2007 Chair Affair Winners To Be Displayed at National Building Museum in Washington, DC

May 16, 2007 . . . The finalists in the 2007 Chair Affair sponsored by the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation (ICPF) and managed by the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) will be displayed at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC from July 18 to 23, 2007. These six finalists were selected from a record one hundred seventy six (176) entries, submitted by teams or individuals representing 56 universities and colleges.

The Chair Affair competition challenges architecture students to design chairs utilizing corrugated board and glue. The winning chair, designed by a group of Cornell University Students, provides public seating and can easily be visualized in an airport setting. The other five finalists cover a wide range of designs which demonstrate the versatility of corrugated.

The Chair Affair offers students the opportunity to learn more about the corrugated packaging industry and the many careers available for architecture, design, and graphic arts students. (www.careersincorrugated.org). Through the competition and other initiatives, the corrugated packaging industry is seeking to attract the next generation of innovative and skilled designers, and AIAS is introducing architecture students to the breadth of careers available to them.

In addition to the challenging jobs it offers, students are attracted to the “green” nature of the corrugated packaging industry. Corrugated products are made from renewable resources and the industry currently recycles over 76% of the containers it produces. This green emphasis will continue and many of today's graduates going into the industry will design tomorrow's reusable containers, as well as packaging and displays that use less material than even today.

The Cornell team will be one of the six finalists on display at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC from July 18 to 23, 2007. The prizes were awarded to:

Nicholette Chan, Andrew Kim and Jean You – Cornell University
First Place ($2500)

Cem Sinan Kayatekin – Auburn University
Second Place ($1500)

Andrew Rudolph and Travis Withers – University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Third Place ($1000)

The jury awarded Honorable Mentions ($500) to the following:

Yat-Hei Leung – University of Maryland – College Park

Christina Libetti and M. Boyce Postma – University of Colorado at Boulder

Sara Mikkelsen – University of Florida

The winners can be viewed on the competition Web site at www.aias.org/chairaffair. The finalist chairs will also be on display at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, July 18-23, 2007. The National Building Museum is open to the public Monday - Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm.