Kennedy Behling, Abby Zuber, Abby Henning and Cecilia Gonzalez, a team of Texas A&M senior environmental design and visualization majors stand with Mickey Mouse after winning second place at Disney\u2019s 2020 Imaginations Design Competitions. Photo courtesy Walt Disney Imaginations Studios.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nEnvironmental design students Kennedy Behling and Abby Zuber, and visualization majors Cecilia Gonzalez and Abby Henning rose above hundreds of contestants with a creative solution to this year\u2019s challenge: design an iconic installation in their campus or city that serves as an inspiration, honors the past and is a vision of the future.<\/p>\n
They responded with \u201cHere,\u201d an installation design inspired by Muster, one of many Texas A&M traditions that celebrate its rich history. The design includes a large bronze central sculpture surrounded by interactive gardens and lounging\/study areas. At night, “Here” is transformed by lights into a glowing symbol of the strength and warmth of the Aggie spirit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to create a living memorial that respects the roots of Muster and shows the camaraderie of Aggies and how strong that bond is,\u201d said Zuber, a fourth-year student from Bryan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s another place like the Memorial Student Center, where you can gather and be a part of something bigger than yourself,\u201d said Gonzalez, of Fairview, Texas.<\/p>\n
The four women averaged 3 or four hours a day for six months on the project outside of their regular classwork. When their project was chosen for the contest\u2019s final round, the Aggie team ramped up its work by adding and improving to their project, which they presented in person to Disney executives during an all-expenses paid, weeklong trip to Disney studios in Glendale, California.<\/p>\n
Once in California, the students met the other five finalist teams from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Laguna College of Art and Design, the United States Naval Academy and two groups from Savannah College of Art and Design. To their happy surprise, the groups all connected quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t feel like a competition,\u201d said Henning, of Alpharetta, Ga. \u201cWe bonded with these amazing people who shared our same passions and got to nerd out about making people happy through design. Everyone was so humble and we were all winning just by being there.\u201d<\/p>\n
After presenting on the first day to the judges, the finalists toured the Walt Disney Imagineering campus and meet for interviews with different departments and Imagineers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was incredible to see such a collaborative and creative culture,\u201d said Zuber. \u201cEveryone was so creative and kind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gonzalez said execs told them Disney considers the competition finals as a week-long interview process to identify talented students, recruit them to Disney internships and jobs, and identify possible matches with Disney creative teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best part was I didn\u2019t feel like I had to prove myself,\u201d said Zuber of the many interviews. \u201cThey had already seen our work and it was more about where we might fit in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kennedy Behling of New Braunfels, Texas accepted a Disney internship before the team advanced to finals, but the other three women have follow-up interviews scheduled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey made us feel like we were valued and that we belonged,\u201d said Gonzalez. \u201cWe also got to go to Disneyland for the day and go on behind-the-scenes tours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later in the week, the teams presented their projects again, for any Disney Imagineers who wanted to attend.<\/p>\n
Several former students who now work at Disney attended the presentation, and in Aggie tradition cheered the women on with whoops and yells.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was incredible to get that support,\u201d said Gonzalez. \u201cTalking to them after, they spoke of how proud they were to see Texas A&M up there and that our passion was obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their fellow finalists also got some Aggie education while hanging out with the quartet.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the last day we led a yell practice,\u201d said Zuber. \u201cThey were not ready for that, but everyone ended up whooping.”<\/p>\n
While the Naval Academy students ended up taking home first place, the team wasn\u2019t disappointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven just having Imaginations finalist on our resume is very cool and it’s respected within the industry,\u201d Zuber said. \u201cThis opens a lot of doors for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information, contact rnira@arch.tamu.edu<\/a> or doswald@tamu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four Texas A&M College of Architecture students won second place last week in an elite national contest hosted by Walt Disney Imagineering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":6399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[59,86,62,90],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
A&M student team takes silver in Disney Imagineering design competition<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n