Designers are being asked to come up with new ideas for Cork City’s waterfront in a ground-breaking competition to encourage top-quality street furniture design.

The competition, sponsored by Frinailla Developments, is the brainchild of the organisers of the first ever Design Week in Cork, planned for November, who hope to have the winning design made and one placed on Grand Parade in front of the new Library and possibly others along the waterfront.

Backed by the Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI) and the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland (RIAI), the competition is open to all design houses, freelance designers and students and aims to highlight awareness of design throughout the city.

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"We want designers to look at the unique waterfront space Cork has and get their ideas flowing. The furniture we are looking for will be imaginative, accessible and hopefully then created for everybody to enjoy," said Marc O’Riain, Design Week '07 Cork Chairman.

"The cost of entry is €20 and designers can either choose a blueprint for a specific area of the city’s waterfront or something they believe could happily sit anywhere. For example it could be a design for outside the Cork Opera House, the new Boardwalk or the rejuvenated Grand Parade in front of the New Library," he added.

"The design must be functional for the people of the city, resistant to vandalism and the drawings need to be detailed enough for the piece of furniture to be made from them."

The street furniture competition is just one of a host of exhibitions and events planned for Design Week Cork 07, which is being run in conjunction with Design Week Ireland in Dublin, Belfast and Galway in the week beginning November 5th.

(CL/SP)