OCC student a winner for inspired design

Erika De la Parra has never traveled to Chicago for business, but her interior design skills and creativity have won her a spot in a national competition in the Windy City.

The interior design student, who will complete her associate of science degree from Orange Coast College in May, took first place with her team at the inaugural International Interior Design Assn. West Coast Student Design Charrette in April.

The competition, held in Los Angeles, showcased up-and-coming interior design talent from across the region. The winning team received an all-expenses-paid trip to Chicago in June to compete in the IIDA Student Design Charette during NeoCon 2015, a commercial interiors industry’s annual event, and a $10,000 scholarship to be shared among the members.

“It’s been amazing,” said De la Parra, 41. “I’m honored to represent Orange Coast College.”

Two years ago, when De la Parra enrolled in interior design courses at the community college, she said she never envisioned herself competing in a design tournament.

The Irvine resident had already graduated from OCC with an associate of arts degree. Going back, this time in the interior design program, is allowing her to pursue a job at a museum in exhibition design.

After obtaining her first degree at OCC, she transferred to UC Santa Barbara, where she studied communications. De la Parra initially wanted to become a photojournalist, but the arts had always been a part of her life. She loved visiting galleries.

Upon graduation, she landed a position at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, and for six years served as special projects and donor relations manager. But the desire to open her own art gallery nagged at her, so she left her position and founded Naples Fine Art Center in Long Beach.

While managing her center’s collection of works by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Rafael Coronel and others, De la Parra said she wanted to develop a second career and recognized that design classes may spur a new interest.

She enrolled in one class at OCC and after completing it decided to finish the certificate program.

“I found out that I really liked interior design,” De la Parra said. “It was the perfect merging of my art background and my interest in interior design.”

De la Parra’s instructors observed their student’s keen interest and talent and chose her to join a select group of students to compete in the IIDA Southern California Chapter Local Student Design Charette.

“She has the ability to understand a design challenge, come up with a creative solution based on research and has the ability to verbally articulate her design concepts,” said Charlene Reed, associate professor of interior design at OCC. “Also, knowing that this was a team competition, we felt Erika had the maturity and gentle leadership style to work well with her peers from other schools.”

The competition was a two-parter. The first part, held in November, called for seven teams to present a design concept for a building featuring an art school, coffee shop and tech store. The building, with a courtyard as a focal point, needed to be cross-generational since the tenants would serve different age groups.

Tangram Interiors in Newport Beach provided a venue for the seven teams to present their ideas to the judges.

De la Parra and her team decided to build up the walls around the courtyard with plexiglass and construct a rooftop that could double as a stage where bands could perform or artwork could be displayed.

Winning the first part, the group gained entry into the regional IIDA West Coast Student Design Charrette. De la Parra’s team joined 19 students from Northern Pacific and Southern California regions to design the interiors of three floors of a nonprofit located in a historical building in downtown Los Angeles. They worked off pictures of the L.A. building at architecture design firm Gensler in Irvine, which agreed to provide the space, in creating a poster board of their ideas.

She and her four teammates were the only group to build a scale model of a two-story atrium. It had floor-to-ceiling glass display walls on two sides for projects and research.

De la Parra took charge of coming up with the concept and project title and designing the model during the six-hour competition. She said the judges watched how she and her teammates worked together and were impressed with the group’s professionalism despite the members having just met each other.

“Having more experience, I tend to take the role of leader,” De la Parra said. “I made everyone aware we had to work as a team and that everyone had a say, but more importantly, I told them we all had to have fun and enjoy the process.”

Once the six hours were up, she had to present the poster board to the judges and explain the planning and concept.

In Chicago, her team will compete June 16 for the association’s national title at NeoCon. The group will join 11 other teams in a design challenge using hand drafting and rendering, and will present their design to a panel of judges from the interior design industry. A winners reception will take place the next night.

De la Parra, who has worked part-time at Restoration Hardware for two years during her studies, said she is grateful for the interior design program at Orange Coast College and looks forward to the third competition next month.

She is in the beginning stages of a three-month summer internship at Ware Malcomb, an interior design firm for commercial real estate and corporate clients.

“This has been a rewarding journey for me,” De la Parra said. “I’ve learned this is what I want to do.”