Press Release
Silver A' Design Award in Home Appliances Design Goes to Hydrowash Washing Machine by Vishwaksen Shekhawat and Chandradhar S.
The international grand jury of the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Vishwaksen Shekhawat and Chandradhar S. for home appliances design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 20, 2023 /DesignNewswire/ Hydrowash Washing Machine by Vishwaksen Shekhawat and Chandradhar S., designed for Whirlpool of India Ltd., has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Home Appliances Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The result belongs to the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Silver A' Design Award Means
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
Regarding Hydrowash Washing Machine
Hydrowash is a portable semiautomatic twin tub washing machine. One tub washes and the other spin dries, and clothes are moved between the tubs by hand. Knobs placed under the main lid control wash time, wash intensity, water level and drying time, which keeps the exterior clean and the interior easy to understand. The interior wash arena contains spills and splashes. A pull handle and pronounced wheels allow the machine to be moved by one person. The body is made of injection molded plastic and has a calm boat like profile suited to compact homes.
About Vishwaksen Shekhawat and Chandradhar S.
Whirlpool’s design team in India, anchored in Gurgaon, excels at catering to the diverse Indian consumer by meticulously analyzing varied behavior patterns and usage needs. Their philosophy delivers design true to the brand, maintaining fidelity to the global brand attributes while keeping the consumer at the core of every innovation. By deeply addressing Indian design sensibility, the team integrates premium aesthetics, that transform appliances into sophisticated centerpieces for social home spaces. Functionally, they tackle local pain points through "India-first" solutions that are a derivative of the insights generated through consumer connect and pan-India research activities.
Award Record
Vishwaksen Shekhawat and Chandradhar S. is a winner of 5 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards were granted between the 2020 - 2021 and the 2022 - 2023 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Home Appliances Design Award
The A' Home Appliance Design Award is an international competition recognizing good home appliance designs by best appliance designers and brands worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to home appliance designers, industrial designers, product engineers and appliance brands from all countries. Typical entries include refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves, washing machines, dryers and ovens. The awarded home appliance designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/home-appliance
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is 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. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously 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. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which 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, uploading a work and receiving a 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. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/149544
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/149544
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!149544
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/227038
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.whirlpoolindia.com
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
- Hydrowash Washing Machine
- Function
- Washing Machine
- Category
- Home Appliances Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Electronics & Appliances and Furniture & Home
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, Lavender, Dim Gray, Black and Dark Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Whirlpool of India Ltd.
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Vishwaksen Shekhawat and Chandradhar S.
- Country
- India
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2022 - 2023
- Design ID
- #149544
Credits
- Team
- Vishwaksen Shekhawat and Chandradhar Singh Rathore
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Portable Semiautomatic twin tub washing machine designed to be pulled & moved single handedly. Knobs & switches are located under the main lid to make the exterior clean & its interior intuitive. Minimal monolithic exteriors with delightful detailing give it an unobtrusive & calming presence which allows it to be stored in any living space without visual intrusion or embarrassment.
- Inspiration
- To provide a delightful experience to a first time user who previously hand washed clothes, whose key expectations are reduced manual labor, functional simplicity & flexibility at a low price. It’s Wash Arena interior contains all spills & splashes enables a hassle free wash experience & Its boat like profile, wheels & a Pull handle grant it intuitive ergonomic mobility to aid & celebrate all tactile effort of the user whilst seamlessly fitting into any practical & emotional context.
- Research
- The project looked into all aspects of daily life of the low income consumer. An internal team created the methodology & closely guided it execution by an external research agency. Along with looking for practical insights of laundry activities, insights related to indirect factors like lifestyle, habits & culture were also extensively researched. Compassion & empathy for the consumer took the research to deeper level & provided insights that were not realized & expressed before. The new design was evaluated through a Nation wide user survey. to Cover a huge spectrum of cultural & geographical diversity of India. Full size prototypes & focus group discussions helped to clarify key insights.
- Challenge
- Cost sensitivity, conservative mindset of the consumer segment were the main constraints for this unique & differentiated design. To make this vision a reality was a calculated risk for the business leaders, a formidable optimization challenge to the engineering and manufacturing team and test of persistence for the design team. These intangible challenges were overcome by the passion and commitment to this design vision and the consumer benefit by all stakeholders at Whirlpool.
- Realization and Technology
- The design acknowledges all tactile, mental & habitual aspects of the wash process, from the most subtle to the very obvious. It pushed the boundaries of current production capability & viability to create an Iconic next generation Washing machine Using injection molded plastics allowed us to balance form & function to achieve our vision. allowing us to achieve Its boat-like shape reflecting its mobility story. Subtle but complex surfacing that accentuate its sculptural aspects & minimal part joinery detail all coming together to set a benchmark of Aesthetics, craftsmanship & user experience.
- Operation and Interaction
- This semi automatic machine has 2 tubs, for washing & drying. Water is delivered to the tubs through a water selector inbuilt in the supply pipe interface. Operation of the wash & spin dry is controlled by the knobs. First two knobs control the time & intensity of the wash process, the other knobs control water level & dryer time. Clothes need to be manually transferred between the tubs. This machine mechanizes the clothes wash process in stages but keeps the entire process open to active customization & adjustment.
- Project Duration and Location
- The Project started with design conceptualization in August 2019 and product was launched in the market in July 2022
- Specifications
- Width 830mm x Depth 545mm x Height 975mm Energy Rating - 5 star Voltage Range 230 Frequency 50 HZ Operating current (A) 6
- Keywords
- Intuitive, Mobility, craftsmanship, low-cost, functional, Unique, Refinement, Wash-Arena, Iconic, Monolithic
