Campus Center Renewal Deadline: October 1, 2009

It is time to renew your IIDA Campus Center status for the 2009-2010 school year!

Applications must be renewed every year by October 1st in order in ensure you have official Campus Center status with IIDA. Click here for the renewal application.

About Campus Centers

IIDA Student Members accomplish great things together. Campus Centers provide an outlet for student leadership and professional networking. Campus Centers provide an environment for the mutual development and exchange of knowledge between students, educators, administration and design professionals. Campus Center students add further value to their IIDA student membership by working closely with their local IIDA Chapter and/or City Center to develop programs and events.

Campus Center Requirements

Campus Centers are design-aligned clubs that must consist of at least 10-15 IIDA Student Members. All Campus Centers must complete an IIDA Campus Center application and return it to IIDA Headquarters with a Campus Center roster by October 1st of every school year. Download your Campus Center Application today.

Click here for more information!

Return applications to:

Michelle Kraker

Campus Center Application

222 Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 567

Chicago, IL 60654

-or-

Email: mkraker@iida.org Subject “Campus Center Application”

Vote for NeoCon GreenLife Finalists

IIDA is proud to announce that several Campus Centers and IIDA Student Members are finalists for the Merchandise Mart’s GreenLife at NeoCon. Congratulations to the following Campus Centers:

Harrington College of Design

Illinois State University

Indiana State University

International Academy of Design and Technology-Chicago

Madison Area Technical College

Purdue

University of Oklahoma

Click here to vote for your favorite design.

Chandelier: New Trend?

I am proud to give you yet another student blog entry! This comes from Diane who is a member of IIDA’s Student Task Force and who attends Illinois State University. Here is her take on the chandelier trend!

In the past year or so, I have developed a strong liking, perhaps obsession, over one thing: chandeliers. Quietly hanging from a ceiling, they twist and turn with feminine beauty, all the while illuminating a space. They cannot be touched or looked at closely. Rather you can only admire the piece from a distance. Frequently, they go unnoticed by the everyday person. How often do people look up? How often are chandeliers noticed? I first noticed the impact and beauty of chandeliers when I visited possibly one of the most beautiful places I have been to: Château de Versailles.

As I stepped into the Hall of Mirrors, I was overwhelmed by the space: the towering windows, the clouded mirrors, the colorful ceiling. The glittering chandeliers hung from the ceiling like a spider on a web. The chandeliers gave this magnificent Hall that extra bit of elegance. The room had a strong sense of femininity with the hanging jewels. It was truly an experience and it is hard to describe the feeling of walking through the Hall. This was my realization of the impact and effect of chandeliers. Obviously, the designers of this 17^th century palace knew what they were doing.

In contemporary design, I have noticed a strong reemergence of chandeliers. It truly has been given a rebirth into style and design. It is frequently used as a decorative motif on clothing, stationery, art, jewelry, etc. The same elegant feeling from a chandelier fixture has been transformed. It is no longer only for the rich and famous or Marie Antoinette, but the chandelier is now available to anyone, even a college student like me.

In these prints for wall art, the chandelier motif is turned into a pop art display. I have also seen designs like these as wall decals, allowing an easy way to give a dull wall life.

I have also seen the chandelier motif in fashion. Simply printed on a hoodie and you instantly have a little touch of elegance. I saw the hoodie at dELiAs store. I would wear this t-shirt like I was wearing my Chicago Cubs jersey: very proudly. Jewelry is a prime example of the motif in fashion. Like a chandelier, these earrings from Target just dangle delicately. The chandelier is like another symbol for a woman.

I found one of my favorite modern updates to the chandelier at the new Macy’s in Bolingbrook, Illinois. I couldn’t help but be blinded by the neon chandelier from the junior’s department. The twist of glamour from the chandelier motif and urbanization from the neon lights was something else. I also like this chandelier from Urban Outfitter’s made from MDF board.

The more you look around, you too might notice chandelier motifs. I know it’s not just me; they really are everywhere these days. Perhaps as the chandelier motif becomes more popular, people will appreciate their grace and notice chandeliers more.

Student Task Force Blog Entry

I mentioned before the holiday that you would have an opportunity to hear from the student voice of our association.  Today’s entry comes from Student Task Force member Andrea.  We hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to continuing to post thoughts from our students.

It’s senior year again!

I’ve taken my final exam, finished my final project, and given my final presentation so now I’m ready to pack up and head out for the holidays!

It occurred to me recently that I won’t have the stress of final projects next December – and that’s an odd feeling after a cumulative nine years of college. First I earned the practical business degree, and now I’ve almost finished the degree I always wanted. But I’ve heard that Interior Design is now the number one choice of second careerists, so it’s nice to know I’m not alone.

I was wondering: Do the semesters seem to be getting longer, or is that how they always feel at this point?

Here’s my tally for this semester:

0 model-building-related trips to the Emergency Room

1 class skipped (Tuesday before Thanksgiving)

1 study model built

1 SketchUp model built

2 mock interviews in class

2 more Interior Design classes complete

2 more Interior Design classes to go before graduation!

