2012 Summer
IDEC Exchange a Forum for Interior Design Education
ADVANCING EDUCATION, SCHOLARSHIP AND SERVICE
Why Interior Design Matters
2012 Conference: Awards Recap
Bicycle-Friendly Restaurant
“Bayou-luminescence,” an installation commissioned by the New Orleans chapter of the American Institute of Architects, is a collaboration between Igor Siddiqui, principal of ISSSStudio and assistant professor of interior design at the University of Texas at Austin, and Matt Hutchinson of San-Francisco-based firm PATH.
2012 Summer IDEC Exchange Special Theme This year marks the eighth anniversary since IDEC began embracing environmentally responsible design, including the cradle-to-cradle paradigm. Through sustainable design, green design, universal design, LEED, and other approaches, interior designers are at the forefront of creating beautiful, functional environments for people. As advocates for those who live and work in interior spaces of all types, we strive to employ healthy, safe design principles in every project. This issue of the IDEC Exchange reminds us of a proclamation developed at the 2005 conference in Savannah:
ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN
Be it resolved that IDEC supports the concept of socially responsible design, including the cradle-to-cradle paradigm, as an integral part of interior design education. Through discussion and critical analysis of both the positive outcomes and challenges that are inherent in this design philosophy, we examine how far IDEC has come since 2005. What progress have you and your students made in this arena? We invite you to share your stories about: • Innovative solutions have you found to teaching environmentally responsible design. • Changes have you seen in your own programs with regard to environmentally responsible design. • Research you are doing on this topic. • Books, articles, teaching projects, and student outcomes developed around this growing movement. Lisa Tucker 2012 IDEC President Virginia Tech
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Contents idec newsletter / 2012 summer
4 EDITORIAL Message from the president + Past President Lisa Tucker, Lisa Waxman
19 SPECIAL THEMED ARTICLES A green materials library at UNCG
6 Message from the Communications Chair Irina Solovyova, Ph.D
20 George Washington University’s interior design program participates in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon
7 Message from the Editor-in-chief Jonathon Anderson
22 Inspiring environmentallyresponsible design through nineteen case studies
8 IDEC UPDATES Publications, Awards and Recognitions
23 Making digital
13 2012 Conference Awards Recap
17 Why Interior Design Matters
24 Universal design: A shifting paradigm
24 Shifting the way people think: Research-based sustainable interior environments from FIT/SUNY’s graduate program
26 research
31 Collaboration
32 teaching highlights
35 alumni relations
37 INDUSTRY & PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
41 Emerging talent
46 service
50 2012 IDEC Leadership
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Editorial
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT + PAST president
Lisa Tucker, 2012-13 IDEC president, Virginia Tech
Dear members, I start my new role with a sincere thanks to the board members with whom I have had the pleasure of working in recent years. Our pastpresident, Lisa Waxman, has been a true inspiration and I hope to serve the organization with as much grace and poise as she. Ellen Fisher represents the New York perspective and offers us the wisdom of a dean combined with the passion of a designer, making us a better organization. Scott Ageloff always challenges us to do the right thing and, for that, we owe him a huge debt. Denise Guerin, well, is Denise Guerin—who could ever compete with her (or even try)?! She provides us with muchneeded continuity and knowledge. 4
I am pleased that Migette Kaup (our wonderfully detail-oriented treasurer), Jackie McFarland (our director of service), and Lisa Waxman all continue on the board over the next year.
to keep us entertained! Our director of scholarships is Doug Seidler, who has been instrumental in reworking our review process for conference presentations, so he brings those insights and expertise to the position.
Although they probably need no introduction, I am also excited to introduce our newest board members. John Martin Rutherford is president-elect and a great addition to the board. He is both an excellent chef and an incredibly well-read individual—both of which are valuable during some of our more trying conversations and debates. Cynthia Mohr is the new director of teaching and brings to her role a great deal of experience as the teaching collaborative coordinator. She is sure
I look forward to the next year and the new opportunities that will enable us to grow as people and as professionals! Please mark your calendars for the next annual conference—February 17-20, 2013. Best,
Lisa Tucker, IDEC President, 2012-2013
Lisa Waxman, 2012-13 IDEC past president, Florida State University
Dear colleagues: As my term as president comes to an end, I thank you for your commitment and service to IDEC. Although I’ve been involved in IDEC for many years, as president I had a first-hand look at all of the initiatives IDEC undertakes and the number of hours donated by our volunteers. We are fortunate to have so many dedicated members—thank you! The 50th anniversary conference in Baltimore enabled us to connect with one another, learn from one another, and celebrate our organization. We launched two new events that will continue next year—the Pecha Kucha Night with fast-paced creative teaching ideas and the Vil-
lage Square discussions of interest to the profession. The highlight was the anniversary banquet recognizing member accomplishments and service, then toasting our 50th year! As past-president Denise Guerin’s term on the board ends this year, I thank her for her service and support during my year as president. I welcome Lisa Tucker who became IDEC’s president on May. Lisa is well-positioned to lead IDEC. Soon, we will seek nominations for the next round of elections. Please consider stepping up and volunteering—don’t forget it is OK to selfnominate! I think you’ll find IDEC
service a rewarding experience and I encourage you to give it a try. Thank you for your membership and commitment to interior design education. Have a great summer!
Take care,
Lisa Waxman, IDEC Past President, 2011-2012 5
Message from the Communications Chair
the IDEC conference each year and we hope to continue this trend. Here is some data on paper and poster presentations. Conference proceedings are available for download on IDEC Web site.
Irina Solovyova, Ph.D 2012-13 communications chair University of Texas at San Antonio
Dear colleagues, The 50th anniversary conference in Baltimore was a tremendous success. If you couldn’t attend, visit http://2012.idec.org for complete coverage. Let us thank Doug Seidler for creating the conference Web site. Attendee responses acknowledged the positive difference a dedicated conference site made for their overall experience. Let’s also thank the volunteers and IDEC staff who put many hours into organizing the conference. This year, 300 people attended the conference and, of this number, 32 were graduate students. An increasing number of students are attending 6
There was more to the Baltimore conference than presentations and the 50th anniversary celebration was a conference-long event. One special celebration featured IDEC “History Minute” videos and an exhibit illustrating special moments and people in IDEC’s history. I encourage you to read Buie Harwood’s article about the celebration. Student work was recognized and celebrated during the conference. Displays of work from the “Make A Difference” and student design competitions were prominently on display and clips of the video competition winners were shown during major conference events. The student work exhibited was excellent and the attention it received was well deserved. For the second year, I participated in a leadership summit the day before the conference began. I continue to be amazed at how much is happening in the organization and how many volunteers contribute their time and effort to make important, positive changes in interior design education.
2012 was the first year of a Pecha Kucha night, sponsored by IIDA and dedicated to creative teaching ideas. Also new was the Village Square which replaced the previous Town Hall. A Fellows Forum was dedicated to showcasing the value of interior design and how it affects many aspects of society outside of traditional venues. Combined, these events enable us to share our individual stories and work. What stories will you share next year? The best part of the conference, however, is the opportunity for face-to-face interaction and dialog! Meeting old and new friends and exchanging ideas help us recharge our mental batteries and creativity for the rest of the year. Natalie Mendez, the new social media chair, used the event to help raise public awareness of why interior design matters. Read Natalie’s article about this global social media campaign and explore the Why Interior Design Matters Web site. Keep in touch through social media,
Irina
Message from the editor-in-chief
Dear IDEC community, As the academic year ends, I hope you look forward to a summer of research, teaching, travel, or simply some well-deserved relaxation. As showcased in the fall 2011 and spring 2012 issues of IDEC Exchange, our members were active contributors to their universities, communities, and the profession.
Jonathon Anderson 2012-13 editor-in-chief University of North Carolina Greensboro
The summer 2012 issue is no exception as we continue to inform readers of new developments by sharing and featuring the work in which members like you have been engaged. It is also full of content that centers on the very important theme of environmentally sustainable design. Our goal is always to deliver content that is thought-provoking. As this issue is released, I will be in China researching the Shanghai Creative Industry Parks. Enjoy your summer and remember—e-mail your news, announcements, story ideas, and feedback to
[email protected]. Your contributions are essential for helping members of our profession continue to grow, evolve, and remain at the forefront of the latest developments and trends. 干杯 gān bēi, Jonathon
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IDEC Updates
Publications, awards, and recognitions
Inside Prefab
After Taste: Expanded Practices in Interior Design
Low construction costs, efficiency, and sustainability make prefabrication an attractive solution for today’s interior designers.
Lois Weinthal, associate professor and graduate advisor for the graduate interior design program at the University of Texas at Austin, is pleased to announce the release of After Taste: Expanded Practices in Interior Design, co-edited with Kent Kleinman (Cornell University) and Joanna Merwood-Salisbury (Parsons The New School for Design), published by Princeton Architectural Press.
In Inside Prefab, author Deborah Schneiderman offers a fascinating history of prefabricated interior design, followed by 24 contemporary case studies. The illustrated examples include walls, kitchens, bathrooms, furniture, offices, and complete prefabricated house interiors. The first book-length discussion of the subject, Inside Prefab profiles an array of innovative design solutions that will appeal to architects and clients alike.
About the author Deborah Schneiderman is an associate professor of interior design at the Pratt Institute. She received her M.Arch. from SCI-Arc and her B.S. in design and environmental analysis from Cornell University. Her current practice focuses on new, alternative, and ecologically sound design and building materials. 8
After Taste is an edited volume comprising texts, interviews, and portfolios that collectively document new theories and emerging critical practices in the field of interior design. The book’s central argument is that the field of interior design is inadequately served by its historical reliance on taste-making and taste-makers, and, more recently from a set of theoretical concerns derived from architecture. It seeks to set an expanded frame by advancing new voices and perspectives in both the theory and practice of interior design, considered as an independent discipline. After Taste offers expansive views of interior studies, highlights emerging areas of research, identifies allied practices, and makes public its underexplored territory.
Adapted from Design & Intuition: Structures, Interiors & The Mind C. Lewis Kausel, WIT Press, 2012
Although human enjoys new designs, classic styles are still timeless. Why do societies around the world repeat artistic forms? Sometimes the repetition reinforces the importance of community, much like a popular song that everyone sings because it produces feelings of shared experience and merriment. The culture of classic, iconic images usually proves to be more aesthetic than sociallydriven, however. They are more meaningful to humans than passing fashions, fads, and fleeting social objectives of polite society. Since time immemorial, mankind has used design methods and instruments to create distinctive, meaningful designs. Ancient monuments are testaments to some of the world’s most unforgettable designs, suggesting the human desire to express and contemplate aesthetic forms. Design communicates aesthetic ideas, like the need for distinction and elegance. What people find beautiful has always evolved and what was elegant in the Rococo becomes opposite of that considered elegant in modernity. The reality of these attributes, which amounts to how physical features of objects are interpreted, exists in the collective visual transactions of culture. What our eye tells is “elegant” is shaped by the times in which we live, hence design must always be measured by the aesthetics of the era in which it was created. It is interesting to study architecture where form obeys statics. Exceptional structural forms often migrate
from building exteriors to interior objects as décor. Human tend to recreate buildings they find beautiful, gradually modifying them into regional cultural forms such elongated church spires or round, more sinuous domes. Ultimately, these outcomes become the aesthetic transformations of collective imagination. Architectural styles are be seen in objects ranging from furniture to clothing, representing structures in human scale. This is important at a subliminal or unspoken level where the perception of design works and our body metaphorically becomes a part of design. Furniture with Renaissance cornices, for example, may appear more valuable or “important” to consumers, however, it does not necessarily define “good” design. The perceived value by the public is an important component of understanding the dynamic interaction of design and human culture.
