College of HHD

Interior Design: Awarded for Imagination and Skill

January 14, 2016

ud charette first place teamWhen Interior Design senior Rina Velasco heard in class that she could take part in a design competition that would put her into collaboration with students from other colleges and universities, she didn't ask whether there was any prize money at stake. "I just did it for the experience," she said, "Ms. Kohn encouraged us to try it, and I thought, why not?"

So when her five member team won the $10,000 first place award at the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Design Charette for their design for a youth hostel, she was beside herself. "I tell my friends it was my favorite senior moment," Velasco laughed.  And she wasn’t the only winner from CSUN.  Michelle Sima, a junior, was part of the team who won 3rd place, and one of our newest Interior Design students, Neda Bakhtar also participated. 

The winners were selected by a jury of interior design and business professionals who looked for “innovation and creativity, coherence and functionality, human impact, fulfillment of program requirements, and presentation,” according to the IIDA

As part of the first-place package, Rina’s team also won an all-expense-paid trip to Seattle for the next level competition.  And, if they win there, the team will continue to Chicago in June for NeoCon in the Merchandise Mart, known to be North America’s largest design exposition and conference.

Velasco explained how the competition worked. “We were given four and a half hours for a design to re-vamp a post office into a youth hostel.  Our concept was aimed at younger travelers so we chose the theme: ‘go out and explore.’ We called the project ‘Ripples’ and used the metaphor of expanding circular ripples, like when you drop a pebble into water.  At the center is the hostel,” Velasco said.  “And we had the concept statement: ‘as water shapes objects, travel shapes you as a person.”iida 3rd place team

Velasco also talked about the motivation she got from faculty, “All professors played a part, Rodica Kohn, Judith Griffin, Roxane Berger, Ellen Knowles, all mentored me.  Every class had influence in building my confidence and giving me the sense that I could compete at a professional level. Ms. Kohn always encourages our involvement in IIDA and I’m grateful that she brought this to our attention.”

Michelle Sima is a junior whose team won third place in the Design Charette. A student of CSUN Interior Design for three years, Sima said she knew what she wanted from her career. “I came to CSUN straight from high school with my major already declared,” she said. “I learned hand drafting, because it gives you the freedom to access your mind and show what you can do even if you don’t have a computer.  That was called upon in the competition.” 

She noted that the competition, “really opened my eyes.  They set you up in teams and you learn to collaborate fast – you see how things work from the other side in that you get a quick understanding of how others see you and where you are in the design experience,” Sima said.

“You go into it knowing nothing and have four and a half hours to come up with a theme, design and put it on a board,” Sima said. “And you learn a lot about dealing with different personalities.  Before the charrette, everyone is confident, but the pressure shows the real skills sets and you learn to support each other to keep the confidence going.”

iida team neda bakhtarSima said her team came up with a quick strategy and committed to their idea, as well as to mutual success.  As was the case with Velasco’s team, the assignment was to create a youth hostel from a post office.  The team focused on the community experience, “We went with an old post office theme: ‘mail travels, so do people!’ We incorporated post-office elements into the design; the lobby was the ‘sorting room’ where everyone comes in, it’s the social hub, then they spread through the building. We had to create a hostel with enough room for sixty people – and we did!”

As the junior-most competitor from CSUN Interior Design, Neda Bakhtar echoed the statements of her classmates that encouragement from faculty helped her decide to try the competition. With mentorship always at the forefront of teaching, Interior Design faculty know students are entering a profession that requires collaboration and the development of skills for listening and asserting themselves in balance with colleagues. By encouraging students to participate in competitions such as the IIDA Design Charette, they are also offering inspiration.  As students learn what it’s like to work as professional Interior Designers, they discover they are not just putting together components to the look and feel of the rooms they’ll be asked to bring to life; they’re designing ways of engaging in the career they will call home.

 

Sp2016

Jean O'Sullivan