UO students win design excellence awards in Denmark

Interior architecture award winner Lisa Hartanov (center) with Architecture and Design (AD) Faculty Birgitte Borup and visiting Faculty Markus Berger of the Rhode Island School of Design
Interior architecture award winner Lisa Hartanov (center) is congratulated by Architecture and Design (AD) Faculty Birgitte Borup and visiting Faculty Markus Berger of the Rhode Island School of Design. All photographs courtesy Henning Thomsen.

Three University of Oregon A&AA students brought home awards from the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS) Architecture and Design Program in Copenhagen this summer. The UO students were among 174 American university students participating in the program.

The UO winners were:

  • Graduate interior architecture student Lisa Hartanov, Design Excellence Award for her work in the interior architecture studio
  • Undergraduate architecture student Jiawei (Vincent) Mai, Design Excellence Award for his work in the architecture studio
  • Undergraduate interior architecture student Natalie Joy Nicholson, Kaare Klint Special Award for her work in the furniture (metal) studio.

“Our programs of architecture and interior architecture always have a steady flow of students who attend DIS each year, and for years we have heard of the value our students bring with them,” said Associate Professor Alison Snyder, director of the Interior Architecture Program at UO. “DIS draws their students from all over the U.S.A., so studios are filled with a very interesting mix of backgrounds and abilities. With three awards, this year is a wonderful validation of how our students excel in group settings showing off their creativity and abilities.”

Some examples of Hartanov’s work.
Some examples of Hartanov’s work.

DIS Program Director Henning Thomsen described the students’ experiences as ranging “from making chairs to envisioning a new identity for harbor farming in Copenhagen, from temporary pavilions in the Kings New Garden to New Nordic Food Stands on Paper Island to creating more recreative opportunities for people along the lakes in Copenhagen,” he wrote in The AD Journal, a blog documenting the students’ experience.

“It has been an exceptional thrill to have the U of Oregon students with us this summer,” Thomsen wrote in an email to Snyder.

Noted UO Department of Architecture Head Judith Sheine, “We are very pleased that three of our students were recognized by the DIS faculty with these awards and that our UO architecture and interior architecture students are excelling both here at UO and in international programs.”

Architecture award winner Jiawei (Vincent) Mai with AD Faculty Marie Louise Holst.
Architecture award winner Jiawei (Vincent) Mai with AD Faculty Marie Louise Holst.

A sample of Mai’s work.
A sample of Mai’s work.

Natalie Nicholson, winner of the Kaare Klint Special Award, is congratulated by AD Faculty Flemming Steen Jensen.
Natalie Nicholson, winner of the Kaare Klint Special Award, is congratulated by AD Faculty Flemming Steen Jensen.

An image of Nicholson’s chair.
An image of Nicholson’s chair.