04/22/21

AMES, Iowa — Two Iowa State University interior design students have been named to the inaugural Metropolis Future 100 list of the top architecture and interior design graduates of the class of 2021.

Sponsored by Metropolis magazine, the Metropolis Future 100 recognizes 50 interior design and 50 architecture students (undergraduate and graduate) nominated by their instructors and mentors for their outstanding leadership, design and advocacy for equity and inclusion. Their work is posted on the Metropolis website and appears in the magazine’s March/April issue, on newsstands now.

Iowa State’s Angélica Lebrón Aponte, a senior in interior design from Caguas, Puerto Rico, and Julia Schettler, an interior design graduate student from Des Moines, were selected from nearly 300 total nominees for the honor. They were each required to submit a 15-page digital portfolio highlighting three design projects, including concept development, color palette, floor plans, sections and perspectives.

Nominated by interior design assistant professor Julie Irish, Lebrón Aponte chose to feature a senior living facility, a music and coffee shop and a proposed redesign of the ISU Landscape Architecture Building into a multicultural center for students and faculty. Her work focused on sustainable and functional design that emphasizes green building practices and accessibility.

She will receive a bachelor of fine arts in interior design from Iowa State at the bachelor’s commencement ceremony Saturday, May 8.

Schettler, who was nominated by interior design assistant professor Jae-Hwa Lee, chose projects that promote well-being with calm, welcoming environments, including a hospice facility, transitional housing for teens on the autism spectrum and a redesign of the Landscape Architecture Building to support students, faculty and staff in the Intensive English Orientation Program.

She will receive a master of arts in interior design at the university’s master’s commencement ceremony Friday, May 7.

Contacts

Angélica Lebrón Aponte, Interior Design senior, amlebron@iastate.edu
Julia Schettler, Interior Design graduate student, jrschet@iastate.edu
Julie Irish, Interior Design, jenirish@iastate.edu
Jae-Hwa Lee, Interior Design, jaehwa@iastate.edu
Heather Sauer, Design Communications, hsauer@iastate.edu

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