BOONE—Appalachian State University student Hugh Owings won first place for his chair design titled “One Man’s Treasure” in the Fifth Annual Berkline BenchCraft LLC Chair Design Competition sponsored by the university’s Department of Technology.

Appalachian State University’s Department of Technology held its fifth annual Berkline BenchCraft LLC Chair Design Competition May 1. Pictured are (left to right) Kern Maass of the department’s furniture design program and coordinator of the event; Matthew Agostinelli of Bernhardt Design and a competition judge; Matthew Jarrett, third place winner; Paul Veto, second place winner; Hugh Owings, first place winner; and Charlie Sutton of Furniture Review and a competition judge.
First-place winner “One Man’s Treasure” by Hugh Owings

Owings is a senior industrial design major from Boone. He received a plaque and $2,000. Second place went to Paul Veto with his chair design titled “Stretch.” He received a plaque and $1,500. Matthew Jarrett’s design, “Melt,” took third place with a plaque and $1,000.

“While we always look at the depth of a concept behind the student’s design, and how well the design was executed or crafted, this year’s contestants were exceptional,” said Charlie Sutton of Furniture Review and one of the competition’s judges. “The designs were intelligent, had a clever use of a range of materials, were environmentally and user friendly, and in several designs, very marketable. I would put these top three up against any design school in the country.”

The Department of Technology’s furniture design program prepares students to work in the ever-changing furniture industry and to remain competitive with the trend towards off-shoring of furniture production.

The competition is the culmination of student work throughout the academic year and is at the core of the program.

The pieces were judged on overall design, scale and proportion, choice of materials, workmanship, comfort, design application, reproduction and marketability. In addition to Sutton, Matthew Agostinelli from Bernhardt Design served as a judge.

Students will enter their pieces in the bi-annual Association of Woodworking and Furniture Suppliers (AWFS) Fresh Wood student competition in Las Vegas in 2009. In addition, Appalachian will host the 2009 Furniture Society Conference, an international gathering of more than 450 professionals, academia and students from the field of furniture.

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