Interior Architecture Faculty Reports

Novem Mason (faculty) retired in May 2008 from IARC amidst a big student celebration.  Dean Laura Sims recognized Novem Mason with a special award on the occasion of his retirement.  A former department chair, Novem has been involved in all aspects of the IARC program.

In the spring semester 2008, the IARc department offered a special course, IAR 531-01, Design Seminar, a two-credit course taught by Nadia Volchansky. The focus of this course was to prepare students for the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) examination.

In recent years many students have achieved this professional LEED certification before graduating, and this credential has proven to be a valuable attribute when looking for jobs. Many are suggesting the LEED certification will soon be a requirement for practicing professionals as global warming and other environmental concerns grow in importance.

IARC and the Department of Art mustered their joint resources to champion the Design, Art and Technology Symposium (DATS), 27-29 March 2008.  Key presenters included architects John Frane and Hadrian Predock, Evan Roth and James Powderly from Graffiti Research Lab, Design and filmmaking artists Jed Carter, Tim Fisher, Matt Fraction and Ben Radatz from MK12, Mick Ebling founder and Executive Producer of the production company The Ebling Group, and Mackey McDonald CEO of VF Corporation, in addition to many other creative individuals. More info : http://dats.uncg.edu/ for more information.

Anna Marshall-Baker (faculty) serves as Coordinator for UNCG’s Center for Sustainability, helping to lead Focus the Nation, an initiative to study the impacts of global warming on the United States.

Suzanne Buchanan (faculty), along with several first and second year students, helped single teenage mothers to visualize their lives through active journaling and drawing in a special course/outreach during the Spring Semester 2008. “Advocacy through Design” represents one of the many ways that IARc finds its way into the community in providing service and in recognizing that we all are fundamentally connected through design.

Interior Architecture Student Reports

Allison Conley (third year student), while studying abroad in France in the Spring Semester 2008, received a grant from Middlebury College to investigate sustainability practices in Paris as a point of comparison with those in the United States.

With funding from the Marion Stedman Covington Foundation, IARC joined forces in Spring Semester 2008 with Preservation North Carolina to fashion a series of digital resources on PNC’s website related to preservation issues and opportunities facing North Carolina.  Rachel Miller (MS 2008) served as the first of several graduate assistants in the historic preservation concentration of our graduate program who will assist with this important project.  Kate Zylstra (second year graduate student) continued in the position in summer 2008.

In Spring Semester 2008, seven fourth and fifth year students took to the world of work under the guidance of mentors in various Triad-area businesses and organizations.  We thank these employers for helping students to innovate as they make the transition from IARC to the world of work.
Michelle Bottenus                        Workplace Strategies
Kylene Costa                                One Design Center
McKenzie Gates                        Pixxelweave
Erin Hicks                                    Warren Architecture
Jessica Krasuski                        Habitat for Humanity
Aralynn McVey                        Habitat for Humanity/Americorp
Meaghan Riordan                        Brayton International

Students throughout the program shared their work through blogs in 2008 (an initiative started by Suzanne Buchanan…and a topic on which she and Tommy Lambeth presented at the March 2008 meeting of the National Council on the Beginning Design Student Conference in Atlanta).  The blogs continue a long tradition of utilizing digital media to bring iarc to the world, including our ever-changing web site.  See the addresses on the front page of our site. 

In March 2004, Bettye Russell (IARc Advisory Board) led fourth year students through several Atlanta design firms earlier this month as her commitment and Herman-Miller’s practice to connect students and professionals into sustaining relationships.  By diversifying our view beyond the academy, Bettye reminds us that these collaborations and opportunities for students to see the world build into effective partnerships in life. 

IARC students adopted a stream in Spring Semester 2008 in Peabody Park on UNCG’s campus as a place to demonstrate our commitment to keeping one part of the natural environment clear of debris. 

In the Spring Semester 2008, several studios engaged in hypothetical projects based on real world sites….and in the case of two projects with our partner, the YWCA of Greensboro….”real world” projects to benefit the Triad:  a new facility/community center for the Center for New North Carolinians (Suzanne Buchanan + Tommy Lambeth, faculty); urban studio o2 : my sisters' house, a home for single teenage mothers (Robert Michel Charest + Novem Mason, faculty); renovation of the Benjamin Branch Library (Patrick Lee Lucas, faculty); North Carolina Sustainable Building Design Competition (Robert Michel Charest, faculty); Greensboro Historical Museum Study + Analysis (Jo Ramsay Leimenstoll, faculty) and “Advocacy Through Design,” an eight-week course (Suzanne Buchanan, faculty; assisted by first and second year student volteers) to introduce teenage mothers to principles of drawing and graphic design, opportunities for careers in design, and ways in which they can use their talents to create an advocacy campaign.

Urban studio 01 received the "Most Effective Housing Collaboration" Award for its 909 Dillard Street Project during the Greensboro Housing Coalition's  "Housing Summit", a yearly event, which took place on 17 January. The project will be featured in the upcoming March issue of Dwell magazine.

Tiffany Stewart and Amanda Gordon have both won honors in the 2008 Brass Ring Awards Competition. The Brass Ring Awards are hosted annually by the Department of Art and Design at Oklahoma Christian University. The competition is designed to motivate and reward students for excellence in art and design. This year marks the 23rd year for the Brass Awards, which attracted 949 entries in 2008 from 22 universities and 17 high schools. Tiffany Stewart won 1st place in the category of custom design in conjunction with an Award of Merit-Best of Show. Amanda Gordon received the 2nd place award in custom design.

April Lewis, a  fourth year student, was notified by Interior Design Magazine and Electrolux Icon  that she won second place in an international design competition for her entry in the “Live-in-Room” Design Competition. She was competing with some of the largest and most internationally renowned design firms. The prize for second place in the competition is $25,000 worth of high end Electrolux kitchen appliances. You can view her award winning work via http://kitchenappliances.electroluxusa.com/ , then click on design competition winners announced.

Julie Barghout , a fifth year interior architecture student is the recipient of the form.Z Joint Study Program Award of Distinction for Interior Design. Her project, "a place to see and be seen" is the design of a workplace environment for Mullen Advertising Agency in downtown Winston-Salem. The project was completed in Fall 2006 under the direction of studio instructor Tina Sarawgi. Julie was flown in by auto.des.sys to receive her award at a dinner ceremony in the Association for Computer-aided Design in Interior Architecture (ACADIA) Conference on October 4-7, 2007, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Edgar Cabrera is currently a 4th year Interior Architecture student and is the recipient of the IIDA Carolinas Chapter Scholarship.

Adrian Boggs, another 4th year IARc student, received the IFDA Ruth Clark Scholarship as well as the Construction Professionals Network Scholarship through the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.