Press Release
Golden A' Design Award in Baby, Kids' and Children's Products Design Goes to Werkelkueche Toy by Christine Oehme
The international grand jury of the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Christine Oehme for baby, kids' and children's products design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2021 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Golden A' Design Award in the Baby, Kids' and Children's Products Design category for Werkelkueche Toy by Christine Oehme. The recognition forms part of the 2020 - 2021 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 scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Golden A' Design Award
The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.
About Werkelkueche Toy
The Werkelkueche is a gender-open activity workstation that enables children to immerse themselves in free play worlds. It combines the formal and aesthetic features of children's kitchens and workbenches. Therefore the Werkelkueche offer diverse possibilities to play. The curved plywood worktop can be used as a sink, workshop or ski slope. The side compartments can provide storage and hiding space or bake crispy rolls. With the help of the colorful and interchangeable tools, children can realize their ideas and imitate the world of adults in a playful way.
About Christine Oehme
Christine is a recent graduate from the University of Arts in Berlin. During her studies she became a parent herself and was confronted with the social norms that lay on her as a mother. She quickly realized that it not only affects her and her partner, but that even the smallest children are pressed into gender norms. Objects, toys and clothing reflect the idea of male and female through their shape, color and communication. Christine's everyday experience, her field of research on the playground and the lively exchange between parents are the inspiration and drive for her creativity.
Award Record
Christine Oehme is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Baby, Kids and Children's Products Design Award
The A' Baby Products Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good baby product designs by leading brands and designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to baby product designers, industrial designers, toy companies and children's product manufacturers from all countries. Entries typically include strollers, car seats, baby monitors, high chairs, baby bottles and pacifiers. Awarded baby products designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/baby-products
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission 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. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated 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. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates 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, the upload of a work and the 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. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/123332
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/123332
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!123332
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/177663
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
- Werkelkueche Toy
- Function
- Toy
- Category
- Baby, Kids' and Children's Products Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Kids
- Colors
- Silver, Sienna, Dim Gray, Gray and Light Gray
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Christine Oehme
- Country
- Germany
- Recognition
- Golden A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2020 - 2021
- Design ID
- #123332
Credits
- Image Credits
- Manuel Meinhardt, Werkelkueche, 2020
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The ”Werkelkueche” is a gender-open activity workstation for children. It combines the formal and aesthetic features of children's kitchens and workbenches and thus opens up playful possibilities that are beyond gender stereotypes. The curved worktop can be a sink and a ski slope. The side compartments offer storage space or can bake crispy rolls. The interchangeable tools allow children to realize their ideas and imitate the adult world.
- Inspiration
- The world of children is actually colorful, loud and diverse. But this children's world is often divided into gender stereotypical roles: the clothes are either pink or blue, in the toy department mystical fighting ninjas ”for boys” and cute dolls ”for girls” are sold. This suggests to even the youngest children what social images and expectations are placed on girls or boys.
- Research
- Expert interviews and surveys with parents, the influence of gender in children's worlds, five qualitative interviews with educators and leaders, survey with over 900 individual answers, gender plays a subordinate role in children themselves up to the age of three, but from the point of pregnancy a clear distinction is made between male and female through the social environment, clothing and objects, parents want more so-called gender-neutral things
- Challenge
- The challenge in the conceptual work was the fusion of existing toys and their design opposites. I wanted to make a design that was recognizable and at the same time completely new. From a technical point of view, the thermal deformation of the birch plywood was a particular challenge. After several weeks of experimentation, I had found the right bend angle and also a way to connect this countertop to the rest of the pieces.
- Realization and Technology
- The worktop of the ”Werkelkueche” is made of thermally deformable birch plywood from UPM. This material allowed me to give the rigid wood a soft, deep groove. This material is in optical and haptic contrast to the powder-coated sheet steel on the front and rear walls.
- Operation and Interaction
- The ”Werkelkueche” is an open-ended, intuitive play space for children. There the world of adults can be imitated in a playful way, conflicts can be negotiated and security gained: Who am I and how does it feel to slip into another role? These experiences are an essential part of the child’s self-identity.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in June 2020 with extensive research with parents and social workers. I developed the Werkelkueche as part of my bachelor thesis at the Berlin University of the Arts. The project was completed in December 2020.
- Keywords
- children, kids, toy, gendersensitiv, kitchen, workbench, play, moulded wood, sheet steel
