ROCA LAUNCHES INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION "JUMP THE GAP" AT 100% DESIGN

Roca, the leading global bathroom brand, together with BCD, the Barcelona Design Centre is launching the fourth edition of Jump the Gap 2010/11, Roca’s international design competition.

The competition offers talented designers across the world the opportunity to showcase work based on innovation and design within the bathroom area. The winning project will receive a prize of 5000 Euros which will be presented at 100% Design 2011. The winner will also benefit from a targeted PR campaign that will promote the winning design along with its creator(s).

With this initiative, Roca seeks to transmit a fundamental message of its philosophy: “designing today for tomorrow’s projects”. As part of its ongoing emphasis on creating unique experiences for bathroom spaces, Roca is continually identifying, creating and developing innovative ideas within the design world. Therefore, Jump the Gap continues to search for new solutions that enable society’s needs to be reconciled with the specific features of each home. Roca is firmly committed to the search for conceptually innovative ideas that form a bridge between today and tomorrow, between dreams and reality.

This year’s judging panel is made up of a number of leading figures from the field of architecture and design including:
• Ron Arad, designer and architect, UK
• Gilda Bojardi, editor in chief Interni magazine, Italy
• Josep Congost, design manager Roca Innovation Lab, Spain
• Javier Mariscal, designer, Spain
• Marcel Wanders, designer, The Netherlands

The contest is open to product or interior designers and architects, as well as product design, interior and architecture students worldwide. Participants must be under 35, and can register online at www.jumpthegap.net from 23 September 2010 when the competition officially opens at this year’s 100% Design.

Closing date for registration is 14 January 2011 and the deadline for online submissions is 29 April 2011.

Entries may be individual or from a group of two people.

About Roca
Roca is a world leader in defining bathroom areas and a point of reference in design. It can currently be found in more than 135 markets and has 68 factories in 18 countries.

Roca, always in constant development, takes a firm stance for excellence in the design of its products with the aim of offering spaces in which to enjoy unique experiences for the five senses. As a worldwide brand, Roca creates versatile products that adapt to the habits of consumers the world over, offering unique solutions to every need, for today and for tomorrow.
At Roca, thanks to an ongoing research process, a future is shaped in which design and innovation work together for the well being of people. Roca also collaborates with prestigious designers, architects and interior designers, such as Moneo, Chipperfield, Herzog & de Meuron, Benedito, Giugiaro or Schmidt & Lackner. All this has enabled Roca to become a global reference brand in the creation of bathroom areas.
About Jump the Gap

Roca likes to encourage new talents which is why it has set up initiatives such as the International Design Contest Jump the Gap, in collaboration with the Barcelona Design Centre (BCD), aimed at young architects and designers, which offers the possibility for the winning project and its author to be got to known internationally.
The winning project will be awarded 5,000 euros and, if the characteristics are suitable, a prototype of the project will be produced at Roca’s installations, in addition to a study being carried out with regard to its possible development and commercialisation in the future.