Two APDesign students semifinalists in national design competition
Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015
MANHATTAN — Two Kansas State University College of Architecture, Planning & Design, or APDesign, students are semifinalists in the 2015 Steelcase student competition, NEXT, while a third student from the college is an honorable mention recipient.
In its third year, the competition had more than 700 students from 60 programs participate. The future designers were challenged this year to create the NEXT co-working environment. Judges independently reviewed entries and spent a day together in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the home of office furniture manufacturer Steelcase, to select the semifinalists and honorable mentions.
Kansas State University has two of the five semifinalists selected — Alex Marschman, Lenexa, and Caleb Amundson, Shawnee, both master's students in APDesign's interior architecture & product design program. Garrett Steinlage, Seneca, also a master's student in interior architecture & product design, was among the five students earning honorable mention.
As semifinalists, Marschman and Amundson receive an all-expense paid trip to Steelcase University to present their projects to the judging panel and compete for a $2,500 student prize and $2,500 for their school. They also will meet with Steelcase executives, take part in other learning opportunities and receive a custom-ordered Think chair from Steelcase. As an honorable mention recipient, Steinlage also receives a Think chair.
Marschman and Amundson are both students in the studio taught by Christopher Manzo, a visiting professor in interior architecture & product design. Steinlage's studio professor is Neal Hubbell, associate professor of interior architecture & product design.
This year's professional judges included Verda Alexander, O+A | San Francisco; Vanessa Bradley, Steelcase Inc., Grand Rapids; Frances Bruns, Interior Architects, Dallas; Joyce Fownes, Perkins and Will, Atlanta; Takehiro Nakamura, Perkins Eastman, Washington D.C.; and Georgia Rappole, Steelcase Inc., Atlanta.