3 business cards received from the IIDA holiday party

3 home tours toured, and worked 20 hours on my neighborhood’s tour

4 group projects

4 thesis interviews with an architect, interior designers and a shop owner for my senior thesis on development density

5 meetings for our student Interior Design group on campus

5 site visits to design firms with Professional Practice class

5 hours in Kinko’s (I try to minimize this time)

6 ink cartridges used in my home printer

10 in-class presentations given

50 or more – times people offered me their homes as projects

50 or more – times I almost explained my particular interest in commercial design, life safety, codes, and LEED projects

99.5 internship hours recorded, almost all of them worked on a LEED project

100? Cups of coffee

144 daycare drop-offs (every time except Friday mornings, when Daddy takes him so I can get to my internship)

150 Xacto blades used

$250 raised for Mavs Foundation by building a Furniture4Kids table with student ID organization

320 diapers changed

IIDA Student Events!

IIDA Chapters are busy creating meaningful student events year round. Here is a wrap-up of what is going on this month!

Mid-Atlantic Chapter:

Join ASID and IIDA in hosting local area college students for a wrap party after this year’s ASID/IIDA Student Options. The event will take place at the Washington Design Center, from 4:00-5:00 PM in the Conference Room outside the Design Showhouse, immediately following the Student Options event held that day. RSVP to Amy Cohen at acohen@healingdesign.com

Texas/Oklahoma Chapter:

Save the date for the Texas/Oklahoma Chapter’s 9th Annual Student Day. It will be held February 26-27th and will feature a design charette, keynote speaker, portfolio review, firm tours and much more!

Northland Chapter:

Save the date for the Northland Chapter’s Student Design Expo.  Click here for more information on previous Student Design Expo’s and for more information regarding this year’s event.

Finally, don’t forget to sign-up for IIDA’s 7th Annual Student Mentoring Week. Student applications are due December 15th.

Illinois State: Fall Kick Off!

Are you a student at Illinois State University? If so, be sure to stop by the Fall Kick Off event sponsored by the Family and Consumer Sciences Department.  I will be there supporting the great Illinois State Campus Center at the event and speaking to students interested in design and IIDA.

This is a great way to meet fellow students with similar interests!  I hope to see you on September 18th from 11:30-1:30 outside Turner Hall!

If you have any Campus Center announcements, email me, and I can post your event here!

Art Institute of Colorado Comes to NeoCon!

The Campus Center board at the Art Institute of Colorado share their experience at NeoCon! Read their thoughts below:

With the thrill of NeoCon being as all-encompassing as anyone who hasn’t had the chance to attend could ever possibly imagine; we were literally kids in a candy store!

Board Outside Frank Lloyd Wright’s home, Oak Park

The 2008 IIDA Student Board of the Art Institute of Colorado is the first student organization of its kind to receive funding from AiColorado in order to attend a trade-related event. It was a tremendous accomplishment just to get to NeoCon, let alone see and do all that we were able to experience. Each of us feels that we took a little something away from the opportunity; whether it was understanding systems furniture, having a new appreciation for various kinds of surfaces and materials, or the feeling of having a whole new, completely different outlook on the possibilities that the industry allows.

Coalesse Showroom

Overall, the board agreed that NeoCon showcased the marriage of various programs across the board. We were amazed with the integration of graphic design and how each showroom was able to step-up their interior design with graphics and super images, while at the same time the technology and intricacy of the furnishings and materials really honed in on the industrial designers’ skill.

The chance to visit NeoCon allowed us all to grow a little as designers and as our outlook on the industry changes and becomes more mature we really hope to let our experience flood over and pour itself into our designs so that other students can be inspired and intrigued enough to make the extremely worth-while trek next year!”

Do you want to share your Campus Center or student group’s opinion, as well? Email me at ckoskosky@iida.org to have your opportunity to do so!

Harrington Immersion Program

While most of us were busy with NeoCon the students at Harrington College of Design were not only busy trying to take in the show, but they were also making head-way on their class project: Harrington Immersion Program. Harrington student Sarah Reaume, Student IIDA, writes below of their experience thus far. Be sure to follow their progress on their own blog, as well!

In Their Own Words:

Collaborative Idea Wall

Harrington has acknowledged students ability to shape their own education by presenting one class with a very unique opportunity. 19 students in an Experimental Design class have taken on the challenge of designing AND executing a 5,000 square foot educational environment with only $600 and 2 months time. The educational space is destined for a class of incoming first-year students who will participate in Harrington’s first Immersion Program, an intensive and evolutionary approach to design education beginning this fall.

Before: Critique Room

Faced with an enormous challenge, each person in the class has contributed unique experiences and talents that extend the group’s capacity to transform the space. The collaborative effort has been extended via web presence that has documented progress every step of the way, opening the doors to outsider suggestion. Working with such a small budget has forced students to find creative ways of re-purposing pieces that would otherwise have found their way to a landfill. Furniture and building supply donations have been made from individuals all over Chicagoland in addition to various suppliers and interior design firms.

Before: Gallery

The future Immersion Program location features an entrance gallery, critique room, lounge, multiple quiet rooms, a kitchenette, drawing room, 3 drafting rooms, 2 teacher offices, a computer room, lecture room and multiple spaces for idea formation and collaborative work.

