News

The juried contest gave professional and student designers from across the US an opportunity to showcase their most imaginative designs for business interiors using Delano and Adagiato lounge and guest seating designed by David Allan Pesso, Principal of New Studio, LLC in Boca Raton, Florida. "I was one of the three judges that had the pleasure of evaluating the submittals for the Delano & Adagiato Challenge" notes Pesso. "The Cornish Design students far and away had the most complete and well thought out schematics and presentations, even compared against the professional category. Both Ms. Drzayich and Ms.Wong should be very proud of their skill sets and design proposals."

The challenge of the competition was to design a 2,000 square foot space utilizing Delano and Adagiato seating products and Cornish adjunct instructor David Kutsunai used the competition as a class project. Jamie Drzayich, placed first for her design of lounge and conference settings in a law firm. She used sliding glass panels and Adagiato chairs in natural maple to create a sweeping suite of quasi-public areas overlooking city views. Aireen Wong took second place with her alternative offering for the same law firm space. Her concept included Delano seating and a rich, tactile blend of warm maple veneer, bronze-toned metallics, honey-colored resins and deeply hued textiles.

Drzayich received a $1500 cash award for first place and Wong received $750 for second place. Additionally, both students received an invitation to attend the NeoCon World Trade Fair in Chicago June 11-13 where they will experience more than 1200 showrooms and exhibitors showcasing thousands of cutting-edge commercial products. Their designs will also be on display at the Kimball Office showroom in Chicago during the week of NeoCon.

In other news, Jamie Drzayich and Ashley Widman (Design '08) have been selected for the summer internship program at NBBJ Architects in Seattle. Over 300 portfolios were submitted for 10 intern positions and of this 10, only 4 are in interior design. Other students that were selected are from the University of Virginia, Rhode Island School of Design, Cornell, University of California, Los Angeles and Iowa State.