I was amused to read Catherine Bennett in Sunday’s Observer writing a piece about the lack of progress in domestic appliance design. Why all the obsession over tiny developments in mobile phones, while the humble washing machine seems still as clunky, ugly and prone to break-down as it has been for decades*, she asked? It made me think of what was my personal favourite product at last week’s Design Junction exhibition.

*Clue, it’s got something to do with the gender of the people assumed to be using them.

The Lo-Fi washer is the invention of Qian Jiang, who was exhibiting with Sweden’s Lund University. I was immediately attracted to it as an object before I knew what it was. Qian explained that it was a turn-handle washing machine, and invited me to have a go. The wooden ball handle is a satisfying fit in your hand and as you turn it spokes under the lid wurgle your washing around pleasingly. The bucket comes off the stand to tip the water away.

Qian says that he was inspired by observing how traditional Swedish wooden houses stand up to rain, and his design is notionally intended for Swedes with off-grid summer houses. I, obviously, immediately pictured myself doing the washing at the off-grid cottage of my dreams with birds wheeling above and other kinds of nature-y biz going on. As someone who loves washing – at home I’m the self-styled ‘Laundress’ – I find this product a delight. And also as someone currently trying to persuade the water board that they’ve connected the whole house to the water meter for my flat, I’m also pretty into dreaming of a lifestyle free of utility companies.

And before you say it yes I have lived without a washing machine before, and it was pure hell. But this design, looking both forward and backwards as it does, really captured my imagination, as all good design should. The Industrial Design course at Lund University obviously engenders a respect for slow-living designs. I also met the delightful Tianman Song who talked me through her ‘Slow Living, Slow Tea’ tea ceremony set. Both designers, and the school itself, are ones to watch. Slowly.