Interior Design - Connections

Last Friday, May 10, we hosted a reception to celebrate this year’s BFA in Interior Design graduates. It was a wonderful event that included guest appearances by both President McCarthy and Dean Greenberg! The students had the opportunity to gather with their friends and families to talk about their work and relax at the end of a stressful week. Congratulations to all 14 of the 2013 graduates! We wish you great success!

Design Students:
A few weeks ago the International Design Guild Designer Program launched the contest, Design for a Difference, that will give the winning designer $20,000 in goods and resources to makeover a local charity space of their choice.  The winning designer will also collaborate and cohost with celebrity designer, Mark Brunetz (http://www.markbrunetz.com/blog/) in a professionally produced video of the makeover process that they can use to promote their work.

Four regional winners will also be selected and earn $2,500 in flooring for their charity while joining the winning design team.

Reach out to your favorite charity today and enter by submitting the attached form.   Entries will be accepted until June 30, 2013. **
Watch the video today at www.youtube.com/IDGDesign and start designing for a difference today!

Thank you and good luck!

**Please note that the entry form can be found on Blackboard in the ’Interior Design Majors’ course under ‘Competitions.’

The end of the semester has arrived and we at NESAD are planning our spring shows and receptions. Please come out and join us in celebration of our graduates!

BFA Show: May 06 – 19 at the NESAD Gallery, 2nd Floor | Reception: Friday, May 10, 5:00 – 7:00pm.

MAIA Show: May 07 – 31 at the Suffolk University Adams Gallery, 120 Tremont Street | Reception: Friday, May 17,5:30 – 7:30pm

We hope to see you there!

What would it be like to live in the heart of the city, just a short commute to work, and within walking distance to markets, gyms, cafes and restaurants? Most of us do not know, because the cost of living in such an environment exceeds what we, as young professionals, can afford after pouring our hard-earned savings into graduate school, student loan payments and excessive rent costs. We emerge from our institutions as well-educated individuals who are earning just enough money to cover our basic living expenses, leaving little room for much else. And even if we could afford the lifestyle of our choosing, we are often forced to live far from the action of our city center, where the rent is less costly and we get more bang for our buck.

But what if this actually was a possibility? How would this be achieved? These are the questions that the Business School’s The Center for Real Estate at Suffolk University, the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, NESAD and local design firm ADD, Inc., are all trying to answer in the Building Boston 2030 series. On Tuesday, March 26, these groups joined together for the third event in this series, and presented the audience with discussion topics lead by a distinct panel of professionals (including our  very own Karen Clarke!). Suffolk University President, Jim McCarthy, gave opening remarks and kicked off this insightful conversation.

The idea of Micro-Housing is to create well-designed and functional living spaces for young professionals, empty nester’s, elderly, etc., at an affordable price. If you could live alone in a 350 square foot unit, right in the heart of the city, for almost $1000 per month less than the average 500 square foot Boston studio currently rents for, would you? Topics such as design, affordability, amenities, proximity to work and public transit were all discussed. The audience was also given the opportunity to voice their concerns for living in a unit of this size. Storage and general comfort were among the top of these concerns. This model is currently being tested in the Innovation District of South Boston, where 1700 micro units are being built. The underlying idea is to create urban density, appeal to a variety of age groups, design functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces and to create a sense of community.

ADD, Inc. constructed a full-scale model of a unit prototype and guests were allowed to wander through to see what a space of this size would really feel like. The Sustainable Design class here at NESAD also worked in teams to produce different design concepts for the micro-unit. They presented these designs on boards that were displayed in the Modern Theater’s lobby, and also ran a video that explained their thoughts and ideas on this concept (see link below). This was an outstanding collaboration between all parties. Thanks to everyone for such a wonderful event!

Please enjoy this video about micro-housing produced by the Sustainable Design class and edited by Matthew Schuler: https://vimeo.com/62679913

While working toward the completion of their Interior Architecture degrees here at NESAD, many students find that their passion for design not only flourishes, but it begins to take shape into something more specific. Whether that is a new found interest in retail design or the desire to create beautiful residential spaces, our students seek out new opportunities to help them achieve their future goals. Inspired by Debra Folz’s Furniture and Detailing course, MA student Kate Ferguson has determined that she would like to pursue furniture design upon graduating next year. Her interest furniture design has lead her to the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine, where she will have the opportunity to explore materiality and form while attending the program’s metals workshop in August. Kate is the recipient of the prestigious David Ferranti Scholarship, which will cover her full tuition, room and board. This is such an exciting opportunity, and we wish Kate the best of luck in her continued education!

For more information on the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, please click here: http://www.haystack-mtn.org/about.php.

A fun night was had by all who attended the ASID New England annual awards gala last night, though it is probably safe to say that Professor Karen Clarke has the best time, as she was one of the five honorees! Designers from Boston and surrounding New England all congregated at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the Back Bay to toast the honorees, celebrate design, and support the Over My Shoulder Foundation. NESAD proudly represented with 15 faculty, staff and student attendees. Karen was the first to receive her award, and addressed the room with a heartfelt speech to thank those who have supported her along way. Congratulations, Karen!

Last week was incredibly busy for the Interior Design program. Not only did we host Design for the Environment, our annual sustainable trade show, but we also represented at the IIDA New England Interior Design Awards. Six of our students (three BFA and three MAIA) entered for a chance to have their design chosen as a winner in the Student categories. We are proud to announce that two of our students won! Congratulations to Sarah Gosson, who won in the Undergraduate category for her Bonobos Pop-Up Shop design, and to Hisham Bassiouni, who took the prize in the Graduate category for his Suffolk University Collaborative Design Center project. Great job, Sarah and Hisham, we are so proud!

And of course we cannot forget to recognize the four outstanding students who entered as well. Excellent job, Fatima Alghanah (BFA – Community HUB), Krista Osipovitch (BFA – Bonobos Pop-Up Shop), Kathryn Goldenoak (MA – Flow: A Self-Care Haven) and Maria Santos-Kushnirsky (MA – Library Commons: Community Wellness @ the Library)!

A big thank you goes out to all of the wonderful companies who so generously donated their time, knowledge and goods to contribute to our annual Sustainable Design Trade Show last week. It took a lot of hard work and planning, but the event was a great success and it was wonderful to see such enthusiasm for green design from the representatives, students and others who came by to see what was going on in the atrium space of 75 Arlington Street. In addition to the 14 booths, the ID Sustainable Design class also contributed by bringing down a full-scale mock-up floor plan of their Micro-house design. The class is participating in the ‘Micro-housing: Rethinking Urban Living’ event at Suffolk University on March 26. They created a plan for a 300 square foot residence and allowed participants of the trade show to walk ‘through’ their unit to experience what the space might feel like. Please enjoy the photos and slide show below.

Thank you again to everyone who came out and helped make this event a success, including CBRE for allowing us to use the atrium space for the entire day!

Allsteel: www.allsteeloffice.com

Benjamin Moore: www.benjaminmoore.com

A Better City: www.abettercity.org

Boston Green Build: http://www.bostongreenbuilding.com/

Crossville: www.crossville.com

D.L. Couch: www.dlcouch.com

Johnsonite: www.johnsonite.com

Kimball: www.kimballoffice.com

Landry & Arcari: www.landryandarcari.com

Maharam: www.maharam.com

NSTAR: www.nstar.com

Ritz: www.ritzinc.com

Shaw: www.shawfloors.com

Wicanders Cork: www.wicanders.com

Slide show: https://vimeo.com/60779052