Cal Poly Architecture Students Compete at 16th Annual Vellum/CAED Furniture Design Exhibition

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Nearly 200 Cal Poly architecture students will compete for a trip to Milan, Italy, at the 16th annual Vellum/CAED Furniture Design Exhibition on Nov. 1-2 in downtown San Luis Obispo.

A reception will be held starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, at The Creamery Marketplace, 570 Higuera St. Entries also will be on display to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2.

Vellum Design Build, a San Luis Obispo design-and-build firm, and the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Cal Poly team up to sponsor the annual competition that asks students to conceive and construct projects that range from tables and chairs to light fixtures, toys and other furniture design solutions.

“This competition reconfirms the notion that students can seek validation in their work through the design and fabrication of small-size, full-scale realizations to refine their design language and to test out body-scaled use programs such as seating, lighting and tables,” said co-organizer Tom di Santo, a professor in Cal Poly’s Architecture Department. “It is amazing to see so many brilliant examples of Learn by Doing that the students achieve in such a short time.

“Vellum provides a true life-test case employing real budgets, real materials, real engagement with suppliers, fabricators and manufacturers plus real design timelines and construction schedules not typically incorporated into academic enterprise.”

About 195 Cal Poly students will participate. Designs must be original and fabricated by each student or team of students. Their projects will be judged on function, individuality and beauty by a panel of experts in their field. 

The student or team of students who design the top project, and receive The Space Architects’ Milano Grand Prize, will get tickets to Milan, Italy, in April for the Salone International del Mobile. It’s the world’s largest trade fair that annually showcases the latest in furniture and design from countries around the globe.

The annual Vellum Furniture Competition has always been housed in temporary downtown quarters, but this year promises something different.

The furniture will be primarily set up in the former Bikram Yoga Studio in The Creamery, but pieces also will be interspersed outside between the courtyard and more than a dozen businesses. These include restaurants (Mama’s Meatball, Goshi Sushi and La Esquina Taqueria), bars and coffee houses (Withco Coffee, Cider Bar SLO and Joliene’s Bakery) as well as other establishments such as the Nite Creamery, Trio Boutique clothing, Picking Daisies quilt shop, American Shaman West hemp oil and SeaBreeze Cupcakes.

“Come for the furniture and stay for the food and libations,” di Santo said.

The Vellum competition began in 2004 as a way to inspire creative thought and challenge participants to press the boundaries of design, while offering a tangible experience and exposure to industry professionals.

The competition seeks to celebrate the students’ work and serve as a bridge between the Cal Poly student community and the larger community of San Luis Obispo, di Santo added.

Judging this year’s event will be: Monica Oller and Tom Pejic, architects and product designers from Los Angeles; Nitsan Yomtov, a designer from the Pacific Northwest who, as a Cal Poly undergraduate in 2005, was the grand prize winner at the second annual Vellum competition; Silvia Manca, senior designer and project manager for SPaCe Architecture, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Milan, Miami and Toronto; Beate Von Bischopinck, an architect and lecturer in Cal Poly’s City and Regional Planning Department; and Pepe Sanchez, designer and steel fabricator for San Luis Obispo-based Deadwood Revival Design.

For more information on Vellum visit:https://architecture.calpoly.edu/current/exhibitions/vellum. 

About the College of Architecture and Environmental Design
With more than 1,900 students, Cal Poly’s acclaimed College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) is the only program of its type in the nation with nine degree programs in five closely related departments: architectural engineering, architecture, city and regional planning, construction management, and landscape architecture. For more than half of a century, the CAED programs and 16,000 alumni have been a positive influence on the forces that shape the planning, design and construction worlds. Learn more at www.caed.calpoly.edu.

Lindsey Cook, an architecture senior from Branden, Florida, works on her Vellum entry: a “conversation” settee, made of wood frame and sheet metal (and comfortable upholstered foam pads), that will allow two people to sit in silence next to each other. It is one of scores of unique designs students are rushing to finish. They must complete entries by 5 p.m. on Thursday. The two-day Vellum show will open on Friday with a reception at The Creamery in downtown San Luis Obispo and a public display on Saturday. 

Note to editors: Students will be working in the construction shop from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today and Wednesday. There are visual opportunities as students play beat the clock to build their visions for Vellum and an opportunity to win a trip to a furniture show in Milan next April.

Contact: Tom Di Santo
805-234-1727; tdisanto@calpoly.edu

October 29, 2019

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