Crowdfunding startup announces launch of design platform

Prodigy Design Lab unveiled at panel in NYC

Renderings of 17 John Street
Renderings of 17 John Street

Real estate crowdfunding startup Prodigy Network kicked off its real estate, architecture, interiors and urban planning platform Prodigy Design Lab Thursday.

The platform’s first contest will be a design contest for the interior of Prodigy Network’s 17 John Street, the world’s first “cotel” — a building that fuses a hotel, co-working space and LinkedIn-esque environment that offers extended stay suites, networkin events and collaborative work environments.

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Participants will submit their design ideas for online judging, to be carried out by experts including Prodigy Network CEO and founder Rodrigo Nino, Piers Fawks of PSFK, Graham Hill of LifeEdited and Karim Lakhani of the Harvard Business School and NASA Tournament Lab, according to a release from Prodigy.

The lab kicked off today at 12 p.m. during a crowdsourcing and crowdfunding panel at New York City’s Highline Studios at 440 West 15th Street. Guests will be able to interact with a collaborative installation called “Unplugged Playground,” which will display a blank, white room in the 17 John Street Cotel. Guests will then be able to contribute artistic ideas to the exhibit. — Julie Strickland