Interior Designers Palacio and des Lauriers Win Awards and Recognition
Nicole Palacio and Okhyun Des Lauriers were both awarded scholarships for interior design by the Network of Executive Women in Hospitality (NEWH).
Palacio is a 3rd year design student who submitted work she completed in 2nd year with Prof. Goldman. Des Lauriers is also a third year interior design student.
Palacio submitted a design for a site at NJIT in the architecture building for the lounge called Ellys loft and the exhibition space below. The first assignment was a site visit to measure and be able to recreate the space within the modeling software.
“As a class we were taking pictures, we noticed things that we never noticed before. I started measuring everything, we discovered that the floor of the loft is not completely straight, it has different widths on either end. With the help of the people working there we got a ladder and I was able to go up to the ceiling and measure the space - so we got pretty accurate measurements.”
“For the theme I used the Velo chair by Jan Waterston as the inspiration. It is a very fluid design filled with curves,” said Palacio. She used both Rhino and Revit to create her design. “I really wanted to get the curves from Rhino, then I imported things to Revit. Rhino is more curve friendly and since my entire concept was about fluidity and curves I found it easier to use Rhino for certain pieces. Revit is where I created the entire space, the floors and windows. I also used corel draw to make the plans.” View the gallery with final project board and renders.
For her submission to NEWH des Lauriers wrote an essay on the importance of interior design and international culture to the hospitality industry.
“I am a Korean student studying interior design at NJIT in the United States”, said des Laurier. “My western and eastern cultural experiences can contribute to understanding and improving the global aspect of hospitality interior design. I also desire to deepen my study of sustainable and environment-friendly interior design so that it is optimally beneficial to people's health and to nature. Also, if there is opportunity to work in other countries, I will take that chance to explore and experience diverse climates, cultures, and local environments by working on various eclectic sites. Such experiences will contribute to my expertise in managing people and projects.”
Crediting encouragement on the part of her professors to her award success and growing confidence, des Lauriers recently placed as a finalist in the London International Creative Competition, with a project called dot.Newark. This work, completed in the 3rd year interior design studio with Prof. Garcia Figueroa, is an Adaptive Re-use Single Room Occupancy apartment building within an existing structure located on the corner of Central Ave. and Newark St. in Newark, NJ.
“I just gave it a shot and I didn’t think I was going to win anything, the previous work was so good and it was the first time I was submitting to an international competition,” said des Lauriers.
Des Lauriers had something to prove to herself, so she also submitted her work to the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) portfolio competition where she ranked as a semi-finalist. “I joined ASID just for portfolio review first, then I liked their feedback and they encouraged me to join the association. They have a portfolio competition, and I just wanted to prove myself and have them see my work. Even semi-finalist is really good. I got encouraged so much. Now I just want to say to hey guys give it a shot, you never know,” said des Lauriers.