Cecilia Lewis Kausel
Design is based on solutions where achievable, functional, and favored forms are repeated in building construction. Both innovative and classic forms are subject to inspiration and repetition. In today’s world, we now focus on environmental sustainability and the low, embodied energy constructions of the past inspire us.
century sewing machines which are now “decorative” in our culture. What, exactly, is decoration when obsolescence and function inspire us aesthetically? Why does this happen if not for the aesthetics that culture pursues?
Mankind creates functional design but inspiration transforms functional syntaxes into decorative design. Human instinct compels us to notice and enjoy forms of decoration. Consider the recent interest in obsolete industrial objects, like outdated rotary telephones and turn-of-the-
Cecilia Lewis Kausel is a professor of interior architecture at Mount Ida College in Newton, MA. She is certified by the NCIDQ Board and holds the CID license of the State Board of Architects and interior designers of Kentucky. Her research has been published internationally.
About the author:
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Two-day intensive learning session focuses on ergonomics
In partnership with Humanscale, IDEC will host its first topicintensive summer workshop titled Ergonomics: From Fundamentals to Application in Practice and the Classroom. Scheduled for July 12-13 at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, the purpose is to immerse interior design educators and practitioners in the topic to provide them with the appropriate knowledge to teach or implement in practice. The session is open to everyone in the interior design industry, including educators and students, interior design and architecture practitioners, industry partners, graphic designers, and engineers.
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Day one is a full-day course in office ergonomics covering: • Ergonomics definition • Musculoskeletal risk factors • Overview of common musculoskeletal disorders, symptoms and causes • Components of ergonomically designed workstation • Components of effective ergonomics assessments • Applied ergonomic methods for computer workstations • Applied exercises
Day two focuses on teaching strategies for integrating ergonomics into course assignments and projects. Cost for the two-day workshop is $295 for IDEC members, $375 for IDEC industry partners, and $425 for non-members who register before May 1. Fees for the intensive are partially underwritten by Humanscale. Register online at www.idec.org or call 317.328.4437. Continuing education credits are available for who complete both days.
Innovative Teaching Resources Program IDEC’s Innovative Teaching Resources Program is designed to provide educators with high-quality teaching materials and resources. Educators may purchase and download materials for use in their classes. The first project selected for inclusion is a healthcare studio created by
Katherine Ankerson of Kansas State University. It will serve a test case to see if there is interest among educators. If so, IDEC will continue to seek quality teaching materials. All projects selected will be thoroughly reviewed and then made available for purchase for other educators to use
or adapt. The project can be found at: http://www.idec.org/education/ InteriorDesignTeachingResources. php Special thanks to Catherine Anderson, Georgetown University, who has chaired this committee over the past several years.
Message from the Journal of Interior Design (JID) Led by moderator Dr. Joy Dohr, the Journal of Interior Design ( JID) editorial board recently held their third annual writer’s workshop, which focused on effective ways of interpreting findings and forming conclusions. Attended by more than 20 individuals, six of whom were graduate students, the workshop provided participants with insights about the most common obstacles in getting published in scholarly publications and helpful writing strategies. In addition to “Think like a reviewer” exercises, participants engaged in one-on-one time with the editorial team to discuss their individual research projects and manuscripts. If you seek professional publication, plan to attend next year’s workshop. As noted by one attendee, “I came to the last workshop and learned so much, I had to come back this year.” Another said, “The best workshop yet! They keep getting better.” As JID approaches its 30th year, many exciting changes have oc-
curred! We have moved to a quarterly production schedule, with the first issue focusing on topics in sustainable design and a perspective written by Susan Szenasy. Our call for contributions to a history special issue titled “Time: People + Places + Processes,” ended in February and will be published in 2013. Watch for our call for papers on collaboration soon. Manuscripts on any topic related to teaching, research, multi- and inter-disciplinary projects, and teaming collaborative issues
are sought. JID also plans to publish completed dissertations, theses, and creative projects annually. New and existing board members remain dedicated to the journal’s success. Dr. Meg Portillo remains editor-in-chief for a second threeyear term and is joined by associate editors, Dr. Bridget May and Dr. Janetta McCoy. The board is chaired by Dr. Jennifer Webb, with Dr. Joan Dickinson and Dr. Jane Kucko serving in director capacities. 11
regional updates
Events
Midwest • Maureen Mitton was appointed director of the School of Art & Design at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. The fourth edition of her book Interior Design Visual Presentation was published by John Wiley and Sons, February 2012.
Mark your calendars for the ASID Career Exchange, a job fair for the interior design industry. We host three throughout the year!
• Wendy Puffer passed the NCIDQ. Congratulations!
*Now recruiting educators for one-on-one resume and portfolio reviews.
• Julie Boettcher, adjunct interior design faculty at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, was granted a full professional teachers license in the state of Minnesota.
May 17, 2012, 10 to 11:30 a.m.
• NeoCon Trade Fair in Chicago, IL* Wednesday, June 13 2012, 10-11:30am
• We congratulate Migette Kaup, Kanas State University, who successfully defended her dissertation.
*Now recruiting educators for one-on-one resume and portfolio reviews.
West
• Neocon East in Baltimore, MD
Announcements from the California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco: • Cathrine Veikos will join the faculty this fall as the new chair of interior design. • Julianne Malnick claimed first place and a $4,000 scholarship and Tuan Tran claimed second place and a $2,000 scholarship from the IIDA-NC chapter this year. • CCA alumnus Lucas Martin, who led his design team on behalf of Rapt Studio, won an honor award for their design of the new San Francisco Aids Foundation offices. • Michael Vanderbyl also claimed an honor award for the New York showroom of LUNA textiles.
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• Hospitality Design in Las Vegas, NV*
Thursday, October 18, 2012
2012 Conference awards recap Awards photos by Jen White, Baltimore, MD
IDEC Arnold Friedmann Educator of Distinction Award Buie Harwood, FIDEC, Hon. FASID, CID/VA, Professor Emeritus, Interior Design, Virginia Commonwealth University
The IDEC Partner in Education Award Jeannie Bochette, Marketing Manager, Steelcase
IDEC Service Awards Douglas Seidler, Abstract Coordinator Margaret Konkel, Abstract Coordinator
IDEC Community Service Award Hannah Mendoza, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina Greensboro. Hannah is leading a global studio that has designed a school for a village in Ghana.
Susan Ray Degges, Director Caren Martin, Author of “Education Resolution”
IDEC Fellow Bridget May, Assistant Chair and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Interior Design, Marymount University IDEC Teaching Excellence Award Candy Carmel-Gilfilen, Assistant Professor at the University of Florida Judy Theodorson, Professor at Washington State University
Lindsay Tan, Communications Committee Social Media Chair
Maura Schaffer, Creative Scholarship Coordinator Bridget May, Conference Host Moira Gannon Denson, Conference Host Meg Konkel, Conference Host
IDEC Media Award “Project Connect DP&E ,” Amy Roehl, Texas Christian University
Bob Meden, Conference Host Darrin Brooks, Regional Chair- Pacific West Region
Douglas Seidler, Conference Host
Jane Nichols, Regional Chair- South Region
Robin Wagner, Conference Host
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Ellen Fisher, Board of Directors- Director
Buie Harwood, 50th Anniversary Celebration Committee Chair
IDEC Book Award Vibhavari Jani, Kansas State University, “Diversity in Design: Perspective from the Non-Western World”
Scott Ageloff, Board of Directors- Director
Patty Warren, IDEC Staff Meeting Planner
Wei Dong, Scholarship Collaborative Coordinator
Irina Solovyova, Communications Chair
Presidential Award Joy Dohr, Scholarship Collaborative Coordinator
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“Interior Design Emerging: Humanity, Diversity & Connectivity” Sarah Sherman, Florida International University 2012 IDEC Scholarship Awards
Merit Awards
Barbara Anderson, Chair of IDEC Academy
IDEC Special Projects Grant
Denise Guerin, Outgoing Past President
Best presentation: William Riehm, Mississippi State University, and Annie Coogan, Crawford, Parsons - the New School for Design, for “A Bar Stool, Ernst Haeckel, and Rhinoceros: Learning Object Modeling Technology through Design Problem Solving” Best poster: Sabrina Frey of Florida State University for “Well Being, How the Living Environments of Others May Improve It.” Members Choice: “Beyond the Final Studio Presentation: Multimedia Project Storytelling as Portfolio Enhancement,” an abstract presented by Jill Pable, Florida State University
IDEC Student Design Competition
First: “Canvas: A Center for Children” was submitted by Lindsay Mercer, Savannah Roberts, and Shellie Sauls from Auburn University. They worked under the faculty supervision of Lindsay Tan and Kelly Martin.
Third: “Vrede Village” by Hannah Fletcher and Heather Hall of Valdosta State University. These students were sponsored by faculty member Selend Nawrocki.
Second: “Umizi Omusha” was produced by Ian McRae, Kristen Jamieson, Deepa Gill of British Columbia Institute of Technology under the guidance of faculty members Michelle Lafontaine and Dixie Hudson
Honorable Mention: Shannon Coughlin, Toree Miller and Beth Ross of Washington State University for their project titled, “Teacher in a Box.” Faculty assistance was provided by Judy Theodorson.
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2011 Interior Design Video Education Competition
2012 Fairchild Topical Issues Grant
Art Category
Candy Carmel-Gilfilen at the University of Florida, “Incorporating Cultural Sensitivity into Healthcare Design” 2011 IDEC Creative Scholarship Awards First: “Why Interior Design Matters,” Kate Croy, Lauren Reinhard, Kelsey Keller, Lory Marsocci and Anna Beydoun, Radford University with faculty advisor Renee Walsh
Second: “Economical,” Emily Erbes and Anya Robson, Iowa State University with faculty advisor Jihyun Song
Third: “How Interior Design Economically Effects Society,” Kristin Amundsen, Hannah Berryhill and Emily Sutton, University of Texas Austin with faculty advisor Carl Matthews 2011 Fairchild Topical Issues Grant “Social Sustainability – Designing for Disaster Relief ” Project team members are Sarah Sherman, Florida International University; Dak Kopec, PhD, Radford University; and Jeanne Mercer-Ballard, Appalachian State University 16
The Best of Show: “MORE EFFORTLESS: A Responsive Intervention” by Tamie Glass and Ulrich Dangel from The University of Texas at Austin
Merit of Distinction: “Landscape, Built Form, and Agrarian Spaces in the Midwest” by John Humphries Miami University
First: Tim Cozzens of Columbia College Chicago, “Table 15”
Second: Saral Surakul of University of Georgia, “The Lost Moments” Design Category
First: “An Explorers Toolpouch for going Knowhere” by Samantha Perkins of Miami University
Second: “Bohdan Townhouse” by Thad Reeves, University of Texas Arlington
Why interior design matters
seen before. Within hours of seeing the video, I started posting it to LinkedIn groups and Facebook. It was very well received, not just by fellow interior designers, but also family and friends from other fields. I began contacting schools, practitioners, and organizations around the world, asking them to watch and show their support in a social media campaign to make the video go viral. I soon found the work contagious (my husband fondly started calling me “design patient zero”). After a month of e-mails, LinkedIn and Facebook conversations, phone calls day and night to talk with those in other time zones, and commitments from interior design leaders from DEC, ASID, IIDA, IFI, SBID, and many other international organizations, we built enough momentum for the design community to unite in a massive, global social media campaign.
