From June 3^rd to 5^th, students from across Ontario converged in Toronto to compete in the 3^rd OTS Student Design Challenge. The competition challenged landscape design students to revitalize the urban landscape at local creative hub, Artscape Youngplace, using products made from Ontario recycled tires, while industrial design students competed to create product designs that could be manufactured using recycled tire rubber.

Congratulations to University of Toronto students Andrey Chernykh, Leonard Flot and Tom Kwok who emerged from the intensive three-day Design Jam with the winning landscape design, and the opportunity to see their concept come to life as part of Artscape Youngplace’s outdoor revitalization in summer/fall of 2016. Check out the winning landscape design here. This design trio also took second place honours in the industrial design category. Kudos!

Sheridan College took top honours in the industrial design category when the winning team of Alexandra D’Oliveira, Michael Mofina, Patrick Marchent and Neil Smith re-imagined a bench and bike-rack concept. See the creative product design here that could be coming to an outdoor space near you.

Student competitors worked with design professionals, manufacturers of products made from recycled tires and Artscape representatives to inform their design concepts and hone their practical skills. Their designs were judged by a panel of experts from industry, academia, Artscape Youngplace and OTS.

The OTS Student Design Challenge aims to encourage up-and-coming designers to consider products made from recycled tires in their future projects. It is also a fantastic way to educate Ontarians about these environmentally sustainable products.

A huge congratulations goes out to this year’s winners and all the talented students who participated! Thank you to all of our advisors, judges and the team at Artscape for making the weekend such a fun and successful event.

Stay tuned for updates on the build and reveal of the winning concepts.