Two Interior Design Faculty Recognized by Interior Design Educators Council

School of Architecture Interior Design faculty have been recognized with awards from the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC).

Assistant Professor Nerea Feliz was awarded the 2020 Teaching Excellence Award which recognizes the “development and delivery of a specific educational experience that yields exceptional student learning.” According to the IDEC Awards Committee, “the awards Nerea’s students have [recently] won are evidence of her teaching excellence. [Nerea’s] student projects showcase [her] view of interior design beyond interior spaces; it positions design as central to human expression in our society.” For three consecutive years, from 2017-2019, students in Nerea’s interior design studios have been recognized with the largest interior design scholarship in the United States, the $30,000 Angelo Donghia Senior Scholarship in Interior Design. Recently, Nerea’s students have also been awarded two Gensler Brinkmann Scholarships, named as finalists in the ASID’s National Student Portfolio Competition and the International Interior Design Association’s (IIDA) Texas Oklahoma Chapter Student Show, and projects completed in her courses have been exhibited and published, nationally and internationally.

Associate Professor Tamie Glass was also recognized by IDEC with the 2020 Book Award for her book “Prompt: Socially Engaging Objects and Environments” published in June 2018. The IDEC Awards Committee remarked that the book is a “dynamic contribution to Interior Design pedagogy.” As a thought starter for designers, “Prompt” was inspired by Tamie’s class Designing for Human Behavior. It explores the nonverbal ways individuals relate to their surroundings, and the power of constructed spaces to promote social interactions, encourage changes in behavior, shape perceptions, and challenge accepted cultural norms. Featuring a curated selection of high- and low-tech examples that express timely and timeless concepts, the projects highlighted within the book illuminate psychosocial principles and specific strategies for harnessing the power of design to impact the human experience.

The Spring 2018 exhibition “Robotic Interiors: Machinic Domains,” designed and curated by Associate Professor Kory Bieg, Associate Professor Clay Odom, and Research Scientist Associate Ben Rice, was also recognized by IDEC as the 2020 Best in Category – Creative Scholarship, Design as Interior. Projects in this category explore the entire spectrum of built or fabricated design, exploring design intimately related to the interior built environment. The “Machinic Domains” exhibition surveyed a range of robotic-based research at the School of Architecture, highlighting alternative domains for future research across all disciplines using robotics. Design and fabrication support for “Machinic Domains” was provided by UTSOA students Philip Richardson, Bruno Canales, Holden Smith, and Rachel Deschner.

Join us in congratulating our faculty on their well-deserved recognition. For more information about the Interior Design Educators Council, visit: https://www.idec.org/