Natalie Mendez, M.A., ASID, IIDA, IDEC, Inventive Design LLC
April 16, 2012 was a good day for the interior design profession because a global social media campaign raising awareness about Why Interior Design Matters began. I discovered a global campaign is challenging to orchestrate, but the effort has been a positive experience and life lesson!
In a 24-hour period, there were over 4,000 hits to the WIDM.org site. To date, there have been over 20,000 views of the “Why Interior Designers Matter” video from more than 100 countries. The video took first and second place in the Twitter interior design category and was one of the top hits on the YouTube interior design category. For those who participated and those who missed out, join us again for World Interiors Day. Let’s embrace our talents for the common good. Through unity, we make the strongest impact!
It began at the 50th anniversary conference. The issue of raising public awareness about the profession was a prominent topic in both formal events and informal discussions in Baltimore. I was inspired listening to keynote speaker Rosayln Cama. Although her ideas about design and the world around us are similar to my own, I began wondering why there aren’t more opportunities to discuss diverse perspectives within the design community. I also wondered about the lack of support for InformeDesign, one of the venues through which we can communicate the value of evidence-based interior design. While watching the winning video competition entry, I found it extraordinary and something that I had not
Making a difference extends beyond participation in any single event or group, however. Apart from volunteering for IDEC as its social networking chair, I also work with groups like Habitat for Humanity and public libraries. By advising Habitat for Humanity, I assist in improving the lives of hundreds of people in need. By volunteering at the library, I help low income and middle-income families learn the positive power of real design. If you are as passionate about why interior design matters as I am, join me in my quest and share stories of how you make a difference to everyone’s lives every day. Don’t just make a difference quietly—make it public, encourage others, and be in the forefront of promoting interior design through service. Will you join me? 17
Volunteer testimonies
Submitted by Lisa Tucker, Virginia Tech I have had the opportunity to serve IDEC in many capacities and one of the best things about this organization is that if you want something to change—all you have to do is volunteer! One of the first things I did was volunteer to serve on a multiyear task force with Anna Marshall Baker to bring sustainability to the forefront of IDEC’s work, an experience that was personally very meaningful and fulfilling. It was wonderful to work with Anna and to see results almost immediately within the organization. I hope to continue that commitment during this year during my term as president. I have served in many volunteer roles, including the South Region chair, the regional chair liaison to the IDEC Board, and as a board member for the last five years (now going on six), holding positions including communications director, director of scholarships, president-elect, and now president. I have been an ab18
stract reviewer for probably ten years and review for the Journal of Interior Design. Although this voluntarism may sound like a full-time job to some, it has been incredibly enriching and the people I have worked with have made it all worthwhile! One of the most enjoyable assignments has been working with Irina and the communications committee. To give you a small example, I was disconcerted by how all the materials from each region were being invented every year in addition to new branding for every conference. During my year as communications director before IDEC was “restructured,” I called for volunteers for a communications committee and more than 20 individuals expressed interest. As a group, we determined to move IDEC to the next level and our plans included a new newsletter and a new Web site, all with fresh, consistent branding. Irina was one of these initial volunteers and she has been a constant throughout the rebranding campaign, the social networking initiative, the new newsletter. The communications committee is now thriving and is better than I could have ever imagined! This organization appreciates everyone’s contributions—big or small. If you haven’t ever volunteered, I highly recommend it. Submitted by Anna MarshallBaker, University of North Carolina Greensboro When my mentor and department chair Jeanette Bowker asked me after my first month of teaching if I would like to attend the South Regional IDEC Conference in 1992, I never imagined how this organization would so deeply affect my personal and professional life.
At that first meeting I met Jean Edwards, Lisa Waxman, Buie Harwood, Paul Petrie, Jerry Nielson and others who were actively engaged in interior design education and scholarship. I was clearly the new kid on the block. I began my own involvement in IDEC by moderating a paper session at the next regional conference. From that first step, my service to IDEC grew to include many volunteer activities and responsibilities such as editor of the first e-newsletter, reviewer for the Journal of Interior Design, regional chair, president, paper chair, juror, member, and later co-chair of a network, then chair or co-chair of two other task forces. Through service I came to know my colleagues in interior design education and they came to know me. They supported my conference presentations and publications. They partnered with me in the development of initiatives such as the resolution in 2005 regarding sustainability and environmentally responsible design. They became my peers, my critics, and my reviewers. These colleagues have shaped my career as a design educator. And perhaps most importantly, they have become my friends. We travel together. We work together. We share our joy and sorrows, even though we are separated by states and regions. And we celebrate the few days of each year when we see each other at IDEC events. Volunteering in IDEC has not just been a service commitment for me. It has changed my personal and professional life in ways that are meaningful and long-lasting. All it took was me saying, “I can do that.”
Special Themed Articles
A green materials library at UNCG Dr. Anna Marshall-Baker, University of North Carolina-Greensboro
university library staffers, we developed a system using the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Master Format. This system provides a list of titles and numbers that organize specifications and other project information for building design and construction that includes products and materials. Incorporating that system into a standardized library cataloguing system not only organized our material samples, but also engaged students in using the Master Format. As with any book or journal, the materials appear in the library catalogue with descriptive information. Any library user who enters “linoleum” (http://www. armstrong.com/commflooringna/products/biobasedtile) into the catalog, for example, will see an entry that includes:
When our department moved into a new building, we found ourselves in a space with piles of print materititle the manufacturer’s category of tile als that needed cataloging and an idea for a “materials a running title name of the particular product line library” (which at the time had no materials because corporate author the manufacturer the ragtag collection of samples from the old building holdings where the sample is located had been discarded). Staff from the university library internet links the manufacturer’s website and the provided much-needed cataloging services for the print protocol sheet materials, and soon we began to discuss how to organize publisher manufacturer with the date the material samples. sample was obtained (rather than a A departmental decision was made that no materials copyright date appropriate for harmful to human or environmental health would be print materials) included the library. We developed a protocol sheet with subject headings such as “resilient flooring,” “flooring, information about each material to assess its “green” tile,” and “linoleum” qualities, such as product life cycle from raw material to description information about the sample, e.g., manufacturing, packaging and shipping, installation, use, 28cm maintenance, and end of life. We also recorded sustainnotes quotes from marketing materials able practices of the manufacturers and included contact The materials library and protocol sheets are now information that students use to call sales reps. available to anyone who accesses the university catalog. To further engage students, a faculty member teaching Cataloguing the materials enables regular reports that our materials, methods and technologies course required indicate when materials need to be replaced or discarded. that each student bring two new sustainable materials Students develop knowledge about sustainable materiwith protocol sheets to the library, which ensures about als and the kinds of questions necessary to determine 80 new materials each year. the green qualities of materials and products while also gaining experience with the Master Format, assembling Yet the task of organizing these materials remained. The a real-time palette of materials, contacting industry reps, Library of Congress cataloguing system does not include and ordering materials. Students are engaged not only as paint chips, lighting fixtures, or ceramic tile. With help users but also as contributors to the collection. 19
George Washington University’s interior design program participates in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon Catherine Anderson; Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, IDEC
In the fall of 2011, the interior design program at GWU was invited to participate in the Solar Decathlon by The Catholic University of America’s School of Architecture and Planning (CUArch), which assembled a group of Washingtonarea universities known as Team Capitol DC. The competition, according to the US Department of Energy / National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Web site, “challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are costeffective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.” The need for renewable, clean sources for energy has never been greater. Reliance on fossil fuels must be reconsidered this finite resource is being depleted and CO2 emissions with detrimental effects on the environment reach record highs.
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Rendering by the Catholic University of America School of Architecture + Planning
With the events like BP’s oil rig explosion which leaked over 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 and the nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan after the tsunami which released radioactive materials into the atmosphere, there is great incentive to rely less on those energy sources and seek less destructive alternatives.
Plentiful natural resources like wind, sunlight, heating and cooling from the earth, and rainwater, can be harnessed in ways that have minimal impact on the environment. Solar power , for example, is not limited to simply warming structures but also for lighting and cooling them while producing electricity. According to
Rendering by the Catholic University of America School of Architecture + Planning
the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, it is a robust supplier of power. The amount of energy from the sun which shines on the earth in one hour is more than what is used by everyone in the world for one year! During the spring 2012 semester, GW students collaborated with sustainable landscape designers to create living walls (also known as green walls or vertical gardens) that will allow the inhabitants of solar homes to grow edible gardens. This access to the gifts of nature during the growing season serve as a reminder of the natural cycle of plants and draw a mental and visual connections to outdoor gardens with a wide variety of plants and vegetables. The students also carefully considered the selection of interior finishes. Keeping in mind that nearly all materials require some amount of embodied energy, from gathering raw materials to manufacturing to the shipment of these goods, finishes used in the home were chosen for their minimal environmental impact. To create a strong connection between the interior and exterior, materials suitable for both areas that transition seamlessly from inside to outside and vice versa will be used. As we prepare the next generation of designers, creating solar homes will not only educate the public about energy-efficient construction and renewable energy, but will also prepares students to participate in an economy that supports the use of clean energy and learning strategies to implement sustainable practices and new ways of thinking and living. 21
Inspiring environmentallyresponsible design through nineteen case studies Travis L. Hicks, M.Arch., University of North Carolina-Greensboro
This work occupied the first half of the semester, after which students took a two-day field trip to explore the decathlon projects in person. The students visited their assigned houses before spending time in other houses. Third-year students from a different studio section also participated in the field-trip, so the entire class now has a common point of reference about the project.
Third year students in IARc at UNCG
In 2002, the U.S. Department of Energy began sponsoring the Solar Decathlon, its biannual design-build challenge for college and university teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses on the mall in Washington, DC. The international competition comprises 20 teams. Even if your university has not directly participated, the event still offers opportunities for teaching and learning. I used the 2011 Solar Decathlon as the foundation for a design-build studio I taught last fall for 20 third-year design students. With access to construction drawings and specifications for the decathalon models, UNC students were able to study, analyze, and diagram each unit before a field-trip to visit them in person. Students generated digital drawings and models using AutoCAD, Revit, and SketchUp, allowing them to assess, among other things, the passive and active solar strategies of each design. Parallel to this analysis, students designed their own home based on decathlon guidelines. Given the small footprint dictated by the guidelines, the “clients” I assigned as homeowners were single college students. Energy-efficiency, furniture flexibility, passive and active systems, and environmentally responsible materials were common in each design. Employing the building’s interior as a driver for the exterior architectural design also added a layer of complexity and interest not typically seen in decathlon houses. 22
On site, students saw the design details, experienced each form and space, and answered questions that the construction documents had raised earlier in the semester. They sketched and took notes and photographs to document what they saw. The trip inspired students not only in their work for that semester but in subsequent months as well. They returned to complete better-informed case studies and finish their “inside-out” designs. From the 20 individual designs, a jury selected one project as the winning scheme on which students collaborated for the remainder of the semester. Moving forward, the collaborative project was similar to that of a typical decathlon team, moving from the digital design of a small house to full-scale design-build installation and development of print and digital marketing materials. Unlike other case studies, the assignment provided students with a hands-on collection of precedents to use for analytical and generative purposes. And although they did not directly complete in the decathlon event, students and faculty at UNC Greensboro are inspired by what they learned. Several students have developed independent study projects dealing with alternative energy research and design. Full-scale design-build projects have made their way into a number of studios. Dr. Anna Marshall-Baker has fostered a culture of environmentally responsible design in our department for a number of years. We have made a commitment to community engagement and our department has a rich history of design-build going back more than 50 years. The Solar Decathlon model offers us the opportunity to connect sustainability, design-build, and community engagement into a single, signature interdisciplinary project.
