The University of Iowa 3D Design Program, housed within the UI School of Art and Art History in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was one of just five participants in CONNECT, a prestigious international student design exhibition and competition held this month in Chicago.
CONNECT, in its first year, is affiliated with SOFA Chicago, the world’s foremost fair devoted to sculpture objects, functional art, and design. Presented alongside nearly 70 galleries, five unique design environments—installations where fair visitors can sit, engage in discussion, and discover new works and trends in design—created by top art and design schools were displayed throughout the fair at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall Nov. 1-3.
The UI 3D Design Program students, advised by UI associate professor Monica Correia, took inspiration for their multimedia installation from a drawing of a storm cloud by Leonardo da Vinci. The CONNECT space designed by UI students created a unique environment where the natural world and the technological world lived in harmony. Utilizing sustainable wood, lights, and sensors, the space featured unique seating, forms abstracted from the drawings, lighting, and audio elements.
“It was an amazing professional experience for the students,” Correia says. “The students were busy throughout the exhibition, talking with people of various interests about the installation design and their individual skills. People wanted to interact with the students’ creation, to sit down on the furniture.
“For the students it was a dream come true,” she added.
The UI students were joined by artists from the Edinburgh College of Art, the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn (which took top honors), and the University of California at Davis in this premier competition.
“To hear that we were selected to participate in the SOFA Connect competition was absolutely wonderful and very exciting,” says Charles Romans, a 3D design student who oversaw the UI installation. “This was a great opportunity to learn about setting up a professional installation space and showcasing what the 3D Design Program was all about. It gave us valuable exposure and experience, and it was a great joy to see our work showcased in a professional setting, to see the excitement on everyone's faces.”
As the project leader, Romans coordinated the build and layout of the booth, which forced him to be creative with scheduling the various phases within everyone's class schedules and jobs.
“The most challenging part was to stay on schedule and keep everyone focused,” Romans says. “Remember, this was the first time we have done anything of this magnitude, during the academic session, no less.”
Their efforts were met with high praise from Correia. “The students were very professional throughout, working together as a professional group.”
She wasn’t the only one who walked away impressed. “We received many positive comments from the public and SOFA attendees—how impressed they were to learn that the work and booth were designed and created by the design students in the program,” Romans says. “They were amazed with the professionalism we displayed. This made all the long hours and hard work very satisfying and rewarding.”
Correia is no stranger to this sort of event; her work has been presented at art and design exhibitions in London, New York, Milan, and throughout South America.
“The students were able to have a chance to experience something similar to the places I’ve been, and take an important step toward gaining visibility for the creative, functional work we do in our program,” Correia says. “And our participation let visitors know all about the university’s 3D Design Program.
“It really put the program on the map.”