Interior design student repeats at Design Wars
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 2:00 AM
News
Pittsburg, KS
Repeating as champion in any team competition is difficult. Repeating as champion with a completely different team is even harder.
Just don’t tell that to Cassandra Stanley.
The Columbus native and Pittsburg State University senior was, for the second consecutive year, on the winning team at the International Interior Design Association’s Design Wars competition in Kansas City. She was the only student in this year’s competition that also competed in 2013.
Stanley, an interior design major, was joined on the winning team by two students from Kansas State University.
“Having a year under my belt, and especially having won last year, I had a good feel for what the judges were looking for,” Stanley said. “That definitely helped me, and I was able to use that experience to help our team.”
The competition required the students to work in teams with students from other universities to develop a spatial layout for office space in Kansas City. The teams created spatial layouts, developed furniture plans, selected materials, furniture, lighting, and finishes, drew elevations/perspective drawings, created boards, and made presentations.
The winning team was awarded a $2,000 cash prize.
“It’s a great experience, because it challenges you in the areas of creativity and time management,” Stanley said. “It also puts you in a situation where you collaborate with students from other schools, and you have to work together to succeed.”
Associate Professor Denise Bertoncino said the competition is an important preview of what the students will experience as professionals.
“When you go out into your career, you work with many people from many different backgrounds,” she said. “A competition like Design Wars gives students exposure to that type of environment.”
Stanley was one of four Pitt State students to compete at Design Wars. Also competing were senior Madison Qualls and sophomores Alison Lemon and Brie Stewart.