Innovative thinking has earned a graduate from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) a coveted award at the UK’s biggest platform for showcasing creative graduate designs to the industry and public.
Exhibiting her work at DMU's Degree Show
Amie Vantomme beat competition from 14 of her DMU peers and hundreds of exhibitors from 30 other institutions to scoop third place in the Interior Educator’s Award for the Best Student Studio Degree Project in the UK.
The judges at Free Range recognised the Interior Design graduate for her final major project - The Underground Park – which explored the social consequences of the world’s rapidly growing population in a highly urban society.
Her designs transformed a confined and obsolete underground bomb raid tunnel in South London’s Stockwell, into a welcoming, interactive and multifunctional public space.
The 21-year-old said: “It was amazing to have the opportunity to showcase my work to people in the industry, and to have it recognised and appreciated so highly was a complete surprise to me.
“It gives me great confidence as a designer, to start implementing my skills into projects in the real world! The award has given me confidence that my project would work and could become a reality!
The Underground Park: Amie's award-winning final year project
Amie is now working as a designer at Leonard Design Architects in London, after impressing them during a yearlong placement in her third year at DMU.
The recent graduate is involved with all stages of the design process - from research and concept development, to design proposals and design development - for a wide range of projects worldwide.
She said: “We work with clients all over the world on projects of different sizes and covering areas like interior, architectural and exterior, as well as all kinds of sectors including residential, retail, leisure, public, commercial, hospitality and so on.”
“Originally I wanted to look for jobs in Australia, but the opportunities for me to grow as a designer in my current firm are immense, so those plans might go on hold for now.”
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Amie felt well-supported by DMU in preparing for her placement year, saying: “Placement was the best thing I could have done as it allowed me to develop the professional skills to really push myself in my third year.”
Amie's revamp of the London underground was shortlisted in the national RSA Student Design Awards
Her hard work paid off as earlier this year Amie was shortlisted in the final five of the national RSA Student Design Awards for her ambitious re-design of the London underground system to better support people with ‘hidden’ disabilities such as anxiety, claustrophobia and dyslexia.
She and two other DMU students, Deborah Abidakun and Jessica Puttock, were selected from a total of 68 entries, with Deborah taking the top award.
Just before graduating this summer, Amie was also awarded by DMU with a Christopherson award for creativity and the School of Design award for outstanding achievement.
She said: “The support from my tutors – as well as from Leonard Design Architects – helped me to execute my final project to a highly professional level, leading to the recognition and awards this year.
“My tutors also gave me the platform to express a highly imaginative, unusual and challenging project which I wouldn’t necessarily have been able to do in industry.”
Posted on Wednesday 10 August 2016