Each year, Metropolis sets out to designate the top graduating architecture and interior design students in the United States and Canada. The program, sponsored by Armstrong, Daltile, Formica, Interface, Kawneer, Keilhauer, Sherwin-Williams, and Yabu Pushelberg, invited the most talented students from the class of 2023 to apply. “Supporting the next generation of designers not only affirms our values but is necessary for the success of the industry as a whole,” says Rowan Thompson, brand strategy manager at Yabu Pushelberg.

Nominated by their instructors and mentors, these 50 interior design and 50 architecture students were chosen by the Metropolis team. They hail from some of the best schools in North America, from Yale University to the University of California, Los Angeles, and call anywhere from Miramar, Florida, to Bellevue, Washington, home. A diverse group—with many women, as well as those who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, or neurodivergent—they are leaders on their campuses, advocating for equity and inclusion through their work and extracurriculars.

The final 100 feature three of SCE’s own BFA and MFA Interior Design students across the undergraduate and graduate honorees. Congratulations to Young Kim, Annabelle Schneider, and Namita Chandrashekar!

Young Kim

NOMINATOR: Carly Cannell, Interim Director of BFA Interior Design Program and Assistant Professor of Interior Design

A true innovator, Young’s mutli-valent and sensitive design approach is rooted in exploration and inspired by fashion; the relationship between construction, aesthetics and the body. Centered on storytelling through materiality, space and form, Young’s approach to interior design is exemplified through his rich visualization skills, resulting in a narrative that is innovative and provocative.

Annabelle Schneider

NOMINATOR: Michele Gorman, Director of the MFA Interior Design Program & Assistant Professor of Interiors, Objects, and Te
chnologies

Annabelle is a dual interior designer and strategist with an accomplished background in branding, spatial installations, and event design. Creating spaces with multi-sensory touchpoints to intensify user experiences is always her goal. Her empathetic and allegorical approach to the design process allows her to imagine, write and translate stories into immersive experiences.

Namita Chandrashekar

NOMINATOR: Gökhan Kodalak, Part-time Lecturer

Namita is a holistic designer, whose animate interiors embody an anomalous combination of abundant generativity, meticulous analytical methodology, and mature ecological sensibility. She has a radical grasp of underlying forces that inform the built and natural environments and does not shy away from channeling hard-to-detect vectors and invisible field conditions into her elaborate designs.

To learn more about the honorees and their incredible work, visit Metropolis here.