AWARD

BRUSSELS, European Design Award for a Sustainable Present

Brussels, June 2009: Innovation is the key to the future of a prosperous and sustainable Europe, and our young talented Europeans are the drivers of such innovation.
With the EESC Design Eleven – 2011 European Design Award for a Sustainable Present, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has addressed the reality of Europe today and has supported practical and functional ideas for Europeans. In this way it is helping to both protect the environment and improve the quality of life for people in Europe.

Antonio Pio Saracino design proposal, the Seed Light, is shortlisted as finalist. The seed light is a conceptual object that uses a simple idea; it utilizes the energy within our body to create light. The energy that we use to illuminate the activities of our bodies metaphorically with this object can come from ou same body. This object like a seed creates the consciousness of producing light from our own body.

The object is designed with the shape of a seed from which metaphorically new ideas and inspiration can rise. The light is a small object that makes a strong statement, proving our ability to use excess (waste) heat from our bodies to source energy. The seed light it is highly interactive and can be visible in everyday situations.

The seed light is realized thanks to a technology developed in laboratories in Germany. Thermogenerators producing electricity from waste heat have been on the market from long time; just recently it has produced a small Micro Thermogenerator (smaller than a coin), which is able to produce electrical power from temperature differences between the body’s temperature and the environment’s temperature. The lamp releases with light the energy that the body created with the heat. Inside the lamp there are LEDs that uses very low energy to provide light. The project will be realized with the budget given by the competition outline.

With the seed light, the light emitted from our hands reminds us that we can create energy from our natural bodies, and we can use that light for our activities, while utilizing technologies that will help the human race achieve a greater score on the Kardashev scale.