Student takes top honours in design competition
FIRST PRIZE: Kriska Liebenberg with her nesting chair, which won this year’s 12 IZITULO Design Challenge sponsored by Leon on CCXIX and St Leger and Viney
Friday, 06 October 2017
Interior Design student, Kriska Liebenberg, recently won a prestigious competition, which will see her winning chair being manufactured and sold by a renowned Cape Town-based furniture-maker.
Kriska won prize money of R10 000 and will also get a percentage of future sales for her nesting chair, which as the name implies was inspired by a bird’s nest.
Hers was one of two designs submitted by BTech students and entered into the 12 IZITULO Design Challenge by senior lecturer Colleen Cocotos. Safoora Ebrahim, whose entry was among the 12 finalists, was the other CPUT student participating in the competition.
“I am completely ecstatic to have won such an amazing competition, but it took a while for the news to sink in,” says Kriska, adding, “I could hardly believe they had chosen my design, considering how beautiful and innovative the other chair designs were.”
The winner was announced at an event where the finalists' designs were showcased at the Leon on CCXIX showroom in Woodstock. Leon on CCXIC together with St Leger & Viney sponsored the competition.
The competition brief required that entrants design a contemporary armchair, dining chair, occasional chair or bar stool using, among others, fabric, timber, metal or wool. Describing her creative process, Kriska explained that she first decides on a muse, then develops “the initial concept through research and sketches until the original idea transforms into a solid design”.
She’s confident that winning will open doors for her in the future, but for now she’s concentrating on completing her degree, before going out to see other parts of the world and then returning to pursue a career in her chosen field.
View the design concept for a better understanding of her chair here.
Written by Abigail Calata
News categories
- Advancement 13
- Alumni 77
- Awards 47
- Campus Life 20
- Community Engagement 163
- Disability Unit 12
- Applied Sciences 110
- Business & Management Sciences 96
- Education 101
- Engineering & the Built Environment 142
- Health & Wellness Sciences 119
- Informatics & Design 82
- Fundani CHED 24
- Funding 17
- GBV 16
- Graduation 88
- HIV/Aids Unit 39
- Know Your CPUT 65
- Libraries 18
- News 3814
- RTIP 299
- Residences (Accommodation) 16
- Staff 667
- SIIP 39
- Students 1315
- Student Health 44
- Sport, Arts & Culture 128
- SRC 4
- Student Affairs 11
- University Leadership 19
- Varsity Shield 17
- Vice-Chancellor 22
- Work-Integrated Learning 22
- THENSA 11