Making digital Kevin P. McClellan, University of Texas at San Antonio, College of Architecture
Digital fabrication is a movement fast becoming a standard within the design community. It presents opportunities to realize projects that are both more complex and more sensitive to a particular context. But one of its greatest benefits is often overlooked, that of being resourcespecific and enabling designers to reduce environment impacts. It expands the capabilities of a designer, opening up new techniques and processes that reduce embodied energy and ultimately total cost, while facilitating differentiation as a means to build a client’s brand. In the design community, we see a shift that is pushing away from standardization to purpose-built design and a growing interest in these ideas. The trend reflects the well-established shift by fabricators to computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines for production. As such, teaching and learning the means and methods of digital fabrication more vital than ever for the career potential of student designers. It ensures that they will have the tools to adapt and reinforce those capabilities as well as training that will serve a particular client or expand the service capabilities of an employer. This past spring, our interior design program launched a topic studio to explore the potential of digital fabrication as part of the senior capstone studio. Working closely with a developer client, we identi-
Cubby Coffee Shop and Café, Amber Porterfield
fied two unique sites within their portfolio with diverse programmatic constraints. Running simultaneously, the two projects allowed for crossfertilization and topic exploration through parallel learning. Projects focused on one technique in particular in an effort to instill a more thorough, viable, understanding of the digital fabrication methods. Metal fabrication and rotational molding arose as the two methods most easily assumed into student’s preexisting design vocabularies. The focus on one technique challenged them to see the inherent flexibility and overall limitations of the process, resulting in a true understanding of the potential of the applied technique while counter-intuitively expanding their creative potential, which the students did not anticipate. As educators, our challenge in incorporating new methods in a curriculum is to educate and encour-
Curved Collection Atrium Installation, Micaela Silva
age students to learn processes that will benefit them and their clients or employers. As we take action to be environmentally aware and minimize over-consumption, students must learn to manage not only the design process but utilization of resources. In that way, we can instill increasingly important values that both serve the nascent design professional and the profession as a whole.
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UNIVERSAL DESIGN: A SHIFTING PARADIGM Janice Rieger, Mount Royal University
Life is about overcoming barriers and universal design attempts to do just that. Universal design examines both the experiential and intellectual barriers that exist in our world (Steinfeld and Maisel, 3). As a teacher of one of Canada’s few courses in universal design, I’ve discovered that universal design has shifted significantly over the past seven years to become part of the larger concept of socially responsible design. Universal design is no longer viewed as a “specialization” or “field” of design. It has expanded and created a synergy with parallel movements like sustainability, agingin-place and affordable housing. (Preiser and Smith 1.9) The most salient change that I have observed over the last seven years is that universal design has altered our design thinking. (Nussbaumer 62). Universal design education is changing from a concentration on prescriptive mechanics to a performative model of inquiry. By looking at universal design through this lens,
it calls attention to our daily habits of engagement, our assumptions, our practices, and who we are in relationship to others and our environment.
first and only certification program in accessible housing in Canada and will bring together educators, researchers, and industry professionals.
As the paradigm of socially responsible design continues to expand, we will continue to see more transdisciplinary scholarship. At Mount Royal University, we have created a culture of inclusion that was recently acknowledged with an award from the mayor and the City of Calgary (see www.mtroyal.ca/AboutMountRoyal/MediaRoom/Newsroom/ hp_accessaward.html).
Seven years later, the barriers are slipping away and we have arrived at a point where universal design is coalescing with parallel socially responsible design movements. Whether this shift came about as an outgrowth of changing demographics or from a global culture that is more socially aware, our design thinking is forever altered. I look forward to what the next seven years will bring!
In my own research, teaching, and practice, I have adopted a transdisciplinary framework to address complex issues like universal design and am collaborating with the Studies in Aging program at Mount Royal University to design a certification program in accessible housing design. This fall, the Canadian Specialization in Accessible Housing Design (CSAHD) will begin a pilot project for which students will be accepted beginning in 2013. It is the
SHIFTING THE WAY PEOPLE THINK: RESEARCH-BASED SUSTAINABLE INTERIOR ENVIRONMENTS FROM FIT/SUNY’S GRADUATE PROGRAM Grazyna Pilatowicz, Nora Rubinstein Fashion Institute of Technology
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References: 1. Nussbaumer, Linda L. Inclusive Design A Universal Need, New York: Fairchild Books, 2012. 2. Preiser, Wolfgang, F.E. and Kordydon H. Smith. Universal Design Handbook, Second Edition, New York: McGraw- Hill, 2011. 3. Steinfeld, Edward and Jordana L. Maisel. Universal Design Creating Inclusive Environments, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2012.
Developed at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, the Master of Arts in Sustainable Interior Environments (SIE) welcomed its first cohort of students last fall with the goal of building a holistic vision of sustainable design practice. The program was developed for established design professionals to think critically about the manner in which their work can have a lasting
impact and how they can create meaningful, equitable places through a cradle-to-cradle design process and commitment to the triple bottom-line of environmental, social, and economic responsibility. Based on the premise that sustainable design must be integrated spatially and conceptually across the professional disciplines, faculty represent interior design, architecture, ecology, psychology, engineering, chemistry, and historic preservation, and other fields. They model a dedication to sustainability both in their own practices and in their approach to learning. Using on-site, electronically supplemented, and field classes, they focus on interior spaces but also address the impacts of design in broader contexts. While many programs emphasize developing and implementing technology and/or cost-benefit scenarios as primary drivers of change, we stress the importance of understanding environmental attitudes, beliefs, and behavior. We ask students to examine their own values and cognitive frames for complex decision-making, like balancing the needs of conflicting constituencies or selecting materials and products which represent competing “goods” as with local, fair trade, or certified options. The curriculum was developed to guide students in synthesizing applied skills in behavioral research; inclusive design; indoor environmental quality; chemistry and specification of materials; as well as building their expertise in design’s impact on human health, and the health of the local and regional economy. New York’s advanced technology buildings provide ample precedents and environmental think tanks provide a living laboratory and extensive opportunities for mentorship. Graduates will need these tools as they assume leadership positions in the design industry and educational institutions. It is their role to change the future status quo by bringing research expertise grounded in the principles of sustainable design to each project. As part of their work, students are expected to develop articles and monographs that will advance the opportunities for evidence-based research to change design practice.
SIE students chat with keynote speaker Dr. Stephen Kellert at the annual FIT/SUNY Sustainable Business and Design Conference on March 27, 2012. Students took part in the exhibition and led a breakout session titled “You are what you breathe! How much do you know about sustainable materials?”
In the first year of the program, students have developed thesis projects that address perceptions of sustainably designed health care spaces, attitudes toward biophilic design, perceptions and desirability of LEED certified residential space, and the life-cycle issues in the design of exhibitions. They have begun work on developing a core of relevant research resources and have created blogs to present their work publicly as an ongoing reflection of the thinking and action that can impact change. John MacLennan of the International Living Future Institute has said: “Each building, each project creates a ripple effect around it. It changes the way people think. When there are enough of these examples, then a sudden and large-scale shift will be possible.”1 We agree and add that each professional whose design is based in the principles of sustainability changes the way people live. Visit our program’s Web site at www.fitnyc.edu/SIE. Student blog posts appear in Metropolis Magazine at http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/20120409/interior-design-research.
Eckart, Kim. “Jason F. Mclennan. Bringing Buildings to Life.” Yes! Winter 2012: 33. Print.
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Research Gregory Marinic 2012-13 research editor University of Houston
Tom Dixon: Interiors research-in-practice Tom Dixon, a London-based interior designer, is noted for his innovative use of ecologically-sensitive raw materials and ability to express a strong narrative. It is with the same ethos that he established Design Research Studio in 2002. Specializing in research-based, high concept interiors, large-scale interior installations, and architectural design, Design Research Studio has been engaged with significant commissions in the UK and worldwide. Tom Dixon’s “Light Light” installation was created by Design Research Studio for the world premiere of the new Audi A8. “Light Light” was inspired by the A8 itself--lightness of space frame, brightness of LED headlights, technical precision, and craftsmanship. These attributes are represented in “Light Light” through an acid-etched aluminum structure and use of LEDs. The intention was to demonstrate how mathematics, geometry and engineering can produce balanced design.
“Light-Light,” an interior installation created by Tom Dixon for Audi’s A8.
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ASID Foundation announces research grant recipients The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Foundation announced the recipients of the second annual Interior Design Research Grant Program, Transform, which focuses on applied research in interior design and human behavior. Grants for 2012 totaled $115,000 and recipients included Drexel University, Texas Tech University, and the Center for Health Design. “We are so proud to be able to award the ASID Foundation Transform Grant to each of these three recipients,” said ASID Foundation Chair Judy Pickett, FASID. “Their work will significantly add to our ever-growing body of knowledge, demonstrating the value of interior design through evidenced-based design.” Drexel’s proposal will employ evidence-based design study of the efficacy of a daylight¬matching, lowenergy LED luminaire prototypes. In collaboration with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Drexel University is developing an automatic diurnal/seasonal daylight-matching LED luminaire to reduce symptoms of dementia in elderly residents at the St. Francis Country House skilled nursing facility. The LED luminaire will address the dual sustainability issues of energy efficiency and health/ well-being of building occupants by providing quality illumination for visual tasks and synchronizing biological rhythms for better health, cognitive ability and performance for patients.
Texas Tech’s proposal for ASID, awarded to Angela Bourne, a Ph.D. student in Environmental Design, will investigate prototypes for therapeutic living and enrichment environments for aging adults with intellectual developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorder. Her study will provide design guidelines and prototypes for the development of therapeutic living communities for an aging population of individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorders who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. The research will explore how interior design can enhance these individuals’ behavior and well-being. The Center for Health Design’s proposal will develop a standard evidence-based patient room interior design checklist and evaluation tool. Their project will include the development of a web-based patient room interior design checklist to support design decision making, and a patient room evaluation tool that can be used for existing facilities or renovation/new construction projects. The patient room interior design checklist and evaluation tool will address a critical need in the industry by providing access to the healthcare design evaluation tools in an accessible and actionable format.
Studio O+A present Facebook interiors at SCAD Primo Orpilla and Verda Alexander, founders of Studio O+A, recently presented Facebook’s Palo Alto, California interiors at the Savannah College of Art and Design with a detailed case study of their design strategy. The presentation narrated Facebook’s consolidation of multiple offices under one roof at Stanford Research Park. Orpilla and Alexander demonstrated how intensive collaboration with their client and a “blank canvas” approach allowed for user-personalization, as well as an interior design concept that significantly raised O+A’s specialized profile. “Facebook discussed their goals with us,” Orpilla told the SCAD audience. “They didn’t want a slide or a fireman’s pole. They wanted an honest, down-to-earth look. These are people who spend a significant portion of their day living, working, and creating in their space-they wanted the space to be eclectic.” O+A’s concept for Facebook amplified circulation paths to accommodate skateboarding, a kitchen that doubled as a game room, and super-graphics that were ultimately featured in the film: “The Social Network.” Since their initial transition to Palo Alto, Facebook has completed a new move to offices in Menlo Park. Meanwhile, O+A has executed designs for Yelp, AOL, Microsoft, MTV, and several other tech-oriented companies.
