The UMLAUF and AIA Austin are proud to collaborate once again on the annual exhibition Design Shine. Created to showcase emerging talent in the fields of architecture and design, the competition yielded many impressive proposals, with two winning projects from two local teams.  Drawing on themes of resiliency and empathy in times of uncertainty, each Design Shine installation reinvigorates the visitor’s experience with captivating, family-friendly sculptural art works.
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Oculi, by Sean Taylor, Joe D’Elia (AIA, NCARB), and Sergio Hermoza (Associate AIA), seeks to engage visitors by aligning different views into one, encouraging them to consider their own perspectives. The installation is a series of disks placed at eye level that are arranged on an axis connecting two primary viewpoints located on each bridge. These veiwpoints emphasize how moments of transition are key to bringing about new understandings.

Parallel Flux, by Miren Urena, Max Strauss, Chloe Malek, Ashley Brumit, and Alex Sandlin, is a series of rotating parabolic curves affixed to orthagonal frames. The interior space, carved out with bright, colorful forms, stands in contrast to the overall structure of the extruded rectangular mass. The stable, repetitive nature of the structure is the literal framework within which change and uncertainty are both experienced and celebrated.