Autodesk and the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) recently announced the People's Choice and Jury selections for the 2010 Student Sustainable Design Challenge.

 

Elana Willey, who attends California's San Joaquin Delta College, took home the People's Choice award for her “Ji Lekol, the Little Haitian School that Juice Built” design, and Ian Siegel, a student at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, took home the Jury award for his “Aluminum Disaster Relief Schoolhouse” design.

 

In recent years, temporary shelters for disaster-stricken and otherwise depressed communities have become a necessary focus area for the architectural profession. Temporary housing and community structures such as makeshift medical facilities have been built by numerous organizations and individuals along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, in tsunami-affected areas of Thailand, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and elsewhere during the past several years.

 

The Autodesk and AIAS design contest wanted to draw attention to these efforts by challenging design students in North America and other regions to develop sturdy, eco-friendly, single-room schools that could be easily constructed in Port-au-Prince with minimal construction experience and locally and inexpensively available materials.

 

Ms. Willey's and Mr. Siegel's school structures were selected as the most original and most cleverly designed and described entries by peers and a panel of judges, respectively. Entrants were required to abide by a number of different design criteria and use Autodesk's Revit® Architecture software and Ecotect® Analysis software when creating their design concepts.

 

As part of its continuing attempt to shed light upon the problem of counterfeits and knock-offs in the design industry, M2L, a licensed and authorized U.S. importer of modern design products from Europe, recently announced its second annual Genuine Design Competition scholarship award winners.

 

The first place scholarship of $3,500 was awarded to Katherine Dabkowski, an interior design student at Arizona State University. Her entry explored the intellectual property rights and moral and legal issues associated with knockoffs, counterfeit designs, illegal reproductions, and deceptive advertising. You can view Ms. Dabkowski's video entry here.

 

A second place prize of $2,500 was awarded to Sarah Muchow, an interior design major at the New York School of Interior Design. Third and fourth place prizes were awarded to Marita Montes of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and Stuart Fingerhut of Los Angeles'Art Center College of Design, respectively.

 

M2L's design competition was developed in conjunction with the New York Eleven consortium of design schools, with judging by a panel of industry representatives that included Interior Design Magazine's web editor Laurel Petriello. The design competition awarded scholarship prizes to those students who created the most impactful public service announcement type videos about the harmful effects that product knockoffs have upon the design industry.

 

Ever read Contract Magazine online? You can read past issues two different ways. It's pretty neat, actually.

 

I subscribe to their newsletter, so when I click on one of their article links from a past issue, I'm brought to a virtual article viewing page which gives me a nifty way for me to read the article, almost as if I'm reading the actual magazine. I can flip through the pages, zoom in or out to change the font size and perform searches for specific keywords or keyphrases. There's even a little virtual crease down the middle of the page. The technology is provided by nxtbook.com.

 

Virtual Magazine Viewer - Flip through Contract Magazine articles online

 

 

If you don't have a fairly good-sized LCD display, you're probably not going to enjoy the experience as much as you would otherwise. But you can also read the same article on the Contract Magazine website. It's just not quite as fun!

 

There are a couple of important notes if you intend to use the virtual viewing pages:

The particular "Pure Platinum" article featured above is about the Audubon Society's newly-completed LEED-certified New York headquarters building. All materials selected for the project were sustainable at some level. Definitely a worthwhile read.. Enjoy!

 

With today's tough housing market, many designers are receiving home staging requests from sellers who hope to gain an edge by presenting their homes in the best possible light to prospective buyers. Many designers are instinctively able to help sellers stage their homes, often with dramatic improvements even on a tight budget.

 

Clients should determine a budget up front that the designer can work with, both in terms of long-term, more permanent design touch-ups such as new paint colors or floor refinishing, and in terms of short-term, decorative accents such as house plants, floral arrangements, candles, artwork, pillows and throws, rugs and the like. Home stagers should evaluate the seller’s furnishings and other belongings to determine what can be used versus what needs to be purchased or borrowed for successful staging.

 

When it comes to how much is enough or even too much, there are generally two schools of thought here. Many feel that simplicity is the best approach so that buyers can easily envision their own belongings in the space being showcased. Others believe that the seller should offer some “wow factor” by showcasing a well-appointed, beautifully decorated home that may be hard to resist.

 

I've helped clients stage homes on a shoestring budget with inexpensive additions such as small kitchen and bath accessories, a fresh coat of Benjamin Moore, and some nice houseplants. And I've also undertaken complete kitchen and bath renovations for my clients. I'd have to say that I generally find home staging for clients who are on a tight budget to be very rewarding, since the homeowners are frequently stunned that such significant improvements can be made for so little money spent. "Why didn't we call you long ago!?"

 

Although consulting time can be charged by the hour, many home stagers charge a flat fee for staging. Either way, the client generally provides the designer with a budget for purchases and pays directly for the items brought in for staging. There should be no financial risk to the designer.

 

Many (probably most) interior designers graduate from school ready to take on the design world, but not the business world. Design firms do not typically require newly hired fledgling designers to use much business expertise, but if a designer decides to strike out one's own, it's a whole new ballgame. Running a business can be quite challenging. Taking a course in basic business management or consulting with someone to help manage ones design firm can be of great benefit.

