Last year, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado State University Department of Design and Merchandising students brainstormed creative ways to showcase their work while unable to meet in person. The solution was a virtual show highlighting student work and the senior class of students in the Interior Architecture and Design Program.
Show information
This year, you’re invited to celebrate with these seniors both virtually and in person. An in-person senior show, the first in two years, is planned for May 14, 2022, at the Nancy Richardson Design Center as part of a week-long celebration of the creative work by seniors in the Department of Design and Merchandising.
If you’re unable to attend the show in person, we invite you to view the Interior Architecture and Design Senior Show, currently online. The virtual senior show has been one benefit of a year of canceled events. It provides an opportunity for those not in Fort Collins to celebrate the work of graduating interior architecture and design students. The virtual show also allows you to get to know the senior cohort and see their smiling faces without masks. Additionally, students have worked to make their posters accessible with alternative text and heading levels, making their work available to a larger audience than the in-person show alone.
The design assignment
Students completed the work for the virtual senior show in their senior capstone course guided by Assistant Professor Jain Kwon. Students worked throughout the fall semester, but bringing together all the knowledge, skills, and technology learned through the four years of the program.
The students were tasked with designing a large-scale 100,000 square foot space and developing a project that incorporates research-based design to illustrate their competency in designing complex, large-scale, interior environments with attention to contemporary social and cultural issues facing the profession. Students identified already-existing buildings to re-imagine and tied their design work to research and understanding community needs.
Students
Here are just a few of the seniors showcasing their capstone work through the virtual show.
Sarah Brown
Sarah Brown is passionate about helping the community and pl
anet through her design work. She is a LEED Green Associate and focuses on sustainability in commercial design. Brown redesigned the historic 5&6 Power Plant into the Pueblo Power Station Community Recreation Center. The center features a gym, aquatic center, arcade, child-care center, greenhouse, classrooms, and a full-service restaurant. To complement the 1921 Art Deco building, Brown worked with a local Pueblo artist, Jazzelle Bustos, to create a custom mural in the main lobby over 30-feet tall. The featured woman embodies the glamour and feminine energy exhibited throughout the roaring 20’s. By incorporating sleek geometric patterns, the art deco architecture is celebrated throughout the facility. The mural features a live green wall to incorporate Brown’s passion for biophilia. Brown’s internship at the Institute for the Built Environment (IBE) focused on sustainability. She said, “I am eager to apply the lessons I have learned from CSU and IBE to create a positive impact on the community through sustainable design.” View Sarah Brown’s poster.
Katy Jackson
Katy Jackson’s interior architecture and design degree is her second bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University. Katy is also the office manager in the Department of Statistics and has continued to work full-time while earning her second degree through the Employee Study Privilege Program at CSU. She is passionate about this field and can’t wait to continue in her design work. For her capstone project, Jackson created a new space for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra located at Chicago’s historic Navy Pier. The swirling and rippling water that surrounds the pier inspired the design elements. Jackson focused on the circulation patterns and the overall function of the symphony center for both the musicians and the guests. View Katy Jackson’s poster.
Trinity Meyer
Trinity Meyer’s design work is inspired by materials and sustainability. After taking Assistant Professor Leah Scolere’s materials course, she “fell in love with materials and was introduced to so many great resources for understanding material health.” Meyer’s senior capstone project redesigned the Oakridge Community Center based in Oakridge, Oregon. The community center is intended to provide a safe, functional space that facilitates educational opportunity as well as community growth and development in an area that has experienced a lot of job loss. Meyer also considered the effects of climate change on the community and its frequent risk of forest fire. She said, “While designing my building I thought about this a lot and created the space in general as multiuse, specifically thinking about the large multipurpose room as a place for temporary housing (of fire fighters) if needed during summer months.” View Trinity Meyer’s poster.
Annie Pault
Annie Pault grew up in Northern Colorado and is earning her second bachelor’s degree. While a student in the Design and Merchandising department, Pault has also worked as the operations and event planner at the Nancy Richardson Design Center. She has a passion for residential design and redesigned the historic Northern Hotel in downtown Fort Collins as her Senior Capstone project. The space focuses on affordable housing and includes 25 residential units, a gym, a café, a retail shop, and an artisan workspace for the residents geared toward generating income. View Annie Pault’s poster.
Interior Architecture and Design is in the Department of Design and Merchandising, part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