O+A design for Facebook headquarters, Palo Alto, CA
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Fostering ecological design research at Cornell University
Since 2001, Professor Jack Elliott has taught “DEA 422: Ecological Literacy and Design” at Cornell University. The class is positioned within the interior design program of the school’s Department of Design and Environmental Analysis. The course was developed to address the significant role designers play in contributing to the rapidly degrading state of natural systems. From species extinctions and topsoil loss, to carbon dioxide emissions and light pollution--it has been estimated that up to 50% of the world’s energy and materials are utilized in the creation, operation, and disposal of the built environment. Elliott believes that designers must learn to love things natural before they will care for things natural. They must learn to care before they will conserve and protect. DEA 422 was created to give the next generation of designers the tools they need to respect the earth. The prime objective of this course is to help students develop a broader sensitivity for living things and an accompanying set of environmental ethics. To this end, the class introduces the concepts of systems thinking, risk assessment, life-cycle analysis, and moral reasoning—tools that allow students how to think more critically about sustainability issues. In the curriculum, Professor Elliott includes various sustainability models, including Natural Step, which uses a science-based framework to help large organizations such as IKEA understand and adopt green practices, and William McDonough’s Hannover Principles, issued by the City of Hannover, Germany to ensure that the design and construction related to the city’s EXPO 2000 World’s Fair represented a sustainable development for the city, region, and world.
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In addition, DEA 422 aims to demonstrate how ecological knowledge can be applied to design. For example, students learn of the connection between aluminum production and coral reef die-off in Jamaica. They consider the positions of those involved, including mining interests, regional government, local inhabitants, and researchers. They develop design strategies to help solve this issue, such as specifying non-Caribbean aluminum, boycotting the companies involved in the mining, and/ or ensuring that they use only 100% recycled aluminum in their projects. By being guided through expanded decision-making processes, students begin to understand how they can make an environmental difference through design of ecologically-sensitive objects, interiors, and buildings. Professor Elliott believes that there is a need and demand for courses like DEA 422: courses that combine theoretical and practical advice on environmental design. Although in recent years, the issue of sustainability has been slowly integrated into design curricula, single classes like DEA 422 are not enough. As an educator, Professor Elliott seeks to ensure that his students are prepared for the demands of their profession. As more and more firms compete for government contracts specifying LEED certification, and as more demand greener buildings, LEED knowledge and ecological design is no longer simply a fringe benefit, but rather, a professional responsibility.
Aggregate experimentation at the University of Houston
As a pedagogy based on material investigation, Prof. Meg Jackson of the University of Houston’s Interior Architecture program engages her students in the performance, expression and design of detail connections and building modules. Students directly participate in creative acts of making physical assemblies documented through sketching, photography, and axonometric construction sequence drawings. Students of the foundation studios participate in a series of rigorous iterative experiments employing various material-based methods explore modules, fasteners, tectonic relationships, and systematic connective assemblies. Various projects are evaluated on the strength of the experimentation, intensity of the investigation, material manipulation, and innovation. Prof. Jackson focuses on connections as a vehicle for spatial development. Projects are evaluated relative to structural controls and formal assemblies, as well as the potential for spatial expression and creative problem-solving within given constraints. Interior architecture foundation studio models at the University of Houston.
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Daylighting research at Washington State University
• DISCOVERY: Through scientific experimentation and observation, students build knowledge around the physical behaviors and properties of the daylight source, including color, intensity, variability, solar patterns, and material interactions.
Judy Theodorson, Washington State University
• DESIGN: Simple physical models built to scale with representative materials allow accurate prediction of daylighting performance. Students are encouraged to test various reflectances and aperture configurations to understand coordination of architecture and interiors.
Daylight is an important component of sustainable, high-performance buildings, offering benefits that range from reduced energy use to positive impacts on occupant health, well-being, and productivity. Daylighting, defined as “the controlled admission of natural light into interior spaces to reduce or replace electric lighting,” is a complex problem, requiring integration of architecture, lighting, and interiors—and it helps to have an educated, engaged user.
• ASSESSMENT: The existing built environment provides a laboratory to study how design intent and decisions play out in occupation, creating a feedback loop for future design problems and opportunities to provide occupant education.
At Washington State University (WSU), Professor Judy Theodorson integrates teaching and research to advance new perspectives about daylighting. By developing pedagogy, tools, and expanding the body of knowledge, she hopes to encourage design professionals to make greater contributions to human-behavioral and visual-spatial aspects of daylighting design. The focus on daylighting and interiors emerged from Theodorson’s experiences as director of WSU’s BetterBricks Integrated Design Lab (IDL) from 2004-09, one of five academy-based design labs in the Pacific Northwest funded to encourage energy efficient building design. IDL enlisted interior design and architecture students to provide daylight prediction and post-occupancy follow-up on regional projects. This interdisciplinary exchange helped identify the need for a better understanding of interior concerns in daylit spaces, including qualities of the visual environment, daylight controls, and the dynamic relationship between the user and the daylight resource.
Example 1: Shifting color spectrum on over the course of a day.
Leveraging projects from the IDL, Theodorson continues to conduct and supervise post-occupancy research on human and visual factors in daylit buildings, studying issues of controls, daylight variability, occupant satisfaction, and patterns of behavior. Her work has been disseminated through IDEC, JID, PLEA (Passive and Low Energy Architecture), and ASES (American Solar Energy Society). In technical courses and interior design studios, Theodorson adapts IDL methods and tools to create active learning opportunities for students to construct personal and disciplinary knowledge around natural light. Units are conceptually organized by the following framework: 30
Example 2: Daylight model and false color imagery.
Collaboration
Virginia San Fratello 2012-13 collaboration editor San Jose State University
duce and emit light. The installation glows from within, casting intricate shadows onto adjacent surfaces and inviting pedestrians to cross the accepted boundary between a public sidewalk and the private space beyond. Siddiqui and Hutchinson collaborated at a distance throughout the design and fabrication process. Technology was central to their process allowing them not only to generate and experiment in terms of design but to manage the collaboration. With a single digital model and an online folder serving as a shared “office,” they explored material tolerances, construction details, and assembly strategies, integrating those criteria into the digital model. Information for the model was fed into the fabrication process, with Hutchinson fabricating the steel structure in San Francisco and Siddiqui casting the translucent rubber skin in Austin. All formwork used in the casting was CNC-routed at the UT School of Architecture.
“Bayou-luminescence,” an installation commissioned by the New Orleans chapter of the American Institute of Architects, is a collaboration between Igor Siddiqui, principal of ISSSStudio and assistant professor of interior design at the University of Texas at Austin, and Matt Hutchinson of San-Francisco-based firm PATH. The unique installation fuses material surface, structural volume, and light into an immersive spatial experience. Its title is a play-on-words that refers to “bioluminescence,” a phenomenon whereby living organisms pro-
The project came together onsite in less than four hours. Once installed, the public gave the work a whole other dimension, which was really exciting for the partners. “The anecdotal feedback was so valuable. I would say that for me, the biggest surprise was people’s need to figure out what the installation is. Is it a tent, a teepee, a lantern, or something else? We hope the work shifts the conversation away from what the piece means to how it feels to actually experience it in sensory terms, away from representation and toward affect,” Siddiqui explained. When asked about the environmentally responsible nature of the project, Siddiqui pointed out that the project is based on non-standard construction, which is about research into ways that the physical environment can be tailored to specific conditions, optimized in terms of performance and dealing with human responsiveness. All of these issues are related to environmental responsibility today and in the future. 31
Teaching Highlights
Auburn University students “LEED” the way Dr. Amanda Gale, Auburn University
As interior design educators, we prepare our students for practice in a number of ways. As a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP), I believe that the most significant factors facing students entering the profession are environmentally responsible design and integrated design. For that reason, I incorporate environmental responsibility into all of the courses that I teach. Last year, I developed a three-credit elective course on sustainable practices and accreditation for the interior design program at Auburn University. Another way to give students a competitive edge in the job market, the
course engages students through tours of LEED-certified buildings, guest lecturers who are actively involved in LEED registered projects, a hands-on service learning opportunity. Topics include rating systems, integrated project design, and strategies for water conservation, energy efficiency, site selection, indoor environmental quality, and material and resource acquisition. The course was also designed, in part, to prepare students for the LEED Green Associates (LEED GA) examination. In its first semester, 17 students enrolled in the course and there was a 94 percent pass rate among students for the LEED GA examination. This spring, there are 28 students enrolled. Originally intended only for interior design majors, next year it will be offered to all interested students. The course has also been approved to count toward the university’s sustainability minor. “The course prepared me to talk intelligently about the role of sustainability in practice and in relation to the firm’s mission during the interview process,” reports Kaitlin Barton, a student intern with Nate Berkus Associates. Not just for those who want to pass the LEED GA exam, students are also actively engaged in service learning, collaborating with the city of Montgomery and the Home Builders Institute to deconstruct interior components of a detached single story residence. Salvaged materials were donated to Rescue Relics, a non-profit organization for resale. This experience emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and integrated practice, an important part of the professional world. Participating in this course has been a great opportunity for students to give back to the community. “For me, sustainability is more than just an interest—it’s one of the foundations for my interior design education,” finds Hannah Yon. This course has become part of a larger sustainable initiative in our program, which can be seen in freshman-level through senior courses. For more information on eligibility requirements for the LEED Green Associates exam see http://www.gbci.org/ Exam-Guide/Eligibility/LEED-Green-Associate.aspx.
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Trash to treasure: Understanding sustainability through furniture design Amy Jacobson-Peters, University of Central Oklahoma
Since 2006, the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) has worked to become a green campus. In the past three years, the school won awards from the Environmental Protection Agency and other organizations for using wind power, bio-fuel production, and outstanding recycling efforts. These accomplishments set the university apart as a leader in green practices in a state that, as a whole, is not often at the forefront of new trends. According to the EPA, Oklahomans recycled just one percent of our trash in 2006, ranking last among other states in recycling efforts. The number of recyclable items found in classroom trashcans even when a recycling receptacle is placed directly outside the classroom door became a catalyst for a “Trash to Treasure” project for UCO interior design students. Part of a custom furniture design class students are required to take their sophomore year and inspired by a competition issued by the EnvironDesign Convention, the project requires students work in small groups and design a piece of furniture made of materials that would otherwise have gone in the trash. Students research their chosen material and develop their own designs following a traditional design process, beginning with concept sketches and simple sketch models to explore three-dimensional form. Once designs are fully developed, renderings and working construction drawings are produced. To better
understand the materials, students explore and experiment with construction methods, then producing a final full-scale mock-up of their design. Each group functions as a “real” furniture design company so that as they develop their designs, students must consider their target market and make design decisions based on the target they choose. To help with marketing, each group collaborates with graphic design students to develop branded materials such as logos, hang tags, Web pages, or brochures that represent the their fictitious company. By considering their market, students learn more about reducing waste and saving valuable resources, thereby realizing that, as designers, they have real opportunities to protect the environment. Through inner- and intra-disciplinary collaboration, the “Trash to Treasure Project” has been a great success and has changed attitudes and opened minds about sustainability. The project has garnered attention through local newspaper articles and exhibits, emphasizing the importance of utilizing our precious resources in the most responsible manner possible. References: Williams, Laura. “United States Recycling Statistics,” retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://greenliving.lovetoknow.
com/United_States_Recycling_Statistics and http://www.uco.edu/administration/green/recycling/index. asp and http://www.uco.edu/administration/green/sustainability/index. asp, both retrieved April 18, 2012.
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Many bales: One building generates awareness in South Dakota D. Dean Isham, interior design program coordinator, East Tennessee State University
The Children’s Gardening & Outdoor Classroom is a service-learning project serving as a multi-purpose space where visitors learn about sustainable building practices. Its primary mission is to spark interest in sustainable design concepts in the upper midwest. As a focal point in the larger overall garden dedicated to sustainable design and gardening practices, the structure attracts a wide variety of visitors because of its unusual construction and living roof. Intrigued by this type of construction, visitor conversations quickly turn to other sustainable building methods, resulting in a greater learning opportunity about all types of sustainable issues.
