Students, Alums Make Award-Winning Appearance at Interior Design Show

Objects designed by Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU) community members appeared throughout Vancouver’s largest design show in September, with students and alums taking home several awards for their work.

The Interior Design Show’s (IDS) Prototype exhibit featured work by nearly a dozen students, alums and faculty members, with Xuanpu Huang (BDes 2023) earning the Juror’s Choice Award for his work Cradle.

“I was happy and very grateful to have received this award,” Xuanpu says from Helsinki, Finland, where he is currently completing his Master of Design degree at Aalto University. His thesis work, which focuses on the intersection of chemical engineering and design, is a new, leather-like biomaterial made from wood.

Due to his studies — as well as his participation in Helsinki Design Week — Xuanpu was unable to attend IDS this year and relied on friends and IDS contacts to prepare his exhibit.

“I didn’t have a plan for this. But I hope it will give me some exposure to find a job when I return to Vancouver. So that’s awesome. The best.

Meanwhile, second-year Industrial Design students Ophir Barzilay, Jonah Randell and Sarah Wohlgemuth won the People’s Choice Award for their collaborative work, GOOEY Lamp, designed as part of their coursework at ECU.

“It was an honour to have GOOEY accepted into IDS alone, and to be recognized by the attendees for our work multiplied that greatly,” Sarah says. “It was truly affirming to have so many people interacting with the lamp and to receive such positive feedback. What made it so much more special was getting to present alongside our instructor, Avery Shaw.”

Jonah notes GOOEY was created for a class project prompted by the word “care.”

“We knew we could work well together,” Jonah says of the team’s collaboration. “Our brains had similar goals for what we wanted to achieve for the lamp. Since the class project ended, GOOEY has continued to develop through the same collaborative process, where truth to ourselves and to play, creativity and excitement are at the forefront.”

Ophir is now leading GOOEY Lamp’s next production phase, including as part of a Directed Studies class supervised by Keith Doyle, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Design.

“With the support of my group members, I am working on developing the product for manufacturing as well as continuing to experiment with form and play,” she says. “The GOOEY Lamp is an ever-expanding project with lots more to enjoy. All of us have pieces we are excited to continue to develop.”

GOOEY Lamp also earned a notable mention in the Juror’s Choice category, tying for the honour with Kirby McLean’s (BDes 2024) Sew Sow: Exploring Materiality and Sustainability through Beeswax Vessels.

Other ECU community members featured in the Prototypes showcase include alum and faculty member Avery Shaw (MDes 2018), Liam Borsa (BDes 2024), Natalia Coronado (BDes 2024), current Master of Design student Shayla Giroux (BFA 2021), Jinger Li (BDes 2024) and Annaka Hoelk (BDes 2023), who returned to the exhibit following her appearance at IDS 2023 where she won Juror’s Choice Award.

This impressive showing extends a string of award-winning IDS appearances for ECU community members. 2023 BDes grad Edwina Liao (who was recently featured in Dezeen Magazine’s showcase of Vancouver designers) took home the People’s Choice Awards in 2023. And in 2022, Kevin Tsuyuki Tomlinson (BDes 2012) won the People’s Choice Award, while Paula Torres (BDes 2022) was awarded Juror’s Choice.

“I am just so pleased to see and hear of the great successes of our alumni and current students at IDS 2024,” says Keith Doyle. “It is truly remarkable that the creative outcomes at all levels of our design program were on display. Alumni and current students from the Master of Design program and the Bachelor of Design degree program had work featured across the show. IDS remains a tremendous opportunity for emergent designers to show and exhibit alongside established industry and commercial enterprise, and is a fabulous opportunity for learning beyond the classroom for students and alumni alike. Congratulations to all of this year’s award winners.”

IDS 2024 also featured a Future Neighbourhood exhibit, which explored how “interior design will continue to adapt to and shape our lives.” Future Neighbourhood included a suite of works by Industrial Design students created in early 2024 for a course led by designer and ECU faculty member Christian Blyt.

Known as the Cart Project, the course saw third-year students create portable structures for food preparation, service and enjoyment in public outdoor spaces. The structures were built from sustainable lumber supplied by Can-Do! Green Technologies’ product Urbanjacks, which diverts wood waste from locations such as construction sites and movie sets and recycles it into premium lumber.

Now in their fourth year, students including David Alano, Jay Ang, Ethan Bockman, Victoria Chan, Yi Cong, Oscar Derban, Luke Dunn, Eden Eisses, Ariana Felicity, Neo Ide, Hangyeol Kim, Yoona Kim, Ilya Koveshnikov, Mathis Pourrier, Maxim Rockel, Anitta Twardzik, Aradhita Virmani, Ankedo Zake and Zhezao Zhang were on hand throughout the show to interact with attendees and talk about their work.

“Appearing at IDS represents an exciting and important step into the world of professional practice,” says designer and faculty member Christian Blyt, who teaches Industrial Design at ECU.

“Students in the Future Neighbourhood exhibit oversaw curation and arrangement of their work and got the chance to speak with the public as well as the design community, all while standing shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the biggest names in contemporary design. It’s a testament to their brilliance and dedication that their work shines amidst a show packed with thoughtful design.”