Before: Kitchen

The space is presently painted and partially furnished, with more furniture to be picked up and built this week. The entire project must be complete at the end of June, when the class presents their progress to the school’s board of directors. An opening reception is scheduled for the second week of July to showcase their hard work to all donors and supporters.

Again, don’t forget to check in on their progress via their blog and our blog, as well!

Illinois State University: GreenFluence

Students at Illinois State University gathered to celebrate Earth day on April 22 by learning more about sustainability and green building. Interior Design students and IIDA Student Members joined students studying environmental health, construction management and others for the general meeting of GreenFluence, a student organization dedicated to learning about sustainability from a variety of professionals related to green building.

Mike Royse, president One Main Development

The speaker for this meeting was the president of One Main Development, Mike Royse. One Main Development is currently working on the development of Uptown One in Normal, Ill., the green development of the city center adjacent to ISU’s campus. Many of the buildings are going to be LEED certified. According to Royse, one of the goals of this project is to go beyond the points of the LEED system to make this development as sustainable as possible.

Uptown One, rendering taken from One Main Development

Royse spoke of the current development shift away from the auto centricity of large shopping malls and private housing areas to the development of urban city centers with multi-use structures of condos on the top floors, business offices in the middle floors and retail and entertainment at ground level. This type of development works well with sustainable projects because walk-ability is increased with the dense zoning and close adjacencies of multi-use structures.

Royse shared lessons One Main Development has learned about sustainability like the importance of addressing the “F.U.D.”, that is, the Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt that the community members or professionals working on the project may have. One Main Development has learned that it is helpful to address these concerns like the possible additional budget and time requirements of sustainable projects.

ISU GreenFluence student members

Another lesson Royse share with the students is change involving sustainability in a community comes from large system alteration like land use, transportation and walk-ability, and systems of hydrology. Overall, Royse of One Main Development advised collaboration when working on sustainable building projects like including the community and a variety of professionals to get involved and to communicate with other cities about sustainable projects in order to learn from one another.

If you want your IIDA Campus Center or student group to be spotlighted here, please email me. Also, if you want more information regarding how ISU organized this event, you can also email me for more details.

Mission: Rural Studio

I know we are all heated about the comments made in the Wall Street Journal Article, “Watch Out for that Pillow,” but I think today’s post will show more than ever the importance of interior designers and architects, and how they can both come together and affect people in more ways than one.

Emily Thornton of James Madison University, writes about her spring break experience in Alabama as part of Rural Studio. If you have questions about how they raised money, what they gained from the experience or anything else, please comment below as I am sure the JMU students will be checking in. Read Emily’s thoughts below:

“Thirteen James Madison students arrived in Greensboro, Alabama during the first week of March eagerly awaiting the beginning of an exciting and meaningful service trip at Rural Studio. In a self-planned Spring Break endeavor, members of the JMU International Interior Design Association helped out with current projects at Rural Studio, a humanitarian program through Auburn University’s architecture program. Founded in 1993 by Samuel Mockbee, Rural Studio strives to promote humanitarian efforts and social responsibility through design. Second and fifth year students design and construct homes and other community facilities for deserving citizens of Hale County, Alabama, one of the most impoverished counties in America.

Planning began in late September by JMU IIDA president Allison Smith, and members distributed over 200 letters to firms and manufacturers in the design industry both locally and nationally which resulted in over $1000 in donations toward the cost of the trip. During the week in Alabama, the interior design majors worked with the fifth year thesis students on two projects for local communities, working on Lions Park in Newbern, Alabama as well as the Akron Boys and Girls Club. For Lions Park, the students combined landscape architecture and design by digging irrigation benches, welding an 8’ foot gate, constructing a cedar stage for an outdoor pavilion, as well as separating and hauling asphalt using Bobcat tractors. At the Boys and Girls Club, the students painted exterior facades, adhered metal roof flashing, as well as measured and cut lumber for a prefabricated lamella dome basketball court. Invaluable knowledge and experience about the transition from the design to construction process as well as a greater awareness of materials, joints, and structural elements were gained by the rigorous work throughout the week.

Another highlight of the trip included a tour of Rural Studio’s completed projects which brought the buildings from classroom lectures to the actual context of the impoverished areas. The residents of Mason’s Bend, an area laden with Rural Studio homes, welcomed the JMU students, even eagerly offering a tour of the Butterfly House, a project with two elegant, sloping roofs which act as a rainwater collection system. Citizens of Greensboro were incredibly warm and welcoming, especially at the local church where the interior design girls stayed throughout the week.

Overall, the Rural Studio experience proved to be a memorable and fulfilling week of hard work and bonding with fellow students with the common goal of creating better conditions and spaces for members of the local community. The IIDA members hope to make the Rural Studio experience an annual tradition and partake in aiding with future humanitarian architecture efforts to combine service and design for well-deserving citizens.”

What are you doing in your Campus Centers, student clubs and universities? Please comment below. Do you want to feature your projects on the blog, as well? Contact me here for more information.