A 900 square-foot, freestanding straw bale building used as a multipurpose space with a 1,300 squarefoot “living roof,” believed to be the largest roof on a load-bearing straw bale structure in the U.S. can be found at the Children’s Gardening & Outdoor Classroom in Brookings, SD at McCrory Gardens. 34
No matter their age or background, visitors share similar initial skepticism about straw bale construction. As they begin to understand the benefits, their facial expressions change and about three-quarters of the way through the presentation, looks of doubt change to acceptance and often excitement. Discussions are always lively, offering a perfect learning moment to discuss sustainable design. South Dakota State University (SDSU) interior design students constituted the vast majority of volunteers engaged in construction, from stacking bales, installing the living roof, and final trim work. Multi-
ple funding sources included a small SDSU Seed Grant, matching funds from the College of Agriculture and Biology, and a larger grant from the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. The largest contributors were local building organizations and contractors. National interest was expressed in a grant from National Geographic magazine and the Lowe’s home improvement corporation. In total, about 20 different groups and individuals contributed to the successful completion of the project. The generosity of the donors and the energy of the volunteers attracted widespread attention from newspapers, television stations, and magazines who reported on the structure and its message of sustainable design (http://www.keloland.com/video archive/?VideoFile=083009eye). Valuable exposure from these media outlets spawned additional inquiries about sustainable design, interests in building straw homes from straw from the local Habit for Humanity Group, and untold visits to the gardens to see the structure in person. Engaging the public on all these levels invites a dialog larger than the project itself as the message of sustainability spreads throughout the region.
Alumni Relations
Christina Hoehn 2012-13 alumni relations editor Oklahoma State University
A perspective on sustainable interior design through the eyes of a graduate student Tracy Scott Howard, University of Oklahoma
As I embark on my second year of graduate studies in interior design at the University of Oklahoma, I believe I’ve found a thesis topic that could not be more relevant to sustainable environmental design. When a professor inquired what topic I would choose for my thesis, the first thought that came to my mind was that if I am going to pursue a career in this area, I need to know exactly what the roles and responsibilities of interior designers are in the sustainable environment. Through my course work, I learned about the availability of many research resources. As I considered my topic, however, I discovered little information regarding about the roles and responsibilities of interior designers. There were few credible guidance sources on LEED-accredited interior designers and many seemed to have contradictory information on their role in sustainable design. Many definitions about what sustainable design is and what it means to have a sustainable environmental design can be found. One can even find definitions of sustainable interior design but, from a holistic point of 35
view, the literature seemed to focus more on groups like engineers, architects, consultants, and landscapers. What I found lacking in the precedent studies posted on the U.S. Green Building Council’s Web site for LEED accreditation was information about the actual impact of interior design. If interior designers are, indeed, part of a holistic approach to design, there is little information in studies about LEED-accredited facilities. I also discovered there are only 8,788 U.S. interior designers who are LEED-accredited according to the USGBC. Interior designers ranked fifth behind architects (50,462), construction manager (16,708), mechanical engineers (10,391), and project management (9,427) as LEED professionals. So, as graduate student in interior design, I’m now more aware of the importance of LEED testing and accreditation on my ability to contribute to the body of knowledge regarding our profession. More information about the impact of interior design professionals on sustainable outcomes is needed. Are interior designers valued as legitimate contributors in this area? In my opinion, no profession has a greater impact on client health, safety, and well-being. Upon completing literature reviews, I found few published articles about sustainable interior design projects. Plentiful studies on sustainable design projects were available, but few contained information about the role of interior designers. I also wondered how to discern whether sustainability was fully incorporated into the interior design profession. Information distributed by manufacturers is doesn’t offer many clues. Online sources such as the LEED rating system and the State of Minnesota Sustainable Building Guidelines are both great resources, but neither seemed to offer a complete scope of all the encompassing principles of sustainable design, which would include interior design.
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One 2011 survey targeted interior designers and architects who are members of both AIA and ASID, although the overall results showed that interior designers are unfamiliar with sustainable terms. One survey question had several statements and participants taking the survey were to select three that pertained to sustainability. Over 70 percent of interior designers selected statements dealing with green design. More interesting was the fact that architects’ percentage was eight percent greater than designers’ answers. Another question concerned products that had either green specifications or sustainable specifications. Interior designers selected 59 percent of those specifications that were green but not sustainable. Other questions that I found interesting were the ones that linked the size of the projects with the interior designers. The larger the project, the more sustainable principles were followed although not documented. As a student who wants to specialize in sustainable environmental design, I believe a comprehensive guide for both professional and educational purposes would be extremely beneficial. As my preliminary research continues this summer, I have many ideas and even more questions. I started out with wanting to about the specific roles and responsibilities of an interior designer in sustainable environmental design. But the quest for overall guidelines may take the lead in my investigation. If interior designers do not have accurate guidelines to produce, guide, evaluate, and educate, what does that mean for our profession? Interior designers go through years of formal education, examination, and continuing education, but are we dropping the ball when it comes to the sustainable execution of our work? Let’s join forces, become LEED certified, and publish our findings on environmental interior design. If we do not promote our own work, who will?
Industry & Professional Practice
munity.” Along with Stelmack, the competition was judged by ASID President-Elect Barbara Marini, FASID, and Susan S. Szenasy, editorin-chief of Metropolis magazine.
Michelle Belt 2012-13 industry and professional practice editor Lawrence Tech
ASID announces student design competition winners The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) announces the winners of its 2011-12 student design competition. This year’s competition challenged students to look the year 2025 with design solutions that address the human, economic, and environmental needs of a future society. “This year’s entrants demonstrated a holistic approach to sustainable design that communicates a forwardthinking approach to creating healthy, vibrant, and aesthetically dynamic environments,” commented competition judge and USGBC faculty member Annette Stelmack, allied ASID, LEED AP. “Not only do these concepts deliver innovative models for sustainability, they showcase how built environments can serve as a teaching tool for the com-
The winning entry received a $2,000 cash prize and will be featured, along with the honorable mentions, at the ASID @ NeoCon booth during the NeoCon event from June 11-13, 2012 in Chicago. Now in its ninth year, the annual competition is open to all ASID student members currently enrolled in accredited interior design programs. Full descriptions and concept drawings the winning entries and designers can be accessed at: http:// openarchitecturenetwork.org/ competitions/2012ASID. Winner: La Comunidad Office and Public Gathering Space Designer: Hannah Chessman, Student ASID, Virginia Tech The design for La Comunidad not only improves the welfare of the community but creates a vehicle for the discussion of sustainable design and its growing necessity in the design world. Because of its urban location, indoor air quality (IAQ), a connection to nature and general health of occupants, were key issues that this design attempted to address. From floral and vegetable gardens to grass-lined walkways and a 45,000 square-foot park and garden area directly behind the building, increasing connections to nature and the community are a key element
of the design. Substantial amounts of vegetation combat both poor IAQ and the negative psychological effects of urbanization. Employee and community health is improved, in part, through improved IAQ as well as walking and bike paths for exercise, creating an office design that encourages movement and collaboration. Honorable mentions: • 2025+ House, Chi T. Nguyen, Savannah College of Art and Design • Glimpse – Visualization Communication Center for the Blind and Seeing Impaired, Lauren Deffner, Ball State University • Envelop Women’s Boutique, Ashton Capps, Anderson University • Sustainable Advertising and Media Company, Jennifer Boyd, Virginia Tech The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) is a community of people—designers, industry representatives, educators and students—committed to interior design. Through education, knowledge sharing, advocacy, community building and outreach, it strives to advance the interior design profession and, in the process, demonstrate and celebrate the power of design to positively change people’s lives. Its more than 30,000 members engage in a variety of professional programs and activities through a network of 48 chapters throughout the U.S and Canada. Visit www.asid.org for more information. 37
IIDA inducts two members into prestigious College of Fellows
Margaret McCurry
Peter Conant
Peggy Noakes, FIIDA, chair of the International Interior Design Association (IIADA) College of Fellows announces two new have been inducted into the college. The new fellows are Peter Conant, FIIDA, AIA, LEED-AP, and Margaret McCurry, FIIDA, FAIA, ASID. Conant and McCurry will be recognized at the association’s annual meeting on June 10, 2012 at The Feinberg Theatre. Admission to the College of Fellows is the highest honor the association bestows upon professional members, recognizing those who have made extraordinary contributions to IIDA and the interior design profession. “We are honored to welcome these two incredible design leaders into the College of Fellows,” said Noakes. “They’ve demonstrated exceptional dedication to the field through their exemplary professionalism, high caliber of work, and distinguished achievements.”
Exciting new student activities planned for IIDEX/NeoCon Canada 2012
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Bring your students and visit Canada’s National Design + Architecture Exposition and Conference, IIDEX/NeoCon Canada, September 20-21 in Toronto. For the first time, The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is co-presenting the show with an expanded focus on construction products, architecture, and technology. Planning is already well underway, with several new and returning student activity favorites. Don’t miss the interior design and architecture student charrette builds, student panel discussions, tours, awards programs and much more. Plan now to visit Toronto – this is one show you don’t want to miss!
ASID’s Interior Design Billings Index slips slightly; overall outlook for 2012 more optimistic
The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Interior Design Billings Index ended 2011 slightly below positive territory at 49.4, continuing a decline in November (50.2) from October (51.4), when the index hit its highest point in the second half of the year. The Inquiries Index, however, stayed positive at 52.0 (compared to 53.8 in November), suggesting that interior design clients may be holding off on projects until the economy shows stronger signs of sustaining a recovery. The Interior Design Index fell behind the AIA Billings Index for the second month in a row; it stayed at 52, the same as for October. Index highlights include: • Declines across billing sectors: Firms of all specializations, with the exception of multi-family/senior housing, reported billing declines. A pattern of growth across all sectors was evident in the first half of 2011, a trend which reversed in the latter part of 2011. Regionally, firms in the midwest, south, and west reported gains in December, while the northeast showed a decline. The west region reported increased billings in ten of the past 12 months. The
midwest and northeast were more inconsistent, reporting growth during the first six months and declines in the last six months. Sector index means: Tesidential 56
[single 48, multi-housing 64]; commercial 44, institutional 44 • Product sales and hiring are up Despite the year-end dip, respondents reported substantial increases (ten percent or more) in product sales among a large number of categories compared to those of the previous quarter. Products related to home remodeling projects were especially strong. Four out of ten respondents (39 percent) expect prices to rise but by less than five percent. In the past three months, ten percent of firms report hiring at least one employee. Nine percent of respondents indicated that their firm will increase employment over the next three months. This is a positive improvement from the four percent that reported such intentions in the previous quarter. While overall survey results show an industry backslid at the end of 2011, firms with between two and nine employees finished 2011 on a strong note, posting an index of 60.2.
Although the ASID Billings Index ended the quarter below 50, firms expect business conditions to be better in the future. In December, the ASID Business Outlook Index was 74.3, up from the prior quarter’s index of 56.4. “Economic growth is solid but not spectacular,” said Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist for ASID. “However, modest improvements in the broader economy, combined with the positive trend in inquiries could signal a more promising 2012.”
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CIDA accreditation decisions: April 2012
IDCEC launches first phase of new Web site
“For the first time, learners will be able to search and report IDCEC and non-IDCEC credits and obtain an official transcript for their records,” says IDCEC’s executive director, Brynell D’Mello about the Council’s new website.
