Virginia Tech’s Industrial Design Program, part of the School of Architecture + Design has been selected to present their work at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Javits Center in New York May 14-17. Virginia Tech and five other schools were winners of the ICFF Design School competition and the winning work will be exhibited at the fair.

The 17th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair is North America’s premier event for contemporary design, drawing design professionals to an extraordinary display of the world’s cutting-edge modern furniture, a rigorous curriculum of programs, and a full calendar of exhibits and features. More than 18,000 interior designers, architects, retailers, facility managers, wholesalers, store design professionals, hotel and restaurant designers, manufacturers, students, and media participate. Part of the fair each year is the ICFF Design School competition, where educational institutions submit work which must formulate a problem and present a design solution in the form of original student-designed products and prototypes.

The Industrial Design Program in the School of Architecture + Design’s winning entry is “Material Presence,” which presents new research by students into the expressive capacities of materials and processes. Areas of research included experiments into non-normative uses of materials: plaster, fiber, paper and more. The resultant revelation of each material’s hidden qualities, and the ways in which they transform perception and even use, provide the basis of displays that are designed to inspire, intrigue, and awe.

This is the second time in three years that Virginia Tech has been honored by having their work selected to participate in the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. In 2003, student work won the Editors Award – the industry’s highest accolade bestowed from editors of U.S. and international design publications -- for Best Design School.

In addition to Virginia Tech, the winning schools are Clemson University School of Architecture, Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Virginia Tech’s Industrial Design Program is committed to the development of ethical responsibility, innovative research and corporate partnerships. An education in Industrial Design at Virginia Tech places the humanistic delivery of services, systems, and products at the forefront of technological development. The School of Architecture + Design, part of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, offers a Bachelor of Architecture (NAAB-accredited), Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design (NASAD-accredited), and Bachelor of Science in Interior Design (FIDER-accredited), as well as Master of Architecture, Master of Science in Architecture, and Ph.D. in Environmental Design and Planning.

The College of Architecture and Urban Studies is one of the largest of its type in the nation. CAUS is composed of two schools and the departments of landscape architecture, building construction, and art and art history. The School of Architecture + Design includes programs in architecture, industrial design and interior design. The School of Public and International Affairs includes programs in urban affairs and planning, public administration and policy, and government and international affairs. The college enrolls more than 2,000 students offering 22 degrees programs taught by 160 faculty members.

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