The International Interior Design Association has honored two Suffolk students with awards for workplace and art installation design concepts.
Designs by Katerina Gerontis, a junior majoring in interior design, and Chris Boehm, a graduate student working toward a master’s degree in interior architecture, were celebrated at the recent awards ceremony held by the design association’s New England Chapter. The students from Suffolk’s New England School of Art & Design were selected after submitting portfolios of their work.
Gerontis captured top honors in the undergraduate student category for the project “Next Co-Working Space,” which was the focus of her fall 2015 Contract I Design Studio.
“My inspiration for this project came from the idea of creating a colorful, fun, and vibrant workplace, focused on sparking the imagination and creating a collaborative co-working community,” said Gerontis. “The intention of the space is to keep everyone engaged and incorporate and encourage their well-being, while also helping them to be imaginative and innovative.”
Boehm’s winning entry in the graduate student category was based on a project he tackled during a History and Style Studio this past fall.
“The criteria of the project was to take an art movement (Russian constructivism), research it, and design three sculptural art installation pieces centered around the movement,” said Boehm. “The course culminated in the design of a building that drew from the art movement we had been researching all semester. What I took away from this whole experience was how to take a highly conceptual idea and turn it into something real and tactile.”
Boehm and Gerontis each received a monetary award and a student membership to the IIDA. Their work is on display at the New England School of Art & Design, 75 Arlington St., Boston.
Said Professor and Interior Design Director Nancy Hackett: “I am very proud of both Chris and Katerina for their creative approach and professional presentations.”