03.24.21

First Ever Virtual Student Charette Competition

The first ever virtual IIDA So Cal Chapter Student Design Charette was held on Saturday, March 6 from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm at remote locations all over Southern California. Student Members of IIDA from 11 schools competed for cash awards and the chance to contend for a top prize in the Regional Design Charette Competition later this Spring.

In consideration of ‘The Art of Gathering in a Post-Covid World,’ 28 students were divided randomly into six teams and challenged to use design thinking in order to re-develop the existing Pershing Square public site in downtown Los Angeles. The prompt this year called on students to prioritize design concept above all else and  challenged the boundaries of our traditional competition. 

Guided by the themes of Safety, Equity, Comfort, Connection, Flexibility and Inclusivity, each team had 4.5 hours working within the creative collaboration platform Miro to imagine and design a cohesive concept. Time management and the ability to collaborate well with a team were critical to the outcome for each group.

Each group had 7 minutes to present their design concepts to 4 judges – Katie Toth, Interior Designer with HBG Design and IIDA SoCal President; Jade Li Interior Designer with HLW and IIDA SoCal VP of Advocacy; Ashley Casatelli Senior Interior Designer from SmithGroup; and Susan Suhar Design Principal from HDR Architecture, Inc. and IIDA SoCal LA City Center Co-Director.

After much consideration, the judges decided to bring back three teams for additional Q&A to help them determine first and second prize winners. These awards will be presented to our student winners during the IIDA SoCal Calibre Design Awards on May 20, 2021. The first-place team will continue on to compete at the Regional Charette Competition in Northern California in April 2021.

The winners are:

1st Place Team – “LA Roots” – $10,000 Award
Kelly Wilson – San Diego Mesa College
Ana-Paola Laveaga – Art Center
Koleta Charun – Interior Designers Institute (IDI)
Erica Yaw – Design Institute of San Diego
Jenice Domingo – Mt. San Antonio College

2nd Place Team – “Frontline Square” – $4,000 Award
Anastasiya Murray – Art Center
Christian Ojeda – Mt. San Antonio College
Stephen Marucut – New School of Architecture and Design
Joseph Ower – New School of Architecture and Design

Participating schools included OTIS, San Diego Mesa College, Art Center, Interior Designers Institute, Mount San Antonio College, Saddleback College, Chaffey College, California State University Long Beach, California State University Northridge, Design Institute of San Diego and New School of Architecture and Design.

Miguel Perez and Jillian Potts, IIDA SoCal VPs of Student Affairs, thank the students, judges, sponsors and volunteers for making this event a huge success! IIDA would also like to thank the campus faculty advisors who support their students by encouraging them to participate in IIDA student opportunities like this!

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