5.15.2012 DI Students’ ‘Hot’ Design Design Institute students are known as go-getters who go above and beyond the rigors of school work and life to participate in contests and competitions. In keeping with this tradition Beth Stewart and Sarah Lindsay took park in the 20^th Annual Los Angeles American Institute of Architecture 1:2 Student Competition this fall. This competition is known for being intense; the students show up with no idea what they will be designing and must complete all of the requirements within six hours. This can be an overwhelming but Beth didn’t see it that way. “The first six hours of any project are my favorite six hours!” Although the competition itself was only one day, our students spent lots of time preparing. “You have to have everything because you don’t know what you’ll be designing,” Sarah said. So they raided the materials lab and packed two carloads full of stuff. It wasn’t until they arrived at ZGF Architects in downtown L.A. that they found out the project “was a concept for a pop-up restaurant for a food truck,” Beth explained. “It’s a semi-permanent situation so everything had to fit into an 8x8x20 storage container.” They were required to do a couple of elevations, a floor plan, custom furniture and a model, all to scale. They got right to work on the concept and floor plan. “It was called Fahrenheit Lounge so our whole floor plan ended up going around the little circle degree sign. In the middle we built a round fire pit and worked out from there so it was really cohesive,” Sarah said. Though they paced themselves well it all felt like a blur. “I don’t think we left our seats the whole time.” Beth and Sarah felt they learned a lot and were able to do some great networking over the dinner afterwards. “It was good just being around so many architects and designers. You never know if you’re going to win or lose so I think you have to learn to just enjoy it and take in the whole experience,” Sarah concluded. When asked about their skill level for the competition they were both confident. “I definitely feel the DI curriculum prepared us for everything we had to accomplish,” Beth stated. Sarah agreed: “We didn’t know we were going to have to do a furniture piece and I automatically whipped one out in ten minutes because I had Brindan for furniture design.” Both students are seniors with high hopes. Sarah wants to find a job in hospitality, and Beth is setting her sights on Disney. Accomplishing so much in so little time for this competition affirmed for both of them that they are ready to actualize their design dreams. Congratulations, ladies!