Three College of the Canyons architecture and interior design students have been selected to participate in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Los Angeles 2×8 Student Competition, Exhibition and Scholarship program.

Daniel Lemus, Claire Ross and Stephanie Moretta-Hidalgo will be representing COC, which was one of only three community colleges selected for this virtual exhibit, which opens on Thursday, Nov. 5.

Competing in this prestigious exhibition will also provide the students with the opportunity to potentially receive scholarships to further their architecture or design studies.

“I am so proud to have College of the Canyons be one of the few community colleges submitting to this competition, it really showcases the strength of our program,” said Holly Hitt-Zuniga, an interior design instructor at the college who serves as the students’ faculty advisor.

While Lemus, Ross and Moretta-Hidalgo had already completed their architectural and interior design projects at the end of the spring 2020 semester, they had to work fast to complete all the graphics and additional images for the competition package.

“They managed to pull all of this together over the summer break in three weeks, while working full time and juggling other life commitments,” said Hitt-Zuniga. “Having this competition on their resumes is beneficial because it shows potential employers that they know the importance of collaboration and can work under fast, unexpected deadlines.”

The theme for this year’s exhibition will explore solutions for addressing housing access in Southern California.

As a viable solution, Lemus, Ross and Moretta-Hidalgo believed it would be easier to build pre-fabricated and modular buildings to cut construction costs because pre-built components would be shipped to the construction site for assembly.

“This will also cut costs and delays,” said Ross. “Construction hasn’t changed much in the last century. This is clearly an opportunity. We think the technology is coming and we will be able to see a whole lot of progress in prefab and modular construction moving forward.”

Every year, the 2×8 Student Competition, Exhibition and Scholarship program showcases exemplary student work from architecture and design institutions throughout California, such as UCLA, Cal Poly, Woodbury, and SCI-Arc.