Twin Cities home shows will feature designs by Dunwoody students

Fourth-year architect student Max Timonen ran his fingers over where the armrest snapped off the wooden chair in his class project. Timonen glued back the piece and placed a warning sign in the center that read "cautious on armrests."

"We didn't realize in our lamination process it made the armrests fragile," he said. "And we didn't consider when you stand up from a chair you put all your weight on the front of them."

But he and his team, consisting of two other architecture students and two engineering students at Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis took the mistake in stride, completing the project — inspired by outdoor company Patagonia in time to be featured at the upcoming 2024 Minneapolis Home + Garden Show. There, Timonen and his team will present the project that took eight weeks to complete to homeowners and industry leaders.

This will be the first year Dunwoody students will present home furniture and decor they created at a series of large-scale home shows.

Show manager Bruce Evans put together the new exhibition not only as a way to offer great exposure for students, but also highlight up-and-coming trends.

"We want our attendees to be inspired and to show new ideas and innovation," Evans said. "It's an amazing opportunity for the students — they are going to be able to see what homeowners and consumers are looking for."

First, light fixtures created by Dunwoody students will be on display at the upcoming Minneapolis Home + Remodeling Show Feb. 2-4 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Erin Moren, instructor and fabrication lab manager, found dozens of lamps at a second-hand thrift store and had students understand the inner workings of those lamps before creating the pieces.

"We deconstructed the lamps to learn how the wiring and lamps were made and how it all comes together," she said. "Then they did some brand research as a kind of jumping-off point to come up with a new lamp design."

One of the components from the original lamp had to be part of the design and students had to utilize 3D printing as part of the assignment.

The budding designers branched out from there, with creations such as a skateboard lamp and another that had 3D-printed translucent flower petals that hung over each individual light.

"These students are going to be graduating as interior designers," Moren said. "My goal for them was to be informed [on the constructing process] so they know what needs to be considered in terms of materials and architecture in the future."

Meanwhile, the chairs will be featured at the 2024 Minneapolis Home + Garden Show, running Feb. 21-25 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Alonso Sierralta, Timonen's instructor at Dunwoody, said he chose three chairs from his class that will be featured in the "Tomorrow's Designer Showcase" based on how well students executed their creative vision and carried out their chosen design company's aesthetic.Alongside Timonen and his team's Patagonia-inspired creation, a chair with vertical wooden slats modeled after architect Zaha Hadid's work and another made out of hundreds of feet of rope will be on display.

Sierralta said in addition to a chance for students to showcase their works, they're learning how to honor history and integrate sustainability in new design.

"This is a chance for them to understand what the materials do and explore what's available [to make things out of what's] there," Sierralta said. "It's important for them to know the limitations of the process and materials."