The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) congratulates these institutions on achieving initial accreditation:
The Interior Design Continuing Education Council (IDCEC), along with its core funding members ASID (American Society for Interior Designers), IDC (Interior Designers of Canada) and IIDA (International Interior Design Association) are pleased to announce the first of a two-phase launch for its new, online centralized continuing education registration and reporting Web site is complete.
Providers of continuing education will be the biggest beneficiaries of the phase one launch. IDCEC has streamlined the process by allowing providers to create an account and submit course materials for approval electronically. Approval times have been reduced to just three-to-four weeks and the new submission process is entirely green and paperless. In addition, providers can schedule their approved course anywhere in North America, report attendance and manage accounts quickly and easily through the system’s secured access.
• Academy of Art University (Master of Fine Arts in Interior Architecture and Design) • Art Institute of California, San Diego (Bachelor of Science in Interior Design) • Mississippi College (Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Interior Design) It also congratulates this institution on achieving candidacy status: • Sullivan College of Technology and Design (Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design) In addition, 11 programs were awarded reaccreditation. To view the decisions made by CIDA’s Accreditation Commission during their April 13-14, 2012 meeting, please visit the CIDA website.
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The new system supports each association’s efforts to provide quality, lifelong learning to more than 35,000 interior design professionals across North America. Phase one enables professional learners to search all IDCEC-approved courses in one convenient location, a shift from the previous site. IDCEC lists more than 1,400 courses in its calendar and, once registered, users can search for offerings anywhere in North America. The levels and types of courses being offered are also now more easily identified.
The second phase of the Web site project is expected to be complete in June 2012 and will give learners access to a continuing education registry where they can submit course reviews and obtain official transcripts for their professional development activities, allowing IDCEC to easily and accurately validate attendance and more easily track activity for compliance auditing purposes.
Emerging Talent
Lindy Huling 2012-13 emerging talent editor Virginia Tech
The Good Food Arena Salona Kassen, Greenside Design Center College of Design, Johannesburg, South Africa
The Good Food Arena is a heritage building revitalized by the inclusion of a sustainable restaurant. It is broadly based on the surrounding Asian community and the concept of communal eating. The central concept is based on human interaction with food. Fresh produce is grown in an indoor vertical hydroponics system. The design recycles water and plant cuttings used in the system and around the restaurant. An oval hydroponics tower forms the shape of the mezzanine. The vegetation growth path is designed to move around the site so that it is visually available from anywhere in the space. This maximizes the amount of produce that can be grown. The double volume space allows for the provision of the incorporated mezzanine and balustrade design to communicate the idea of an arena. As an arena, the restaurant creates a space where food is the central focus. Vegetables harvested from the
hydroponics are cooked at individual tables by the diners themselves. The interactive food preparation focuses attention on the process of cooking and interacting with people around
you. Diners, in essence, become both spectators and active participants while the surrounding design exhibits food as a sustainable life choice.
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Bicycle-friendly restaurant Jackie Tan Kong Yew Environmental design (interior design) student, University of Tasmania School of Architecture & Design Studio coordinator, Jacqueline Power; program director, Kirsty Máté
Stephanie Alexander is a renowned Australian chef and prominent promoter of fresh food and healthy eating, especially amongst schoolchildren. My idea was to design a bicycle-friendly restaurant that that encourages and promotes active, healthy, and playful lifestyles. The site is between two major bicycle trails in Home Point, Launceston, Tasmania. Provided in a simple portal-framed building, the restaurant includes a self-sufficient source of fresh produce from a local community garden tended by children in Alexander’s kitchen garden program. The restaurant, together with the community garden , also serves as a local fresh produce market with a bicycle “drive-through,” take-away dining, and a bicycle friendly dine-in experience. To properly demarcate pedestrian and cyclist routes, the bicycle paths are finished with recycled road signs throughout the restaurant (Picture 1). Upon reaching the entrance, patrons park their bicycles by slotting the front wheel into a timber-battened façade that springs up from a built-in table, automatically reserving the table for them (Picture 2). Diners may also ride upstairs to a mezzanine on a giant ramp that wraps around the center structure after placing their order. To add some fun in their dining experience, cyclers solve a sliding puzzle built into the tables to see the menu. They can also slide from the mezzanine to ground level on built-in slides.
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Sustainability considerations: • Promote cycling as an alternative, carbon-free form of transportation by encouraging diners to ride their bicycles into the restaurant • Utilize bicycle-related recycled materials, such as bicycle parts and seats, into various custom-made furniture pieces or interior fittings (Picture 3). Wheels and chains become hanging lighting fixtures, bicycle frames serve as table legs, and bicycle reflectors are arranged on an interior wall to add even more visual interest. • An existing levee wall is used as part of the restaurant seating (Picture 4). After-life considerations: The restaurant is a temporary structure lightly attached to an existing levee wall. Should the restaurant operators wish to move in the future, the exterior fabric can be removed and reconstructed elsewhere. The center concrete structure can serve as a rain shelter and playground extension to the nearby children’s’ playground and skate park.
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4
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Emerging talent spotlight: Professional background of new instructor is a homerun for his students Brandon Jones, High Point University
A visit to the Goodman Lumber Company, established in Salisbury, NC by two brothers in 1907, resulted in a project for my INT-3170-02 lighting design/color course. After my class toured the company’s millworks, current owner Franco Goodman expressed interest in a joint project that might take capitalize on the talent of young designers and new design tools to modernize his four-generation family business. My idea was to have junior-level students create a desk lamp for a final project after testing, then completing, lighting calculations and lighting and switching plans. Students used Goodman’s expertise in wood-working and his supply of hard-to-find reclaimed hardwoods, to consider new, unique ways of incorporating small amounts of wood into a compact design. The project required them to be innovative about the end form, meaning that it would be minimal in construction, energy use, and overall amount material but still be efficient and aesthetically pleasing. The lamp needed to be unassembled for flat-packing and shipping, made predominantly of wood, including reclaimed wood or wood products, and use low-energy, high-efficiency halogens or LED bulbs only. The lamp was approximately 7” x7” x 12” in size. The function was to provide reading and keyboarding light, keeping in mind that desk lamps typically are designed to emit
light just in and around the range of the desk surface (no larger than a 4’ x 7’ area). The philosophy was to merge old methods of design and production with a tech-savvy, millennial sensibility. My background in sculpture, architecture, and interior product design has helped me communicate to students the importance of completing a design process. Design isnot just about drawing a pretty picture and making one idea happen; it is about growing from ideation to sketches to modeling to production. They were required to take notes and create sketches, quickly develop their work into digital 3D models, and make a full-scale foamcore model. During this process, I worked with students individually and addressed the class as whole. Helping them sketch in two dimensions while thinking about a three-dimensional outcome was key to their understanding how the final object would be designed and constructed. The opportunity to teach design after seven years in the professional world of architecture has been an eyeopener! I’ve shifted my career path and want to continue to teach. The interaction with students has been positive and, although my teaching skills are new and evolving, my background has enabled me to help inspire and encourage students in their work.
Projects by Brandy Matthews and Emily Bell, High Point University
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Pittsburg State University seniors develop an environmentally sustainable retirement community as a service-learning project. Denise Bertoncino and Becky Gray, Pittsburg State University
Seniors in Pittsburg State University’s residential studio course created comprehensive construction plans for Andel Village, an environmentally sustainable retirement community, and presented them to the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program (SEK-CAP) as a servicelearning project. SEK-CAP, a nonprofit agency dedicated to uniting people and creating opportunities since 1966, identified the need for a sustainable independent living community for seniors, with disaster-resistant, affordable homes, community buildings, and a food-producing garden. Students provided SEK-CAP with a shovel-ready, community development project complete with architectural drawings, three-dimensional model, computer-generated images, and bound research manuals, putting theories into practice, improving their community, and addressing critical and current issues. The proposed homes range in size from 900 to 1,200 square feet and reduce the carbon footprint of the overall community with a passive solar design, natural ventilation, landscaping, reflective surfaces, and thermo-mass materials. The community center is designed for not only the residents of the planned community but also by residents of the surrounding communi-
ty. The sustainably designed building contains a living space designed for residents to host gatherings, a larger, less-private communal living area, two classrooms, and a commercialgrade kitchen, making the facility ideal for community events, educational opportunities, and congregate meals. A separate building is a senior day care, complete with a sleeping room, nurse station, and physical therapy equipment. The gardens not only provide fresh produce, but also opportunities for exercise and social interaction. Civic groups like Four-H Clubs, Future Farmers of America, and University Extensions can use the gardens, creating intergenerational interaction opportunities. Research was a primary component of the project. Students began with careful planning and analysis, creating a lifecycle assessment using the LEED definition of sustainability, which “begins at the inception of an idea and continues seamlessly until the project reaches the end of its life and its parts are recycled or reused.” Additionally, the following texts provided basis for discussion, clarification, and implementation of the project: Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness through Situational Self Leadership; Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; Cradle to Cradle; and several books about passive solar energy.
Students operated as a project management team, breaking the project down into components including residences of specific size, community center, daycare, and public spaces. They made informed group decisions for the good of the community, knowing the most economic, green/ sustainable, yet creative design solution would be successful for SEKCAP and the potential residents. This collaboration fostered critical thinking and synthesis of information in each student and encouraged teamwork between the students and community professionals. It also showcases the quality work of PSU’s interior design program throughout the region. As SEK-CAP continues to present Andel Village and works to secure construction funding, they believe Andel Village could serve as a model for national replication.
A project by Abbey Nelson, senior interior design student at PSU
Photo by Becky Gray, Director of Research, Planning, and Grants Development at SEK-CAP
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Service
Scott Williams 2012-13 service activity editor Oklahoma State University
Wounded Warriors Vibhavari Jani, Kansas State University
Fort Riley, KS is home to a U.S. army base and the Irwin Army Community Hospital (IACH). Many wounded military personnel returning from tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan are treated in the IACH. Located near the base, Kansas State University Professor Vibhavari Jani and 14 interior architecture and product design graduate students decided to challenge their understanding of their rehabilitation needs. In a fall 2011 service-learning studio, the graduate students developed innovative, research-based design solutions that could assist both psychological and physiological healing and patient reconnection with family, friends, and community members. Collaborating in teams, the students collected evidence of spatial, functional, psychological, and spiritual needs of patients, family members, and caregivers through interviews, literature reviews, and site visits of private and military rehabilitation centers. Their investigations revealed the impact of light, colors, and sounds on these wounded warriors’ mental states 46
Balance Garden by Beth Dringenberg
and the importance of meditation, art, aquatic, aroma, equestrian, physical, and other therapies to treat different symptoms and disorders. Based on their findings, each student prepared an evidence-based program and designed a prototype rehabilitation facility. They presented their work to Fort Riley’s commander in chief, chief of facilities operations, and medical staff. The projects were also displayed in the hospital’s patient care areas and recognized by local papers and television. The Manhattan Art Center located in Manhattan, KS dedicated a special show to the student work titled “Daring to Care for Wounded Warriors” in February 2012.
TURF STUDIO: Design for Tomorrow’s URban Farming Rebecca Katkin, California College of the Arts
In response to overwhelming student interest in courses that apply design education to problems of sustainability and social justice, senior interior design lecturer Rebecca Katkin developed a design studio at the California College of the Arts focusing on urban agriculture and the role of design in its implementation and growth. The project began with three core concepts: 1) our world’s population is growing and urbanizing rapidly, 2) our current food production systems are unsustainable, and 3) immense resources are wasted in the transport and refrigeration of food.
signage, or plans for an outdoor kitchen. The first group also created an additional children’s tour of the farm that includes a scavenger hunt for frogs, worms, and native flora. Each group project is not only an in-class exercise, but also a tangible deliverable for the farm whose volunteers served as clients.
