The Interior Designers of Idaho (IDI) have been hosting a furniture competition in Boise for 27 years. The Furniture Studio in the UW Architecture department has a long history of participating and bringing home awards from this event. This year we showcased seven new pieces from the 2018 Spring and 2019 Winter undergraduate classes, as well as one in the Professional category. Once again, we a had very strong showing and brought home 5 new awards in 2019.
On the morning of April 26th, Roark Congdon and Steven Withycombe hit the road for Boise with a fully loaded box truck. Before long, mechanical issues forced them to turn around and get a new vehicle. After a few extra hours of reloading, they were off again… this time for real, and it was smooth sailing and excellent weather all the way to Idaho.
Saturday evening was the IDI Chair Affair gala, hosted just outside downtown Boise. Sonny Han, a current UW senior and new alumnus of the Furniture Studio, joined Roark and Steve for the festivities. There was a great turnout, a delicious buffet, and some very creative pieces of furniture on display.
When it came time to present the awards, our showing was undeniably impressive:
- Two Honorable Mention awards went to Ganesh Shrestha‘s Walnut Work Table, 2019, and Veronica Restrepo’s Walnut Lounge Chair, 2018.
- Most Functional Design was won by Ingrid Pelletier, 2019 for her Round Steel table, with removable storage underneath.
- Josiah Wu, 2019, brought home the trophy for Best Craftsmanship for his steel and leather lounge chair.
- Best Undergraduate Piece went to Sonny Han, 2019, for his Danish/Asian-inspired walnut dining table.
- Best Professional Piece was awarded to Steven Withycombe, for his Rolling Liquor Bar.
It was a great trip, and we are very proud of our students and the hard work they put into their designs. Congratulations to the student/faculty team!