 

A very useful resource that I've gone back to time after time is Mary Knackstedt's Interior Design Business Handbook: A Complete Guide to Profitability. The topics covered in this well written and very informative book address all aspects of professional practice, including contracts, types of compensation, setting up a well functioning office, marketing, and much more. I refer to it whenever I need a refresher on aspects of running my business. My copy is an older edition, but the content is still very pertinent. The most recent (fourth) edition includes updated sections with information on software tools for interior designers.

 

Ms. Knackstedt's blog also features helpful and encouraging information for designers.

 

When working with clients to select art that is unique to their homes, I frequently suggest groupings of family photos. The beauty of this approach is that it can be built upon over the years and can create a very personal timeline and story reflecting memorable moments, growth, and change. It's truly personalized art that can be edited and adapted as much or as little as clients like.

 

I often recommend that clients organize photos into public and private groupings. Public groupings include photos that one wishes to share with everyone (extended family, visitors, and guests), and might be hung in an entry way, kitchen, stairway, or family room, and often remind visitors of fun holiday get togethers and special occasions such as birthdays or graduation celebrations. Historic family photos are often included in these arrangements, making great conversation pieces as well as nice remembrances of days gone by.

 

Private photo groupings feature cherished photos that remind one of a very special and personal family moment, possibly as part of the decor of a master bedroom, upstairs hallway, or home office. These often include wedding photos, baby photos, and vacation photos.

 

When it comes to color vs. black and white, both can result in very nice arrangements. I generally keep the grouping consistent, by using all color photos or all black and white photos in a single grouping. Frames can be varied to avoid giving the impression that the photos were all framed at the same time or that the frames came from the same place. Antiqued frames can be successfully mixed with more contemporary frames to keep the look a bit eclectic. In fact, collecting antique or vintage frames can become a fun and inexpensive hobby.

 

Another fun way to create personalized art is to frame kids' school projects - from preschool on up through high school. It's amazing how great a framed art project or craft can look, and it's a great way to create a permanent keepsake. Framing recent "works of art" or going back through old school projects can be a fun way to compliment kids' creativity and originality, and to encourage new works as well!

Don't miss it! Through April 4, 2010, the Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum is presenting "Design USA: Contemporary Innovation", featuring and celebrating the winners of the past ten years' National Design Awards.

 

Design USA highlights excellence in American architecture, landscape design, interior design, product design, communication design, corporate design, interaction design, and fashion. The exhibit "focuses on innovation through the lens of technology, material, method, craft and transformation."

 

This is a great opportunity to see the design achievements of the past decade showcased in one exhibit.

 

Every October, Cooper Hewitt announces the National Design Award winners. For more information, click here.

 

This caught my eye in the New York Times the other day: an article about organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).

 

The possibilities for the architecture and design world seem nearly infinite. As the article states, due to their diffuse qualities, OLEDs will not replace incandescent, fluorescent or LED lighting, but will supplement these and other types of lighting and will create eye catching and innovative applications for walls, columns, ceilings, windows, and accent lighting.

 

I looked up definitions online and found some good info here:

 

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/oled.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_light-emitting_diode

 

With a thickness of only 0.07 inches, and because OLEDs give off negligible heat when lit, designers and architects won't need to reserve ceiling or undercounter space for lighting fixtures when using OLEDs (just as flat-panel TVs have allowed for a variety of television installation applications). And with its very low power consumption and a 20-year life expectancy for an OLED, the opportunity for energy savings are enormous.

 

The flexibility of this type of lighting technology will enable incredibly exciting applications for interior design and architecture, especially as it's further developed and as costs inevitably come down. Can't wait to see some of the future results!

 

Both residential and commercial projects frequently include art, accessories, and plants and florals as finishing details. Many clients prefer the ease and convenience of artificial plants, especially for their low maintenance. And designers like the continuity - the look will remain the same as originally intended.

 

The two biggest drawbacks for artificial plants are the dust factor and the fake factor. After a while, they can get really dusty but vacuuming or spritzing/washing are two care options. And if not well done, faux plants can seem downright tacky. Real plants provide a freshness and authenticity that is rarely duplicated, but there are some great faux plant / flower / arrangement suppliers out there.

 

A couple of my favorites are:

 

NDI - Beautiful, realistic plants that need to be examined closely to see if they're real or fake. Lovely floral arrangements, trees, greenery, holiday decorations, topiaries, grasses, etc. Plus great containers!

 

Forever Green Art - Real plants that have been preserved, including bonsai, topiary, florals, eucalyptus and palms. From my experience, these plants retain their color and beauty for the long term.

 

Containers make a big difference in the look, too. Baskets can seem a bit lightweight and insubstantial unless they're very well made, so I generally go with great looking ceramic or stoneware containers that complement the plants and add more visual interest. One of my favorite lines is New England Pottery, which can be found at many distributors nationwide. They carry a huge array of beautiful plant containers.

 

 

Have you seen Architectural Digest's recent feature on great ceilings? Beautiful! I especially like the second and eleventh ones. Check them all out here..

 

Architectural Digest's Great Ceilings Slideshow