UH Designers Delivering Unique Holiday Gift Ideas

Student-Produced Home, Office, Electronics Accessories Available at Space Montrose

Those seeking unique holiday gifts for friends and loved ones are in luck. Creative Cougar minds have been hard at work all semester to produce innovative items for home,Architecture and the Object office and school. Now, these limited edition items are on sale at Space Montrose (1706 Westheimer Rd.).

Students in adjunct assistant professor Cord Bowen’s Architecture and the Object course spent the fall semester designing and producing an array of practical items. Student groups also collaborated on business plans and conducted research related to materials, manufacturing processes and production costs.

Using the tools and resources in UH’s Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, each student group created product runs ranging from 20 - 50 units. Items retail at prices ranging from $28 to $120.

Products on sale at Space Montrose include:

  • Veza (created by students Michael Ovalle, Mario Hernandez, Michael Merrill) – A bottle opener crafted from Walnut and Cherry woods and stainless steel.
  • Bril (created by Joseph Echavarria, Jess Garrett, Vinh Ngo) – A geometric box perfect for jewelry and other small items.
  • Geode (created by Mustafa Kamil, Joshua Holmes, John Smead) – A concrete catchall perfect for office or home use.
  • Vas (created by Mario Medina Vilela, Alejandra Cervantes, Juan Rostro, Ernesto Gutierrez Jr.) – A handcrafted wooden receptacle to hold a variety of household items.
  • Lusk (created by Nicholas Herrera, Mujer Hashim, Sunny Patel, Biniam Kebede) – A slanted plant holder constructed from a solid block of wood.
  • Alfred (Jesse Vasquez, Erika Chan, David Yao) – Suede pad for holding keys, electronics, wallets and other necessities.
  • Blök (created by Jose Cordova, David Copeland Loredo, Jonathan Lampson, Miguel Mejia) – This magnetic knife holder holds the three primary kitchen knives – chef’s knife, bread knife, paring knife.
  • Kubed (created by Andrew Gressett, Michael Burch, Ben Yu) – A set of three containers that can sit next to each other or apart on a desk or at home. Perfect for small plants or office or home items.
  • Tess  (crated by Tayler Trojcak, Estefania Santa Cruz, Le Phuc) – A tessellated tray geared toward jewelry and small household items.

This is the fourth year Bowen has overseen Architecture and the Object. In addition to producing innovative home and office wares, students also market and brand their products. The course is offered through UH’s Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture.

The college offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in a variety of disciplines. These include architecture, space architecture and interior architecture. Faculty members include esteemed professionals in the architectural community, as well as award-winning academic veterans. Facilities include studio spaces, the new Materials Research Collaborative, computer labs and the Burdette Keeland Jr. Design Exploration Center. To learn more about the college, visit http://www.arch.uh.edu/.