Jessica Garza (BSID '26) Wins 2025 Angelo Donghia Senior Scholarship in Interior Design

Undoubtedly one of the most prestigious student interior design awards, the Angelo Donghia Senior Scholarship in Interior Design is the largest interior design scholarship in the United States. Jessica Garza joins an impressive list of UTSOA Interior Design program alums who were honored with the same award in the past.  

Garza's winning competition submission project is named “PAR-TOY-TION": a modular and adaptable partition system that was developed for a student housing context. PAR-TOY-TION is essentially portable poche, reimagining what a partition can be through a design meant for disassembly. It relies on elements found in traditional domestic spaces to define programs within the interior. Individual “Toy”-like pieces allow the user to compact multiple spatial configurations within a dense blueprint. It is up to the user to define the spaces they need, and PAR-TOY-TION aids in that fostering of agency.  

Through flexible unit configurations, students of all needs and schedules can comfortably create and collaborate. The interior strategy demonstrates the capacity of a domestic environment to be flexible, adaptable, and resilient. Seating heights, table heights, and reach ranges are within the comfortable and accessible dimensions needed for a variety of users, including ADA. The proposed system is intended to be made from lightweight recycled cast plastic.  

The project was based on her design work in Design V Interiors course taught by Assistant Professor Ria Bravo. Bravo also served as the advisor to Jessica as she worked on her final submission at the end of the spring semester. 

On her project, Garza writes: “Traditionally, partitions are known to be solid, static, and unchangeable. The ability to transform partitions into adaptable systems can heavily influence user interaction and space within interiors. The poche is a spatial element that can be inhabited, manipulated, and transformed."  

Join us in congratulating Jessica on this impressive achievement!