Luke Carparelli, a design student at Waterford Institute of Technology has been selected as the winner of a design proposal to re-envision the O’Connell Street area in Waterford City, Waterford’s Cultural Quarter. Entrants included students from WIT’s BA (Hons) in Design (Visual Communications) and Bachelor of Architecture (Hons).
The Design Challenge project is a design-led research collaboration between WIT’s Creativity & Culture Research Group and main project partners Waterford City and County Council and Garter Lane Arts Centre, together with support from Local Enterprise Office, Institute of Designers in Ireland, Design and Craft Council of Ireland, Creative Ireland, community groups, design industry and local enterprise.
The Design Challenge prize – a €2,500 design research internship, which will take place over a period of two months, implemented within the Cultural Quarter – was awarded to Luke Carparelli, a Waterpark Secondary School past pupil from Faithlegg in Waterford. Luke is a student of the BA (Hons) in Design (Visual Communications), a four-year degree course, which prepares students for employment in the advertising and design area.
Co Carlow’s Catherine Buckley, also a Design student was the runner up, with highly commended entries from Tramore’s Rose O’ Hare, a Bachelor of Architecture (Hons) student and Ferrybank Design student Janice English.
Luke says: “After a couple years overseas doing some backbreaking work I knew I should go home and do something I would enjoy. I’ve always had a passion for art so I returned to college as a mature student and enrolled myself into the WIT’s Visual Communications course. It was a 4-year course and my god did the time fly, going back to college is one of the best choices I’ve made in life so far.”
Denise Maguire
Editor
Plan Magazine
