Bompas & Parr invites the design community to Fountain of Hygiene competition

Fountain of Hygiene

Bompas & Parr invites creatives, designers, makers and architects to design inspired takes on the sanitiser pumps now on counters across the globe. The results will be displayed at the Design Museum in early April and auctioned by Christie’s to raise money for The British Red Cross. With more than 100 countries and territories now affected by coronavirus (COVID-19), hand washing has been identified as the most effective way to prevent and slow its spread.

The competition seeks to explore the aesthetic, functional, social, gestural and experiential possibilities of enhanced hygiene. It is hoped that this will accelerate the establishment of new behavioural norms which benefit the ongoing health of global society. Via an open call, deadline 29th March, the creative industries are invited to submit their designs for a future vision of sanitiser, from which a shortlist will be chosen by a panel of distinguished judges.

These designs will be displayed at the Design Museum. An online display will be developed in parallel as an alternative if a real-world display is not ecommended. Through a rethinking of sanitiser pumps and dispense units, this open competition seeks to encourage use of sanitising alcohol gels in both the public and domestic realms.

The initiative sits within the wider context of the creative industries using the means at their disposal to reduce the physical, social and economic impact of the virus. LVMH is using the production lines of its perfume and cosmetic brands to produce large quantities of hydroalcoholic gels. Washyourlyrics.com by @neoncloth generates hand washing instructions accompanied by lyrics from a song of your choice.

Participants are free to choose to design or enhance sanitiser pumps, sprays, wipes, dispense units or even gestures and rituals. Bompas & Parr will celebrate the best submitted examples with a display running from 9th April and 7th May, where shortlisted designs will be shown. At a launch event the top ten models will be auctioned by Christie’s, with proceeds going to The British Red Cross. This will occur online if in-person gatherings are not possible.

Bompas & Parr’s work explores humankind’s relationship with the senses, with past projects including the launch of the British Museum of Food, the world’s first cultural institution exclusively dedicated to food and drink. Hygiene, hand washing and health and safety have always been significant aspects of the food system and central to the studio’s approach. Source by Bompas & Parr.

  • Competition: closes 29th March
  • Submissions: to sanitiser@bompasandparr.com
  • Exhibition: Design Museum between 9th April and 7th May
  • Charities: The top ten prototypes will be auctioned by Christie’s at the launch of the exhibition (pencilled for 16th April)
  • Photographs: Courtesy of Bompas & Parr

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