Award Record
With this recognition, Ufuk Bircan Özkan is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards. The awards were granted between the 2013 - 2014 and the 2018 - 2019 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Product Engineering and Technical Design Award
The A' Engineering Design Award is an international competition recognizing outstanding engineering projects by top engineers and consulting firms worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to product engineers, technical designers, industrial designers and industrial design studios from all countries. Typical entries include blueprints, prototypes, schematics, CAD models, technical drawings and machine designs. The awarded engineering designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/engineering
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/73868
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/73868
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!73868
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/124181
- Further Information from the Laureate: http://bit.ly/4525L
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Agile 4525L Passenger Seat
- Function
- Passenger Seat
- Category
- Product Engineering and Technical Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, Light Slate Gray, Gray, Lavender and Dim Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Inova Otomotiv
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Ufuk Bircan Özkan
- Country
- Turkiye
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2018 - 2019
- Design ID
- #73868
Credits
- Image Credits
- #1 Photographer Hasan Mutlu, Agile 4525L, 2018. #2 Photographer Hasan Mutlu, Agile 4525L, 2018. #3 Photographer Hasan Mutlu, Agile 4525L, 2018. #4 Photographer Hasan Mutlu, Agile 4525L, 2018. #5 Photographer Hasan Mutlu, Agile 4525L, 2018.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Agile 4525L is designed to tear down cliches among its ordinary rivals by giving an impression of pace at short distances with dynamic lines flowing forward at sides and sweeping upwards at the back. The twist form at backrest sides creates an extraordinary aesthetic perception, helps safety belts to work efficiently and prevents hunchbacks. Innovative height adaptive belts that don't need any adjustments can adapt to passengers in any height. Images show two upholstery styles: Standard&Comfort
- Inspiration
- The infinity symbol which we use in our company logo catches itself after a loop. This inspired me on combining front and side surfaces of conventional seats into one surface. This created functional advantages as well as a new aesthetic perception. The seat is designed for quick short distance transportations which led me to use flowing dynamic lines. Plastic side covers were highly inspired by road cars in means of form.
- Research
- User researches and market researches are done at the beginning of the project. We had participants at %5 and %95 percentile anthropometric range to test the safety and comfort levels of our seat belts. We prepared different 3-D printed prototypes for each stage of the research. Height-adaptive safety belt is a result of these user researches. Then we combined it with the twist form at the backrest and they became complementary features for each other.
- Challenge
- The seat is designed especially for Turkish market but with a potential for exporting. Local market is very conservative and closed for innovations. This seat is one of the first steps of a change in future where seats will become more comfortable and technological. Design is one of the most important aspects of this change, where I also had to consider our customer company's design language used in their vehicles. Combining form and function together in twist form brought the success.
- Realization and Technology
- Design was born on paper and digital sketches first. Then 3D data was created on CAD. Some parts were 3D-printed and vacuum-formed for prototyping and final design got its shape. The seat is produced by conventional mid-level production technologies. Seat foams are molded. Metal parts inside are first shaped by laser-cutting and molds, then welded both manually and by robots.
- Operation and Interaction
- Agile 4525L is a new generation travel-mate of short distance passengers. Its height-adaptive 3-point seat belt doesn't need any adjustments. It just fits everybody in any height. Dual-function button on the side panel activates both backrest reclining and lateral adjustment at the same time. Magazine net on rear side can hold magazines in A4 size. Passengers can place their mobile phones on the special mobile device pocket.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in Bursa in January 2017 and finished in October 2018. First prototype was exhibited in October 2017 in Busworld Kortrijk. Finished product was announced in September 2018 in Hannover at IAA Commercial Vehicles 2018.
- Specifications
- It has a modular construction system where backrest, seat and chassis are separate bodies. A two-seat configuration is 953mm in total width, 742mm in depth and 1140mm in height. It weights 34,5Kg.
- Keywords
- Passenger, Seat, Bus, Minibus, Public, Transportation, Transport, Land, Vehicle, Commercial
