It’s not every day that students in the Department of Interior Architecture & Design are asked to design a meeting place for a secret society, complete with passwords and procedures for accessing its hidden passageways. However, such a task was the recent subject of the Department of Interior Architecture & Design’s 9^th annual Student Design Charrette. The yearly charrette experience assembles groups of sophomore, junior, senior students into newly acquainted teams, challenging them to work together over a 96-hour period to generate a rich graphic solution to a fantastical design scenario problem. Graduate students are also invited to participate.

This year the students were required to address the purpose of the hidden place, the users who inhabited the place, the pathway leading to it, and the means to access its entrance.  Student teams created the lore of the secret society, the symbology codes that the users relied on to communicate and enter the secret place, and the interior of the place itself.  The purpose of the yearly Charette is to build community amongst students, offer the opportunity to work across expertise boundaries, develop the ability to ideate quickly, and build the skills that helps one collaborate well. Faculty within the department judged the work, which is currently on display in the William Johnston Building first floor hallway along the north side of the building.

The annual Charrette is led by IA&D associate professor Steven Webber, who initiated the Charette in 2013. Over these nine years, the annual Charrette has engaged 256 teams of students (over 1,000 participants) in this 4-day design project. The outcomes of the Charrette have found their way into many students’ portfolios, prompting employers across the country to comment on the breadth of students’ creative design solutions and engaging graphics. Past project scenarios have included a zombie apocalypse safe house, a correctional facility for comic book supervillains, a space inspired by Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, and a mind palace.

The Department congratulates all participating students this year’s Charette, and also the top student projects as assessed by concept, adherence to requirements, graphic communications and other criteria, reviewed by faculty. Team numbers listed below are located at the top left of the showcased posters in the William B. Johnston Building.

First Place: Team 347

Melissa Varela

Aubrey Honerbrink

Sydney Lashbrook

James Dzwil

Second Place: Team 345

Mallory Prost

Haley Valtz

Haven Doty

Richard Bergholtz

Third Place: Team 350

Adia Garth

Shae Montalvo

Tiffanie Marteau

Candyce Ochoa

Honorable Mention: Team 346

Malori Wallace

Hannah Harris

Elisabeth Gregory

Catherine Wilson

Honorable Mention: Team 331

Shelby Cleland

Tyler Williams

Keyton Bielecky

Elle Cardamone

Jaymie Kennedy

Honorable Mention: Team 356

Sophie Dangerfield

Tegan Smith

Lucinda Caldwell

Marshall Taylor

The Department of Interior Architecture & Design’s emphasis on people-centric design serves as a useful platform for new ideas that explores design’s engagement and contribution to the community and world and both faculty and Master of Fine Arts graduate students regularly engage in original, empirical research. MFA students also apply their research findings to a hypothetical design project, demonstrating the practical usefulness of their discoveries.

Over the past summer the 2020 graduating MFA students successfully completed and defended their MFA theses that explore design’s potential contribution to human wellness. Congratulations to Rae Cavazos for the successful defense of her thesis entitled The WELL Community: Designing For Health and Wellness In Affordable Urban Housing, and Lindsey Slater for Restorative Spaces at Amos P. Godby High School. Additionally, Claire Varnedoe explored current perceptions of the profession with her thesis entitled Interior Design: Public Perceptions vs Professional Actualities. These theses can be viewed at the Florida State University Diginole site at https://fsu.digital.flvc.org/ We wish these students well with their future careers.

Continuing the department’s strong tradition of sharing research findings with others, two current MFA graduate students have had their research accepted to a peer-reviewed national symposium and will offer their emerging findings concerning vulnerable populations at the Interior Design Educators Council national academic conference this fall. Sarah Rifqi will present The Potential Influence of Interior Furnishings on Sense of Dignity For Residents of Domestic Violence Shelters and Caroline Mozo will share findings from her study on Shaping Human Wellness: Family Case Clinic Design. We’re excited to see their work and wish them the best with their presentations.

The Department of Interior Architecture & Design at Florida State University is ranked among the top ten colleges and universities nationwide in the 2019 DesignIntelligence Report for its graduate students’ research.