SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — As part of their com- mitment to community involvement Hagopian World of Rugs initiated a rug design competi- tion for students this year at the Lawrence Technological College of Architecture. The com- petition offers students a chance to submit their designs based on specific criteria and compete for scholarships.
The criteria, conceived by Suzanne and Edmond Hagopian, asked participants to create a design that would reflect the revitalization and urban renewal efforts in Detroit. Student participation surpassed all expectations with more than 150-plus entries. A panel of three judges from the local design community met to select three winners from a field of inspired entries. Judges were Laura Atkinson, interior designer; Harrell Scarcello, Scarcello Associates and Suzanne Hagopian.
On Thursday, May 4, the award presentations were made by Edmond Hagopian, president of the Hagopian World of Rugs, to the winning stu- dents at the Lawrence Tech School of Architecture Honors Exhibition. He also brought the rug that was produced using the first-place design for the students to see how the design concept translated into a rug. Scholarship awards furnished by Hagopian ranged from first place to honorable mention. The winners from Lawrence Tech included: Nichole Davis, junior, architecture, first place ($1,000), with her design that was inspired by “tires left around the city;” Josh Thornton, sophomore, architecture, second place, ($500), for his design inspired by overlapping grids; third place ($250) went to Rachel Kowalczyk, sophomore, architecture, for her design inspired by people reaching out to each other, and honorable mention, ($100), Tra Page, student, for her design inspired by revitalization in the city.
The Hagopian family are long-time support- ers of education and the cultural arts in the metro Detroit area. In addition to this competi- tion, they sponsor an annual rug design competition in collaboration with the College for Creative Studies; an annual design competition for aspiring interior design students in collabo- ration with the American Society of Interior Design (ASID) and host the Detroit Chamber Winds Nightnotes series bringing fine music to their Birmingham showroom at an affordable cost.