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

September 17, 2025
Jessica Garza is one of 15 undergraduate interior design students in North America to receive this honor this year in the form of a $30,000 scholarship.
Three people sit on modern, colorful furniture around a yellow table with a book and two items in this architectural rendering. The room has a minimalist design with soft blue, teal, and yellow tones and a large rug under the table.

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!  

3D abstract shapes in blue, yellow, and white, arranged in a symmetrical, exploded view. The pieces appear segmented and floating, with dotted lines connecting corresponding parts across the central axis.

 

Architectural floor plan of an office space with various workstations (yellow), meeting rooms, lounge areas, and amenities including a pool table, curved staircase, and outdoor area; north is indicated on the bottom right.

 

Architectural rendering of a person sitting at a chunky, pastel-colored desk with a matching chair, working on a laptop. A colorful bookcase stands nearby, and a map hangs on the wall above a rug. The scene is softly lit and minimalist.

 

Architectural rendering of a modern, colorful interior with geometric seating in blue, teal, and yellow. Two people stand in the space, one using a phone. The floor has abstract designs and the walls feature terrazzo patterns.

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