2008 Dwell Wacom Live EcoDesign Rendering Contest at MoCA Announces Winners

As part of the third annual Dwell on Design Conference + Exhibition + Home Tours that transpired in Los Angeles from June 5 - 6 (speakers conference) and 7 - 8 (exhibition and home tours), Michael Leifer and guerilla PR (http://www.guerillapr.com) designed and produced the first ever live architectural drawing contest at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) in the Upper Sculpture Plaza (http://dwell.uber.com/moca).

The 2008 Dwell Wacom Live Eco-Design Rendering Challenge featured seven of Los Angeles' top design-rendering gurus competing in a video-game-tournament-meets Iron-Chef-style competition to determine the ''Best Designer of the Evening''. The contestants drew on Wacom Cintiq Interactive Pen Display Monitors (http://www.wacom.com/cintiq) and had their live sketches brought to life on eight hi-definition plasma flat screens forming a thirty two foot octagon of imagery over their heads.

The challengers produced 2D renderings of sustainable and modular homes and room designs that adhered to Dwell design principals: relying on green technologies for energy efficiencies, featuring plenty of natural light and color, restricting building costs to under $300K and limiting total square footage to 3,000 sq ft. The challenge consists of two 45 minute rounds. The judges ranked and selected Olek ZempliDski as the first place winner and Mark Goerner as the second place winner, based upon the following criteria: creativity, aesthetics, light, flow, eco-friend efficiency, layout and functioning within the cost parameters.

''This is a great honor for me. It was a fantastic event,'' stated Olek ZempliDski, the first place winner, adding, "A great opportunity to showcase new technology and different strategies for design image-making as well as incorporating conscious sustainable design philosophy in architecture. The pressure of the live event with time constraints provided an extra thrill. Thanks to everyone who was involved in making this event happen!"

''Initially I thought the challenge was to the death, but then it became clear that sustainability was referring to architecture. It was a pleasure to join in the 7 sided octagon and sweat out some pixels with LA's finest dressed architects and designers,'' remarked Mark Goerner, offering, ''You never know what your capable of until you have an MC'd countdown, and a few hundred pairs of eyes on your screen, and a Vodka greyhound at your side. Let's take this on the road!''

Don Varga of Wacom Technologies commented ''The contestants really showed us the power of working directly with a pen on the screen of a Cintiq Interactive Pen Display. In under an hour, they were able to create very complete and finished looking concept renderings with loads of detail. Wacom is very happy to have supplied the technology that enables Architects and Designers to perform at such a high level''.

The distinguished panel of judges for the event included:

Hernan Diaz-Alonso, Faculty, SciArc

Paul Petrunia, Founder of Archinect

Scott Robertson, New Media Department Chair, Art Center College of Design

Max Crome, Principle, Crome Architecture

Geoff Manaugh, Senior Editor, Dwell

Santino Medina, Faculty, SciArc

Jeff Daniels, Architecture & Interior Design Programs UCLA Extension

"All of the entries were impressive, considering the relatively little time the contestants were given to produce their designs," commented Paul Petrunia, event judge and publisher of Archinect.com and Bustler.net ''but the two winners clearly stood out. Mark Goerner, the runner-up, displayed awesome rendering skills but did not meet the program requirements as well as the winning entry by Olek Novak-Zemplinski. Olek's entry was presented beautifully, in addition to displaying a variety of eco-friendly elements and realistic budget requirements.''

However, the challenge was about more than just technical skills, says Geoff Manaugh, Senior Editor of Dwell magazine and Wacom contest judge. ''The event really brought out a lot of imaginative ideas and responses -- and there was even a real sense of humor in some of the designs. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by how different the approaches were. Above all, I think this showed that people will always find a new, and impressive, way to solve existing challenges.''

To obtain the pictures and images from the event please visit the Dwell Wacom MoCA Electronic Press Kit at: http://www.guerillapr.com/dwellondesign/moca

About Dwell:

Dwell was created to expand perceptions of the word "home" and champion an aesthetic in design that is modern, idea-driven and sensitive to social and physical surroundings. Their inherent passion for ''bringing good design to everyone'' has added fresh dimension to what it means to be At Home in the Modern World. Dwell and Dwell on Design are registered trademarks of Dwell, LLC (http://www.dwell.com).

About Wacom:

Wacom Company Ltd., (Tokyo Stock Exchange 6727), is a global company based in Japan with subsidiaries around the globe. Founded in 1983, Wacom's vision to bring people and technology closer together through natural interface technologies has made it the world's leading manufacturer of pen tablets, interactive pen displays and digital interface solutions. The advanced technology of Wacom's intuitive input devices has been used to create some of the most exciting digital art, films, special effects, fashions and designs around the world and provides business and home users with the ability to express themselves in a natural way. Today, millions of customers use Wacom's cordless, battery-free, pressure-sensitive pen technology to express their creativity (http://www.wacom.com/cintiq).

About Michael Leifer and Guerilla PR, Inc.

Guerilla PR, Inc. creates cultural movements and builds markets. Founded by Cultural Anthropologist Michael Leifer in 2000, GPR helps clients connect their brands, causes and candidate agendas with targeted consumers, constituents and influencers using relevant channel selection and authentic messaging to build and establish new markets. They are cultural anthropologists, strategists, technologists, bloggers, programmers, social media experts, creatives and analytics enthusiasts, who understand the new paradigm of communication in which people are channels. They analyze consumer touchpoints, design out of the box engagement platforms and ignite and direct the word of mouth buzz. These communications build and solidify community, drive sales, increase votes and obtain retention. GPR designs integrative gatekeeper and peer to peer participation campaigns, which virally spread agendas in an organic yet 100% trackable capacity. GPR has worked with many Fortune 500 brands and altruistic NGOs including: Wacom, Dwell, Konami, Shorebank, Sony, Napster, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Yahoo!, EarthJustice.org Cancer411.org iChapters, and the GlobalWaterTrust.org. GPR is dedicated to making a positive and proactive difference in the world (http://www.guerillapr.com).

2008 Dwell Wacom Live EcoDesign Rendering Contest at MoCA Announces Winners

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2008 Dwell Wacom Live EcoDesign Rendering Contest at MoCA Announces Winners

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