#BlenderMBA Roundup
We partnered with Urban MBA to envision the future of education for another Blenderstreet competition! This one by far had the most artists entering and was a tough one to judge, with an even bigger prize pool.
Urban MBA is a registered non-profit organisation. They provide enterprise programmes and best of breed business courses aimed to help young people develop their ideas and start their own sustainable commercial and social businesses. They focus on young adults who are not in education, employment, or training, and who need to be reached by alternative teaching methods to make the programme content come to life.
We as Blenderstreet even got involved in their recent course to help breakdown what 3D is and teach Blender to a class of teens. We showed all of these submissions to the class as well who helped pick some favourites in the competition!
As Urban MBA are all about changing the face of education to better suit the world we live in today, we launched a competition asking 3D artists to design their vision of what the future of classrooms would look like, you can see the entry requirements for this here.
A Class Above the Rest
This was one of the hardest competitions for us to judge as it wasn't just about the level of artwork but the concept behind the classroom as well, and there were plenty of amazing submissions that came through. However, we've awarded Claudio with first place as his submission truly encapsulated the concept of the future of classrooms, using different technologies to adapt and change how the whole class looks and feels based on what is being taught, and he's shown this through a beautifully architectural render and animation that explains the concept.
The winning entry by @claudiocampoverde99
Urban MBA in particular commented on how realistic it could be to build this in the not-too-distant future, and have shown a couple of the submissions, including this one, to UK government officials in hopes to raise some grants and build towards the education of tomorrow. Congratulations to Claudio for winning £500 in this competition! Having won our #blendercreed competition last year he's now the only person to have won two Blenderstreet competitions so far.
Acing the Assignment
We had two runners up for this competition who both won £100 each. Both had fantastic concepts and beautiful rendering that was worthy of being top 3.
Runner up by @EssentialE3D
We absolutely loved this submission by Essential Elephant Guy who showed us a completely different concept of a classroom very far into the future. It is beautifully rendered and very much giving Mount Olympus vibes.
He describes his concept as "a future where children interact neurally with highly advanced crystallized node structures to learn and build our knowledge base. This classroom represents one of thousands of nodular other classrooms." We hope to live long enough to see floating classrooms like this in our lifetime someday.
Runner up by @amjed_abdz
This submission by Amjed gave a Sci-fi lover like myself a great deal of joy to see. The colour scheme and quality of the render is stunning, and we love how they incorporated the Urban MBA branding into it. There is lots of attention to details that tie this one together, like the wall clock and the automated cleaning bots. We love the use of holograms and science-fiction like AI in the centre of the room and how it's not just a classroom but also a workshop. Amjed said that he "thought about making a classroom that teaches AI to future students which I think would be more of a workshop (making robots and tools) and of course alongside with knowledge of computer science and machine learning." Congratulations to both Amjed and Essential Elephant Guy for winning the Runner up prizes.
The High Achievers
There are so many more quality submissions that are worth mentioning. Even if these didn't make it to the top 3 they were really close and deserve a place in the top 10. In no particular order, here are the honourable mentions!
Not a first time contender in our competitions, Graphic Levien always brings beautiful entries and this time is no different. It was a class favourite and for good reason, it's an elegantly clean render with a classic sci-fi take on a futuristic class room. The little animated elements are an exquisite touch as well.
by Santypants (a member of our discord community)
One of the only submissions that envisioned not just a classroom, but a multi-level enclosed education pod. It is a very unique take on the competition and the graphic design elements are a professional touch. I could very much see this as a part of the Apple Campus and it wouldn't be surprising if universities created spaces like this in the future.
by @by._.milo
Another unique take on a classroom. Milo has created a create a space designed to increase productivity through the power of AI, he describes this "concept as an AI productivity zone where AI helps the students to be as productive as possible." We loved how it isn't necessarily a classroom, but a self study area that students could go to focus.
by @morzilah
The art Morgane produces is cute and stylistic, and she has a very unique take on this competition as well. Embedding a mini classroom in the middle of a walkway focused on ai-driven self-learning is a great idea, It is also one of the only entries that includes students in the art piece, which we think really helps bring it to life.
by @rheinatjoa
Another fantastic entry by Rheina that showcases an open plan classroom with really varied areas. The concept of this focuses on 3D printing and hosts a range of small details around that. We especially loved the hologram room to help you visualize how the 3D prints could look before they are printed.
by @luca_krx
A different take on a 3D printing classroom here, a lot simpler in concept to the previous submission showcased but it's neat and polished in execution. Sometimes less is more and we love that Luca exhibits a minimilast style here.
Although lacking a bit in refinement, this one is definitely worth noting for the effort in thinking about various areas of the classroom and animating it in a showcase video like this. It is also one of the only entries that focused on a classroom for younger children and it was very interesting to see how Emmanuel incorporated the different technologies in the brief for that audience.
There were many other submissions that are absolutely worthy of note, but it would be hard to show them all off here; you can check out the hashtag #blendermba to see some of the other great entries on instagram!
Want to be involved in the next competition?
We love running competitions and creating opportunities for 3D artists to win some great prizes while doing so. If you're interested in entering our future competitions then make sure to be signed up to our Newsletter and following us on Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date on when we announce the next one. Keep an eye out on our competitions page also for the rules and guidelines.
If you're a brand or partner and are interested in sponsoring our next competition get in touch with us here! We're always looking for ways to create unique experiences with 3D artists and you'll love the creativity behind the art made around your idea or brand.
See you in the next one!
-The Blenderstreet Team