Dezeen has teamed up with electric vehicle company Arrival to launch a global competition seeking mobility solutions that reimagine the future of transportation.
The competition is free to enter and has a top prize of $25,000 and total prize money of $85,000. People over the age of 18 of any profession and from any country in the world can enter.
The competition is open for entries until 14 April 2022. The winners and runners up will be published on Dezeen in June 2022.
Brief
Transportation is one of the most important issues of our time, impacting our health as well as the health of the planet.
Dezeen has teamed up with Arrival to seek ideas that reimagine the future of transportation, radically impacting our planet, creating true sustainability and empowering local communities.
The competition calls for ideas from people around the world and asks them to identify problems with mobility in their city, or a city they are familiar with, and propose solutions – big or small, for land, sea or air – that will improve how people move around their environment.
Proposals should look to draw from Arrival's unique approach to design, materials and manufacturing, which it describes as its "New Method" (see details below).
Proposals can look to evolve existing methods of transportation or identify completely new solutions for the future of mobility.
Arrival's New Method
Arrival has pioneered a unique method of the design and production of affordable electric vehicles, which is focused on the principles of sustainability, empowered communities and accessibility.
Vehicles are designed using in-house plug-and-play components, proprietary composite materials and a modular skateboard platform.
Arrival vehicles are designed for robotic assembly in microfactories — smart production cells that can be set up wherever there is demand to serve individual cities, support local economies and deliver purpose-built products customised to regional needs.
Free from industry norms and past limitations, the Arrival method aims to address country-, city- and community-specific needs related to transportation and the future of human mobility.
The competition asks entrants to use Arrival's approach to designing and manufacturing vehicles as a starting point and inspiration for a future mobility solution for that city.
Watch a video about Arrival's vision for the future of mobility ›
Watch a video about how Arrival aims to tackle air pollution in cities ›
Find out more information Arrival's current technology ›
Who can enter
The competition is free to enter for anyone over the age of 18 in any country around the world, regardless of whether they are a professional designer, non-designer or a student.
Entries from individuals or teams will be accepted and entrants may enter more than one design, if they wish. However, entrants will need to fill out and submit a separate entry form for each design they submit.
How to enter
Contestants will need to submit their entry via this form and include the following information:
- Name of the design
- Name of the city the design is for
- A description of the mobility problem the design seeks to solve (maximum 300 words)
- A description of the design explaining how it solves the problem and improves people's lives (maximum 300 words).
- A hero image depicting the design in its urban environment
- Up to nine supporting images showcasing the design
- (Optional) Video or animation showcasing the design
Each submitted image should be a single image, free from any logos or text. They should be JPGs with a minimum resolution of 72 dpi and a maximum file size of 1 mb each.
The optional video or animation should be uploaded to an external hosting platform (such as YouTube or Vimeo) and submitted via a URL.
For teams, one member of the team should submit the entry with the rest of the team credited in the appropriate field on the form.
If an entrant wants to submit multiple entries, they should fill out and submit a separate entry form for each entry.
All entrants must read and agree to be bound by the competition terms and conditions before entering.
Judges
Competition entries will be judged by an expert panel comprising architects Kunlé Adeyemi and Elizabeth Diller, designers Yves Béhar and Daniel Simon, Jeremy Offer and Martina Wierzbicki from Arrival, and Marcus Fairs and Cajsa Carlson from Dezeen.
See full details of all the judges ›
Judging criteria
Judges will be looking for new insights into mobility challenges in cities and visionary proposals for how to solve them.
Entries will be judged on the following criteria:
Insight: does the entry shed light on a genuine mobility problem in a city?
Impact: how well does the design solve the issue and improve people's lives?
Execution: how well-developed is the concept and how well is it presented?
Closing date
All entries must be received by midnight PT (Pacific Time) on 14 April 2022. Any entries received after this date will not be considered.
The 10 finalists, including the top three designs, will be announced and published on Dezeen over two weeks in June 2022.
Prizes
There is $85,000 of prize money available: a top prize of $25,000 for first place, $15,000 for second place, $10,000 for third place and $5,000 each for the seven remaining finalists.
Terms and conditions
Full terms and conditions for the competition can be viewed here. All entrants must read and agree to the participation terms and conditions before entering.
Contact
Any questions about the competition and all press enquiries should be emailed to [email protected].