Professor Wins Award for Excellence for Design Studio on Cambodia

Rendering by Emma Lambeth and Elisha Taldo

Professor Carl Matthews taught an interior design studio in spring 2016, in which students designed an adaptive reuse of The White Building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This computer rendering by students Emma Lambeth and Elisha Taldo shows a textile studio on the second floor.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Council for Interior Design Accreditation has named Carl Matthews, professor and head of the Department of Interior Design in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, first place winner of its 2016 Award for Excellence. Matthews received the award for an advanced design studio he taught during the 2016 spring semester that addressed the issues of human trafficking and adaptive reuse in Cambodia.

Human trafficking is an ongoing problem in Cambodia, with an estimated 28,000 women and children pressed into service as sex workers. More than half live in Phnom Penh City, site of the historic White Building, a housing project in the Bassac River Front area.

The White Building was designed in the early 1960s, "a time when Cambodia was looking to be very modern, very hip and cutting edge with design," Matthews said. When the Khmer Rouge evacuated the city in the 1970s, the building was abandoned. Residents have since returned, but the dilapidated White Building is under constant threat of demolition.

"This is one of the most famous mid-century buildings in Cambodia," Matthews said. Designed by Lu Ban Hap, the structure aligns with the vision for the Bassac River Front cultural complex promoted by Vann Molyvann, Cambodia's most famous architect, in the 1950s and '60s. "The White Building is an important part of the fabric of that time, so it's on the radar screen of anyone interested in mid-century architecture."

In January 2016, Matthews and three students traveled to Cambodia for two weeks before the spring semester began. They brought their findings back to the studio, where interior design and architecture students worked together to develop proposals for partial revitalization and renovation of the White Building as a mixed-use facility for women and children rescued from the sex trafficking industry.

Designs included a group home for at-risk children, a rehabilitation center for women and girls, a salon and cosmetology school within a hotel to provide new job skills and a restaurant with both a culinary school and rooftop garden.

Matthews documented the project with a six-minute video titled "Sex Tourism and Human Trafficking in Phnom Penh." The video includes footage of the existing White Building, along with student interviews and summaries of student proposals.

The jury called Matthews' project a standout entry, demonstrating the impact the interior design profession can have on the world's largest problems.

"The CIDA board congratulates professor Matthews for integrating complex social issues and cultural considerations with a historically significant site in need of revitalization," said Lisa K. Waxman, board chairwoman. "The power of interior design to positively advance human wellbeing and create significant social and cultural value emerged from this excellent student learning experience. We have every reason to believe that these perspectives and learning are core to the profession's future."

Matthews received a $5,000 award from the council. He donated $4,000 to the Fay Jones School interior design scholarship fund to assist students with study abroad, and $1,000 to the interior design scholarship fund at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to honor his teaching mentor, Betsy Gabb.