I'm Still Alive!

I can't believe it's May! So much has happened since the last chance I had to blog that I don't know where to start. I'll have to backtrack and write about the most remarkable and exhausting spring I've ever had.

Where to begin . . .

Winning two major competitions in a week?
Eleven days in Qatar?
Speaking at the American Society of Interior Designer's convention in San Francisco?
My senior project that turned into design anarchy?
Senior exhibit and a presentation to the dean?
Beginning the job search?

How about graduation!

Yes! At last I am a college graduate! Last Saturday I graduated magna cum laude with honors, with a degree in Interior Design and a minor in history. What was my honors thesis on? I titled it, "Design Response to Humanitarian Crisis: An Analysis of Low-Income Labor Camps in Doha, Qatar in the Context of a Student Charrette." I know, I know. I can't help it. I wouldn't be me if I didn't go overboard and push a few boundaries.

Now I'm sifting through job opportunities and trying to decide whether to stay in Utah or move to a bigger market. It's not a decision I'm taking lightly. I'll catch up with everything else that has happened over the next few days.

Globe Trotting

I finally have my travel itinerary for Qatar. I won't announce the exact dates online, but I will be gone for 11 days! The flight will be about 24 hours each way and we will come in a few days before the conference to participate in a charette with the other students. I will miss seven days of school. I'm glad all my classes are in my department and they will let me go. But I have no idea how I will get everything done this semester.

To add to everything else going on I found out this week I won another competition. It's not time yet to announce the details, but it will involve me travelling to San Francisco three days after I get back from Qatar! I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Guess what!

I've been neglecting this little blog because I've been working on another blog (see previous entry) . That blog has been part of a competition entry for a design conference called Tasmeem. The competition is to identify an issue dealing with water and generate design solutions for the problem. I worked on the project with a friend and we focused on the 1.2 billion people who don't have access to a source of clean drinking water and the 6,000 children who die every day from a water-borne illness. It's a little outside the realm of interiors, but it was fun to apply what I've learned to another area of design.

I just found out that we won! The prize is all expense paid trip to Qatar for a sustainable design conference in March. The speakers are some of the best in the world - David Suzuki who spoke at Greenbuild, Cameron Sinclair the founder of Architecture for Humanity, Susan Szenasy the editor of Metropolis, and other architects and designers from around the world.

Yes, that's right! I'm going to Qatar! Where in the world is Qatar?! Here it is:


Yes, I know. It's in the Middle East. But the safe part of the Middle East. I promise.

Qatar has mosques . . .


. . . and luxury resorts . . .


. . . and camels . . .


. . . and this giant pearl.

It is also the home of Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar who is sponsoring our visit.

I'm so excited!

I would like to thank the judges . . .

I'm still not used to this, but my dialysis center is now up on the IIDA website. Watch out Gensler (or HOK, SOM, Perkins + Will, IA), here I come.

IIDA Student Sustainable Design Competition

The dialysis center I designed in my Commercial Studio class last fall means a great deal to me. The assignment was to design an out-patient healthcare facility and Professor Woolley let us decide what type. After a debate we made the decision as a class that it should be a kidney dialysis center. It was an opportunity to design a facility for people who truly need it.

In October our class visited a dialysis center at a local hospital and saw how depressing and inadequate the space was. The nurse who showed us around told us what they needed and what they wished for. Afterward a friend of my mom named Marianna agreed to speak with us. She underwent dialysis at a center in Ogden and eventually received a kidney transplant. Her experience was very emotional and she made the project real for us.

After my project was featured in a Statesman article Woolley, who is now teaching design at a school in Qatar, wrote me the following. I'm sharing it because he describes the significance of this better than I could.

If you weren't there that day - you don't understand the meaning of this project. If you don't know someone personally who is undergoing dialysis treatment - you won't understand this project. But I was there in class and heard what she said. I saw the pain and appreciate the work the class did because it changed them as designers. Design took on meaning, and that is rare in the educational realm.

