The fifth edition of the Odebrecht Braskem Design Challenge is back to São Paulo and brings innovations. This time, architecture and design student groups from seven universities based in the capital of São Paulo will be invited to create a collection, entirely in plastic, for flooring, floating wall, and coating. The idea is to value the polymer as a versatile raw material that enables the creation of pieces with a sophisticated design and accessible to end consumers.

"The Design Challenge is an innovative proposal that gives room for students to show their creativity and talent in practice, allowing them to have the experience of seeing their projects come true. It is, therefore, a challenge. Over a period of two months, they undergo capacity building sessions ranging from knowledge of the potential of using plastic to mentoring with designers. It is a stimulating experience, which gives plenty of learning for students and for our company," said Claudia Bocciardi, Director of Institutional Marketing at Braskem.

For the university students, the challenge will begin in classrooms. In the coming weeks, designer Paulo Biacchi, from the Fetiche Design studio, will give lectures to students from Belas Artes, FAAP, IED, Instituto Mauá, Mackenzie, Universidade São Judas, and USP, inviting them to form groups of three and enroll in project. A team from each institution will be chosen through a "mini-challenge," which will be presented in a series of videos on Paulo Biacchi's YouTube channel.

After the first test, the students will have two months of training at Fetiche under the guidance of Biacchi and his partner Carolina Armellini, where they will be able to learn more about the daily work of a design office and be inspired to create their designs and pieces. "Students will have contact with the design in practice, through lectures, workshops and mentoring," said Paulo Biacchi. Designer Carolina Armellini completes: "The experience will occur in a real design studio, ranging from the briefing to the launch of a collection on the market."

To stimulate creativity and production, this year's edition will also promote mini-challenges in which all participants compete with one another and provide inputs and inspirations for university students to develop the pieces. All stages of the Design Challenge will be featured on YouTube as well as information, trivia and life stories of all university students shared on Facebook and on the project website .

After the work period, drawings and a lot of creation, the best product collection may be made available on the market by the company Atex, with the signature of the Design Challenge. "The Design Challenge brings together outstanding professionals and students who will be in an environment that will help them give their best and innovating with plastic in design. We are optimistic about the results that may arise. With this project, in addition to plastic products for structure, Atex will be able to expand its portfolio, offering modern solutions for finishing," concluded Pedro Penna, CEO of Atex Brasil.

About Braskem
With a global, human-oriented vision of the future, Braskem's 8,000 members strive to improve people's lives by creating sustainable solutions in chemistry and plastics. It is the largest resin producer in the Americas, with an annual output of 20 million metric tons, including basic chemicals and petrochemicals, and R$55 billion in revenue in 2016. It exports to Customers in approximately 100 countries and operates 41 industrial units, located in Brazil, the United States, Germany, and Mexico - the latter in partnership with Mexico-based company Idesa.

About Odebrecht
Founded in 1944, Odebrecht is a global group of Brazilian origin, present in 25 countries. Its nine Businesses are distributed across the following areas of operation: engineering and construction, real estate, industry, and investments in infrastructure and energy. The Group is composed of about 80,000 professionals of different nationalities and exports products and services to approximately 100 countries. In 2015, Odebrecht recorded R$132.5 billion in gross revenue.

About Fetiche Design
Formed by the pair of designers Paulo Biacchi and Carolina Armellini, the Fetiche Design studio has consolidated experience in the realization of home and commercial products. In ten years, they have won a number of prizes, Museu da Casa Brasileira, If Awards, Casa Brasil and Movelsul being some of them. They have designed for brands such as Tok & Stok, Florense, La Lampe, Artefacto, Micasa, Schattdecor, São Paulo Museum of Modern Art, L'Occitane, Masisa, Tidelli, and Oppa and Phillip Morris, among others. Currently, they participate in the Decora show, form the GNT TV channel, and own the Paulo Biacchi channel on YouTube, with 57,000 followers.

About Atex Brasil
Since 1991, Atex Brasil is a pioneer and market leader in the constructive process of ribbed slabs. Operating through lease marketing, the company has exceeded the milestone of 45 million square meters executed with the Atex Slab. The varieties of solutions for structural engineering provided by the Atex formwork result in significant concrete and steel savings in slabs, in addition to allowing the execution of larger gaps.