Lights, Camera, Architecture

It's not every day a designer gets to turn on the T.V. and see architecture they helped design staring back at them by means of a commercial.

Recently, we received the exciting news that the American Career College (ACC) was featuring their LPA designed Ontario Campus in a series of new ads. The building, designed to give vocational students a true higher education experience, has received numerous awards, the approval of the community and positive feedback from teachers and students. Read more about the American Career College Ontario Campus.

To delve deeper into this achievement, I caught up with Higher Education Interior Designer Winston Bao, to pick his brain about the American Career College, higher education design and of course, architecture on T.V.

Winston Bao, LEED AP

Q. How does it feel to see one of your projects on T.V.?

A. Extremely proud and humbled to be a part of providing quality education by creating meaningful environments for students who will be the future of our healthcare industry.

Q. How was this project different from others you've worked on?

A. The project presented a unique opportunity to create a prototype for this client and a new paradigm in the realm of vocational colleges. The solution redefines what characterizes a higher education campus for a college with stand-alone buildings at multiple campuses.

Q. As a designer, does television enhance or take away from the actual design?

A. Enhance for sure, since it combines impressions of the design with multimedia. Also, seeing people in the environment is always memorable.

Q. Tell me about viewing architecture in person versus on T.V.?

A. Obviously T.V. is more bite-size and compressed, while experiencing the place in person is definitely about full-emersion and physical interaction.

Q. Anything else you were dying to tell me?

A. As always, creativity on a budget is often challenging and infinitely rewarding.