A student of the Bachelor of Science in Interior Design (BSID) degree program of the UE College of Fine Arts, Architecture and Design (CFAD) was declared Champion of the recently concluded 19th Estilo De Vida (EDV) Inter-school Interior Design Competition!
Winning the national competition鈥檚 highly coveted, topmost prize is Elisha Gail M. Quanico, a third-year UE CFAD-BSID student, for her splendorous entry titled 鈥淟araya鈥�.
Miss Quanico鈥檚 entry is the undeniable best among the entries in adhering to the 2022 competition鈥檚 theme of 鈥淒esigning Spaces for Developing Minds,鈥� which called for a 鈥渃hildren鈥檚 library design incorporating innovative and flexible shelving solutions, safe and ergonomic furniture, and an overall environment conducive to learning, with the objective of establishing significant connections between the interior design community and the suppliers, contractors, design professionals, and educators relevant to its practice.鈥�
Estilo De Vida is an annual competition and is one of the anticipated features of Philconstruct, an annual trade show on construction materials organized by Philippine Constructors Association, Inc. (PCA), together with Philconstruct Events, in cooperation with Exhibitions and Conferences Corp. (PEECC), and the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers (PIID). The competition provides interior design students the opportunity to present their competency to well-respected contractors and interior designers in the country. Competition participants must be certified third- or fourth-year interior design students of their respective schools at the time of the competition. The participating schools can submit a maximum of five individual entries from as many entrants.
For its 19th edition, Estilo De Vida partnered with LINKS Building Bridges for Children, Inc., whose main objective is to find organizational partners to help build Hooked on Books (HOB) Libraries in select public schools around the Philippines. (LINKS stands for Linking Individuals to Nurture Kids鈥� Success.) The winning designs of the competition鈥檚 top three finalists will be implemented in selected beneficiary public school libraries using the resources and donated materials from sponsors and contractors.
This year also marked the first time for the competition鈥檚 top three finalist entries to be physically built onsite following the virtual conduct of the competition in 2020 and 2021. Specifically, the 2022 EDV was part of the Philconstruct exhibit from November 3-6, 2022, at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
The competition鈥檚 ceremonial Top 3 Final Pitch was held last November 4, where Miss Quanico went on to be declared Champion. Likewise present at the event was UE CFAD senior BSID faculty member and licensed interior designer (IDr.) Brigid Abao Sarmiento, herself a 1983 graduate of the then Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) major in Interior Design program of what was then the UE School of Fine Arts and was Miss Quanico鈥檚 adviser for the competition. Their successful efforts won a P150,000 cash prize for Miss Quanico and a P50,000 cash prize for Prof. Sarmiento.
This marks the first time for a UE contingent to win the grand prize at Estilo De Vida, which the University had been joining since 2005. UE students had won 2nd Runner-up on two different EDVs and had been among the finalists.
Miss Quanico鈥檚 winning interior design entry, which was the best among 65 entries in all from various universities and colleges nationwide, will be a permanent installation at the Alfonso Elementary School in Cavite. Her inspiring design is named 鈥淟araya鈥� as a fusion of 鈥渓ago鈥� (growth) and 鈥渉araya鈥� (imagination) and is a grand motivational realization of a timeless quote that it prominently displays, credited to 19th-century American journalist Sarah Margaret Fuller: 鈥淭oday a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader鈥�.
Also participating in the 19th EDV and emerging in the top seven roster of entrants and advised by IDr. Sarmiento is Kota Pari帽a, himself a UE CFAD BSID junior whose entry was titled 鈥淟ikha-Gabay鈥�. In all, IDr. Sarmiento encouraged all 21 members of her current Interior Design 5 class members to submit entries for the 2022 EDV through their respective prelim-period plates.
Miss Quanico and Prof. Sarmiento credit many behind-the-scenes suppliers and personnel for their victory, including officers and staffers of Datem Incorporated, Boysen Paints, CW UU直播 Depot, Landlite, Global Links, the EDV Exhibition committee, LINKS, as well as the UE CFAD Student Council and its student organization Society of Interior Design Students (SIDS) and other UE BSID students.
Congratulations and kudos, Warrior BSID Winners!
[Info and photos courtesy of Prof. Brigid A. Sarmiento]