•             14 finalists selected

•             Networking included: Prototype exhibition in the product segment garden unique

•             unique hour: Jury and public prize award ceremony on the first day of the fair

The final preparations for spoga+gafa 2016 (4 to 6 September) are in full swing and the young designer competition 'unique youngstar' is also on the home stretch. Once again this year, young designers, who have completed their degree no longer than three years ago as well as design students, have the opportunity to submit their idea of 'Outdoor Living'.

Among all entries from 13 countries the specialised jury has now selected 14 nominees. In addition to the nomination, the young creative minds can also look forward to exhibiting their prototype at the international garden trade fair (Hall 10.2) and thus to contacts from all over the globe. In addition, the 14 finalists can also be found on the garden unique homepage and enter the running for the public prize. The announcement of the winners and the award ceremony of the unique youngstar 2016 will take place on the first day of the fair, 4 September 2016, at 2:00 p.m. in the unique lounge (Hall 10.2). The winners can look forward to prize-money to the value of 3,000 EUR (1st prize), 2,000 EUR (2nd prize), 1,000 EUR (3rd prize) and 1,000 EUR (public prize).

Since mid-January, the young designers have been able to apply for the unique youngstar 2016 by submitting their idea of Outdoor Living. The high interest and the numerous, varied entries certainly didn't make choosing the nominees easy for the jury. The experts' appraisal was based on the criteria: the overall concept, the originality of the design, the conceptual and visionary quality, the functionality and quality of presentation.

This year the following were delighted to receive a nomination:

•             Joel Hoff, ’Tray Table’, Germany

•             Maria Ihrefors, ’TiPi Seat’, Sweden

•             JinSik Kim, ‘HalfHalf’, South Korea

•             Nadine Kümmel, ‘Tauko’, Germany

•             Michael Leßmöllmann und Philipp Lorenz Schott, ‘Vakant Furniture Series‘, Germany

•             Roee Magdassi, ’Edge’, Israel

•             Lena Plaschke, ‘Season’, Germany

•             Clara Schweers, ‘Saitens’, Germany

•             Miguel Flores Soeiro, ‘Spin Stool‘, Portugal

•             Nina Stratmann und Juliane Spiegel, ‘Platzwunder', Germany

•             Nina Stratmann und Juliane Spiegel, ‘Charlie‘, Germany

•             Philip Weyer, ‚Feuer.zeug‘, Germany

•             Melanie Witte, ‚Raus in die Küche‘, Germany

•             Benjamin Wipfler, ‘Stapelhocker Paul‘, Germany

All information on the nominees is available under the following link. This link will take you to the voting for the public prize: Interested parties can vote for their favourites up until 19.08.2016 www.spogagafa.com/votingyoungstar .

The spoga+gafa 2016 is open to trade visitors on 4 August and 5 September from 09:00 a.m. to 06:00 p.m. and on 6 September from 09:00 a.m. to 05:00 p.m. Further information is available at www.spogagafa.com.

The Garden Day 2016 is open to end-users and trade visitors on 3 and 4 September from 09:00 a.m. to 06:00 p.m. Further information is available at www.tagdesgartens-koeln.com.