Two NYSID students win IIDA's Design This! Challenge

Cinthia Chuang and karen Villanueva Create winning Faucet Concept

New York - April 8, 2011 - NYSID students Cinthia Chuang and Karen Villanueva won first place at the IIDA (International Interior Design Association) New York Chapter's first annual Design This! challenge. The event was held Thursday, March 31, 2011 at the Izzy+ Showroom in New York City and was sponsored by Brooklyn-based Watermark Design, a leading manufacturer of decorative plumbing fixtures, bathroom accessories, lighting, and hardware for the luxury commercial and residential market. Dyan Grey and Jess Silverio, also from NYSID, received honorable mention.

Design This!, open to all students from interior design schools, grew out of IIDA's Annual Speed Mentoring event. Participants were given a design problem upon registration at the event (inspired by the “Iron Chef” TV show’s “secret ingredient” challenge). This year's competitors were divided into groups of two and three and asked by Watermark Design Vice President,  Jack Abel, to design a new, original faucet with specific code and ADA requirements that also  incorporated the concept of "neo-geo." Watermark Design is creating a prototype of the winning design for Chuang and Villanueva to keep and is even considering putting the design into production. A sketch of the pair's winning design will appear on the Kitchen + Bath website.

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About NYSID
Founded in 1916, the New York School of Interior Design (NYSID) is New York’s only private, not-for-profit college devoted exclusively to interior design education and related disciplines. NYSID’s guiding principle is that the interior environment is a fundamental element of human welfare, and the college is committed to actively improving, through design, the quality of life for all segments of humanity. This ideal is put into practice by a dedicated faculty of well-known designers, architects, art historians, and authorities in the field who guide a diverse student body of over 750 full- and part-time students. NYSID offers certificate, undergraduate and graduate programs in the fields of interior design, design history and theory, interior lighting, and sustainable design. The college is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and NYSID’s BFA is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA).