Three K-State students are being nationally recognized for winning the 2012-13 Interior Design Educators Council Student Design Competition. This is the third year K-State students have placed first in the annual event.
Sydney Hall, Andrea Sisk and Haoran Hu, all seniors in interior design and students in the course ID 651, “Design for Supportive Environments,” participated in the two-week competition as part of the class’s requirements. The course was taught by Migette Kaup, associate professor of interior design.
“We all worked really hard and kept each other motivated during the time crunches,” Hall said.
The competition invites students across the United States and Canada to submit a project that conforms to a specific theme. Thirty-seven programs across the U.S. and Canada submitted 101 team projects to their regional-level competitions.
The theme this year focused on higher learning education spaces.
“Because ID 651 is focused on advanced design theory and the application of evidence-based design approaches to solving complex problems for users, the IDEC competition often fits well into the learning objectives for this course,” said Kaup, who was also the team’s adviser during the competition.
Hall, Sisk and Hu were selected as one of the top three Midwest Regional finalist teams, then their project was submitted for judgment at the national level, where it earned the highest recognition.
The first step for the team when beginning the project was to prepare a research summary. When that was complete, they moved on to develop a concept for the design. The concept chosen by the winning team was “A Refreshing Education.”
After identifying the concept, team members had to plan and apply knowledge about the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as the International Building Code to create a safe environment for their higher education project. The team then selected equipment that met the standards for commercial construction, created floor plans and made the final presentation boards — all in less than two weeks.
“These were key components required to create a safe and universally accessible space fit for a college campus,” Sisk said.
Sisk said she thought the competition was a great way for students to gain experience outside of the classroom and earn recognition for their work.
After projects were submitted, they were judged locally by K-State faculty and alumni. Three projects from K-State were sent to the Midwest Regional competition where regional entries were narrowed to three submissions.
“Overall, I think we are ecstatic that we put so much of our time into this competition and that our work was recognized at the international level,” Sisk said.
Hall agreed with her teammate.
“I am incredibly ecstatic to be part of this winning team,” Hall said.
In fact, Kaup said the whole department is excited to be recognized for the achievement.
“The ID faculty team is extremely pleased to see our students once again recognized for their ability to think progressively and produce outstanding work,” Kaup said.