IIDA Product Innovate 2021: Jubilee brought the design community together to honor a year's worth of worldwide celebrations after so much time apart. The socially distanced event benefited three industry organizations: the Houston Furniture Bank, TAID, and the IIDA Texas Oklahoma Chapter Education Fund. The competition challenged each team to create a visual celebration of an event or holiday within an eight-foot-square space. Kirksey teamed with Scandinavian Spaces, Scott Group Studio, and Harvey to create a vignette that embodies the joyful celebration of Diwali.
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Diwali is a festival of lights that symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness. The festival is one of India's most important and observed by billions of people across faiths. The celebration usually lasts for five days and is filled with family, food, prayer, and giving. The Kirksey team was inspired by several of the festival's practices that visually express the hope, togetherness, and generosity Diwali represents.
- The hut structure represents the homes where loved ones gather to decorate for the holiday, feast on celebratory foods, and share gifts and well-wishes for the new season.
- The lights capture the spirit of hope, warmth, and optimism experienced by the people. Woven among the lights is a carpet backing from Scott Group Studio, the team's Soft Goods Sponsor.
- Scandinavian Spaces, the team's Hard Goods Sponsor, provided the recycled materials and sustainable moss that make up the Rangoli centerpiece. The bright colors of the Rangoli are a nod to the jubilant atmosphere during the festival.
- Moss from Scandinavian Spaces and live plants adorn the hut and planters to symbolize growth in the next season.
- Fireworks on the rooftop are also a common practice during Diwali.
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