The class investigated vacant and underutilized urban landscapes as significant emergent sites of local agricultural production that can provide healthy food to underserved urban communities. With the TURF Studio, a combination of an upper division interdisciplinary (atypical design discipline content) studio and the “Engage” community partnership (service learning) studio, Katkin was able to bring a diverse group of advanced design students into the community to learn about urban agriculture through hands-on practicum, to work with an expert in ecological horticulture, and to use their design skills to serve San Francisco’s largest working, not-for-profit, community farm, The Alemany Farm. After building compost, and cutting down cover crops with machetes, and learning about “organic” methods, students created a map of their individual experiences and understandings of the farm. This exercise evolved into one of three final group projects: development of a self-guided tour of the farm, interactive communicative 47
IDEC initiative: Making A Difference (MAD) project
Social Responsibility Network Chairs: Jeanne Ballard, Coordinator and Associate Professor, Appalachian State University Dak Kopec, Assistant Professor, Radford University Sarah Sherman, Assistant Professor, Florida International University
Can interior design students use creativity to make daily existence better for their community?
website and will be exhibited at the IDEC 2013 Annual Conference.
Inspired by Bryan Bell, founder of Design Corps, a non-profit organization dedicated to social improvement through design, the IDEC Make a Difference Project demonstrates how interior design can contribute to society’s well-being through support of health, safety and welfare issues. The MAD Project is sponsored by IDEC’s Social Responsibility Network with Jeanne Ballard, Dak Kopec, and Sarah Sherman serving as the current tri-chairs. The MAD project provides a framework for team work, problem identification, exposure to nonprofits, client interaction. According to Jeanne Ballard, the program’s mission has been reworked to 48
emphasize service activity. Since the project’s inception in 2007, over 250 projects from students of numerous institutions with IDEC affiliation have been submitted. 157 students submitted 57 projects in the MAD project’s fifth year representing over 13 academic institutions. The concept is simple: • Interior design students find a real-life problem in the community (encourage them to get off campus) that could be made better through a design of some kind. • They create and install a small, meaningful design solution, either temporary or permanent. • The students then observe and record what happens when people encounter and use their environmental idea. The students should photo document and summarize their project using the MAD project template (see link below), and then submit it to: http://www.idec.org/events/ special_events.php. All projects submitted this year will be featured on the special events page of the IDEC
“While the MAD project has a long and successful tradition with IDEC, Sarah, Jeannie, and I have a commitment to take the MAD project to the next level so that we can show the interior design profession’s commitment to the most vulnerable portions of society as well assisting those with means, but without the knowledge . . . to enhance their quality of life,” relates Dak Kopec. A picture gallery of some past Make A Difference Project submittals is available at: http://www.idec.org/ events/MakeADifference2010.php For further MAD Project information, please go to: Project Template: http://www.idec. org/networks/SocialResponsibilityntwk.php Flyer: http://www.idec.org/events/ documents/MADFlyer2012.pdf Teaching Tips: http://www.idec. org/events/documents/MADTeachingTips2012.pdf
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2012 IDEC Leadership
• Pam Evans, Proceedings Coordinator, Kent State University, pevans@ kent.edu
Staff • Jeff Beachum, Executive Director, IDEC Office,
[email protected] • Rachael Daeger, Marketing and Membership Communications, IDEC Office,
[email protected] • Bethany Hensley, Membership & Meetings Assistant, IDEC Office,
[email protected] Board of Directors • Lisa Tucker, President, Virginia Tech University,
[email protected] • Lisa Waxman, Past President, Florida State University,
[email protected] • John Martin-Rutherford, Harrington College of Design,
[email protected] • Migette Kaup, Secretary/Treasurer, Kansas State University, kaup@ ksu.edu • Cindy Mohr, Director (Teaching), University of North Texas, cynthia.
[email protected] • Jacqui McFarland, Director, (Service), Mount Royal University, Jacqui.
[email protected] • Doug Seidler, Director (Scholarship), Marymount University, dseidler@ marymount.edu 50
• Meg Portillo, JID Editor-in-Chief, University of Florida,
[email protected]
• Susan Ray-Degges, Director (Regions), North Dakota State University,
[email protected] Regional Collaborative • Susan Ray-Degges, Board Liaison, North Dakota State University, susan.ray-degges@ ndsu.edu • Sandra Reicis (East Chair), Villa Maria College,
[email protected] • Suining Ding (Midwest Chair), Indiana University-Purdue University,
[email protected]
• John Turpin, Abstract Review Coordinator, High Point University, jturpin@ highpoint.edu • John Humphries, Creative Scholarship Co-Coordinator, Miami University, humphrjm@ muohio.edu • Darrin Brooks, Creative Scholarship Co-Coordinator, Utah State University,
[email protected] • Doug Seidler, Director (Scholarship), Marymount University, dseidler@ marymount.edu Teaching Collaborative
• Denise Homme, (Pacific West Chair), Design Institute of San Diego,
[email protected]
• Rachel Pike, Collaborative Coordinator, Wentworth Institute of Technology,
[email protected]
• Ruth Beals, (South Chair), Converse College,
[email protected]
• Barbara Anderson, IDEC Academy Chair, Kansas State University,
[email protected]
• Ron Reed (Southwest Chair), Texas State University, Ron.reed@ txstate.edu Scholarship Collaborative • Helen Evans Warren, Collaborative Co-Coordinator, Mount Royal University,
[email protected] • Jennifer Web, JID Chair, University of Arkansas,
[email protected]
• Vacant Position, Innovative Teaching Resources • Stephanie Clemons, K-12 Task Force/ Network, Colorado State University, sclemons@ cahs.colostate.edu • Cindy Mohr, Director (Teaching), University of North Texas, cynthia.
[email protected]
Service Collaborative • Karen Clarke, Collaborative Coordinator, Suffolk University, kclarke@ suffolk.edu • Marty Hylton, Grants and Awards Committee Chair, University of Florida,
[email protected] • Patrick Lucas, IDEC Historian, University of North Carolina-Greensboro,
[email protected] • Jacqui McFarland, IDEC Board Liaison, Mount Royal University,
[email protected] IDEC Academy • Barbara Anderson, Chair, Kansas State University,
[email protected] • Connie Dyar, Administrator, Illinois State University, cgarberd@ ilstu.edu • Ron Reed, Member-atLarge, Texas State University,
[email protected] • Linda Nussbaumer, IDCEC Liaison, S. Dakota State University, Linda.
[email protected] • Vacant Position, Teaching Resource Initiative • Carolyn Gibbs, Member-at-Large, California State University-Sacramento,
[email protected] • Stephanie Zollinger, Member-at-Large, University of Minnesota,
[email protected] Journal of Interior Design Board • Jennifer Webb, Chair, University of Arkansas,
[email protected]
• Meg Portillo, Editorin-Chief, University of Florida,
[email protected] • Bridget May, Associate Editor, Marymount University, Bridget.may@ marymount.edu • Janetta McCoy, Associate Editor, Washington State University,
[email protected] • Jane Kucko, Member, Texas Christian University,
[email protected] • Joan Dickinson, Member, Radford University,
[email protected] Communication Committee • Irina Solovyova, Chair, University of Texas, San Antonio, Irina.solovyoa@ utsa.edu • Seunghae Lee, Conference Communications Chair, Purdue University,
[email protected] • Natalie Mendez, Social Networking Chair, Westwood College,
[email protected] • Michael Dudek, Blog Master, Kansas State University,
[email protected] • John Martin-Rutherford, Board Liaison, Harrington College of Design, jmartin-rutherford@ interiordesign.edu Newsletter Editorial Team • Jonathon Anderson, Editor-in-Chief, University of North CarolinaGreensboro, jrander6@ uncg.edu
• Gregory Marinic, Research Activities Editor, University of Houston, arquipelagostudio@gmail. com
Foundation Board
• Michelle Belt, Industry & Professional Editor, Lawrence Technological University, mbelt@mtu. edu
• Tim Cozzens, Vice President, Columbia College,
[email protected]
• Lindy Balls Huling, Emerging Talent Editor, Virginia Tech, lballs@ vt.edu • Robert Reid, International Editor, American University of Sharjah,
[email protected] • Scott Williams, Service Editor, University of Oklahoma,
[email protected] • Christina Hoehn, Alumni Relations Editor, University of Oklahoma,
[email protected] • Virginia San Fratello, Collaboration Editor, San Jose State University,
[email protected] Liaisons to External Organizations • Linda Nussbaumer, IDCEC Liaison, S. Dakota State University, Linda.
[email protected] • Caren Martin, Legislative Advisor to the Board, University of Minnesota,
[email protected] • Carl Matthews, Liaison to CIDA, University of Texas-Austin,
[email protected] • Caren Martin, National Academy of Environmental Design, University of Minnesota, cmartin@ umn.edu
• Ted Drab, President, Oklahoma State University, Theo.drab@okstate. edu
• Chris Johnson, Treasurer, Georgia Southern University, Professor.cj@ gmail.com • Janine King, Secretary, Florida International University,
[email protected] • Olga Kontzia, Member, Fairchild Books, olga_
[email protected] • Lisa Waxman, IDEC Board Liaison, Florida State University,
[email protected] Fellows Chair • Jane Kucko, Texas Christian University, j.kucko@ tcu.edu Network Chairs • Architects Practicing/Education Interior Design(ers), Paul Black, Art Institute of Atlanta,
[email protected] • Continuing Education, Ron Reed, Texas State University, ron.reed@ txstate.edu • Program Chairs: Ronnie Whitman, Art Institute of California,
[email protected] • 2 & 3 Year Programs: Diana Ingram, Johnson County Comm. College,
[email protected] • Emerging Technologies: Matt Dunn, Louisiana State University,
[email protected]
• Emerging Technologies: Chris Johnson, Georgia Southern, professor.
[email protected] • Lighting: Ruth Beals, Converse College, ruth.
[email protected] • K-12: Stephanie Clemons, Colorado State University, sclemons@ cahs.colostate.edu • Right to Practice: Marilyn Whitney, mwhitney@ scad.edu • International Member Assistance: Ryadi Adityavarman, SCAD, radityav@ scad.edu • Social Responsibility: Sarah Sherman, Florida International University,
[email protected] • Social Responsibility: Dak Kopec, Radford University, DakKopec@ mac.com • Distance Learning: Susan Ray-Degges, N. Dakota State University, susan.ray-degges@ ndsu.edu • Emerging Faculty: Lindsay Tan, Auburn University,
[email protected] • Diversity: Abi Asojo, University of Minnesota,
[email protected] • Multidisciplinary Collaboration: Hepi Wachter, University of Oklahoma,
[email protected] • Research & Scholarly Activity: Tiiu Poldman, University of Montreal, Tiiu.poldma@umontreal. ca
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Have an article or news for the next IDEC Exchange? Send submissions to
[email protected]
ADVANCING EDUCATION, SCHOLARSHIP AND SERVICE
INTERIOR DESIGN EDUCATORS COUNCIL 9100 Purdue Road, suite 200 Indianapolis, IN 46268 Ph 317.328.4437 Fax 317.280.8527 www.idec.org
“Larger-than-Life” is a permanent exhibit at the Greensboro Children’s Museum. Designed and built by students in the University of North Carolina Greensboro’s interior architecture program under the guidance of assistant professor Jonathon Anderson.
