Phonebloks is a concept of modular phone, which was created by Dutch designer Dave Hakkensand later developed by Google ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects group) as Project Ara. The name Phonebloks was picked up because the concept assumed the phone would be built from Lego-like blocks, which users could easily change. Such mobile phone system that allows users to swap or replace parts as they’re needed, reducing costs and environmental impact.
Aside from being an innovative product, Phonebloks is the beginning of a growing movement helping to steer the mobile phone industry into a new, and much more sustainable direction. From a flat to a circular economy, towards new production methods and products, it is a transformation to create longer-lasting, open source products with more transparency and less environmental impact.
Today, INDEX: Award 2015 announced that Phonebloks is among 46 finalists chosen from a pool of 1,123 designs.
INDEX: Award is one of the biggest and most important design award in the world worth €500,000.
According to official website:
INDEX: Award is split into five categories: Body, Home, Work, Play & Learning and Community, representing human life from inside out. Each category calls for entries from very different design fields using underlying challenges as perspective to how we can use design as a tool to solve the issues of global and local societies – thus creating Design to Improve Life.
This year we have seven designs in BODY, nine designs in HOME, 11 designs in WORK, 10 designs in PLAY & LEARNING and nine designs in COMMUNITY. These were all chosen due to their strength and creativity, as well as their overall rank across the INDEX: Award criteria of Form, Impact, Context.
Source: modularphones.com
