We like to tell the world that our glass helps fuel new designs and new applications across industries. Our kitchen design contest is a chance to prove it. It’s time for the SCHOTT CERAN Design Awards, a chance for designers across the world to explore the form and function of SCHOTT CERAN glass-ceramic cooktops in the kitchen.

Open to students, professionals, and enthusiasts from any country on the globe, the contest awards prizes totaling 11,000 euros. In last year’s contest, we asked designers to come up with new, bold designs for the cooktop itself, and we weren’t disappointed.

This year, we’re asking designers to make SCHOTT CERAN glass-ceramic cooktop a focal point as they create the space around it. We want new kitchen islands made of funky material combinations, dramatic illumination, and strategies to incorporate future technology. Kitchens are living spaces and we want to see designs highlight that, using glass-ceramic and other materials.

Entries are due July 31. Official rules can be found here. Please read them carefully before entering.

The theme of this year’s competition is built around the acronym FUSICS®. It stands for function, urbanism, sustainability, illumination, connectivity, and the social experience.

Here’s what those elements mean to us, but we can’t wait to see how designers interpret them.

Function

Cooking used to be done behind closed doors, but the kitchen is the heart of the home. It’s no longer just a place to prepare food – it’s a place to enjoy cooking. We’re looking for functions and designs that help home chefs get the most out of their experience. We like the idea of a scale under the glass-ceramic panel, but that’s only one idea. What’s yours?

Urbanism

It’s no secret that more people live in urban spaces than in rural areas. As living spaces shrink, walls give way to open spaces. This growing trend should be reflected in design – maybe the cooktop panels are part of your dining table?

Sustainability

From the drawing board to the loading dock, we always strive to be resource friendly and energy efficient. SCHOTT CERAN is a completely eco-friendly glass-ceramic cooktop panel – and a perfect material to work with for the future. Give it a custom shape or color, combine it with other materials, and think about environmentally friendly processes that will make your design extraordinary.

Illumination

Light takes up no space, and yet it fills rooms and defines our use of them. Ambient light will always add a unique twist to a cooking space, while a light guiding system shows the way to a perfect meal. Find your way to illuminate the best cooking experience.

Connectivity

Make the cooking space smart. We’re interesting in the interplay of connectivity and mobility and the way it can change a home cook’s experience. We’re dreaming of interactive and interconnected displays as control panels, supporting elements, or used in a way we haven’t yet considered.

Social experience

Even in an age of rapid technological advancement, the kitchen will remain a central part of the human experience. We want to see the kitchen’s social, cultural, and emotional landscape. Design a space you would love to spend time in, with friends or family, in person or digitally.

The kitchen is the heart and soul of a home. Good kitchen design reflects the values of the people who live there, and help structure their lifestyle. That’s why we can’t wait to see what designers come up with. What’s your idea?