The research behind my design also became a year long Honors project exploring sustainability and metaphors for spiritual healing. With Woolley's encouragement I entered the project into the International Interior Design Association's (IIDA) Student Sustainable Design Competition. I wasn't expecting much but he thought I had a good chance.

The judging is now complete and I found out late last week that I received the competition's honorable mention. I am excited and I am grateful. Grateful for the opportunities this award will bring me and the ways it will help me to accomplish my goals. Grateful for everything I learned this year, and grateful for the chance to find a mentor who helped me exceed my own expectations.

Press Release

I hate attention. I hate it. I'm content to sit quietly and work hard. Which I do - and sometimes that pays off. The press release for my honoroable mention in the International Design Guild/ASID Student competition is out. I guess I need to learn to be comfortable with a little self-promotion. So here is the press release:

2006 ASID/International Design Guild Student Design Contest Winners Announced

Manchester, NH Mar. 29 /The International Design Guild/ -- The International Design Guild, an ASID Industry Partner, hosted its Annual Student Design Contest which serves to recognize and reward ASID student designers for their outstanding floor covering creations in both broadloom and rug categories. This contest has awarded over $80,000 to budding designers across the country.

Contest applicants had the opportunity to win cash awards in denominations of $2,500, $1,000, and $100 for first-place, first runner-up, and honorable mention tributes, respectively. A panel of seasoned luxury floor covering Guild showroom owners, as well as, Howard Brodsky, Co-CEO of CCA Global Partners judged the entries based on their individuality, use of color, and overall design.

Krista Eliason, President of the International Design Guild explains, “The Guild is amazed at the amount of truly impressive designs we received in 2006. The Guild and its members enjoy working closely with the design community and it’s clear there are many gifted students who deserve to be recognized for their talents.”

The 2006 ASID/International Design Guild Student Design Contest winners are as follows:

Broadloom Category

First Place Winner of $2,500 and a 3-month membership to the Premier Professional Program: Lori Gray, College of Mt. Saint Joseph, Cincinnati, OH
First Runner-Up Winner of $1,000 and a 3-month membership to the Premier Professional Program: Patricia Rodriquez, Miami, FL

Honorable Mentions Winners of $100:

Vivian Restrepo, Miami International University of Art & Design
Allison Ziskind, Miami International University of Art & Design
Zaima Suarez, Miami International University of Art & Design
Patricia Rodriquez, Miami International University of Art & Design
Holly Murdock, Utah State University

Area Rug Category

First Place Winner of $2,500 and a 3-month membership to the Premier Professional Program: Fiona Worboys, Rhodec International, Ann Arbor, MI
First Runner-Up Winner of $1,000 and a 3-month membership to the Premier Professional Program: Molly Miller, Utah State University, Logan UT
Honorable Mentions Winners of $100:

Lori Gray, College of Mount Saint Joseph
Ana Cristna Rozas, Miami International University of Art & Design
Miren Altimari, Miami International University of Art & Design
Pamela Jensen, Utah State University
Lisa Green, Western Michigan University

The 2007 ASID/International Student Design Contest will begin on August 1, 2006 and contest entry forms will be available at www.asid.org under the Student Center tab.

About the International Design Guild

The International Design Guild, a division of CCA Global Partners, was formed in 1992 and is primarily focused on the luxury segment of the floor covering industry. With 100 showrooms throughout the United States and Canada, membership to the Guild is gained by invitation only. Each Guild Showroom specializes in serving the needs of interior designers and discriminating consumers who appreciate the importance of beautiful home décor. Members also exhibit the highest standards of product knowledge, design expertise, and customer service. Guild Showrooms guarantee designers and consumers the widest selection of luxury products fitted to the highest standards. Visit us at www.design-guild.com or contact us directly at 1-800-205-4345 to learn more about our organization.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Deborah M. Lamoureux
Senior Project Manager of Strategic Partnerships, International Design Guild
Phone: (603) 626-2169 or dlamoureux@design-guild.com

I'm glad I could keep Miami International from a clean-sweep of the broadloom honorables! Congratulations to Molly and Pam too!