Pratt Institute School of Design announces winners of second annual Material Lab Prize

Pratt Institute’s School of Design has announced the recipients of its second annual Material Lab Prize. The winner received a $1,000 grant for a project that showcases innovative uses of reclaimed waste. The top prize was awarded to Charlotte Böhning and Mary Lempres (MID ’23) for their project, “Strøm,” a series that explores carbon and membrane filtration in products made from repurposed agricultural waste.

The project includes purification stick inserts, a filter cartridge, and a carafe, which all incorporate antimicrobial honeybee propolis, natural resins, and magnetized biochar from bone waste. As stated in Pratt’s announcement: “The project earned recognition from the jury, not only for its iterative research process but also the evident joy its designers took in their approach.”

“What I liked about [Charlotte and Mary’s entry] is that they are clearly thrilled to be designing. You can feel that they are iterating and enjoying their process,” said juror Elise McMahon, designer and founder of LikeMindedObjects. 

Second and third place prizes were awarded to Silvia Lambarri Mestres (MPD ’21) for “Transmuting Luxury Packaging for a Sustainable Future” and Michelle Lei (MID ’21) for “WOVEND: Pre-consumer Textile Waste as Woven Deployable Partitions System.”