Interior design student Cecilia Kusomo picked City Harvest Church as her final year project and scored big.
Contributed By Sheryl Lim
Cecilia Kusomo, 21, found herself in an interesting position when she was deciding what to do for her final year project in her interior design course at LASALLE College of the Arts.
“At first I wanted to do an interior design proposal for a residential space, which has a wider market in Singapore,” she says. “But at the period when I needed to make a decision, I felt the leading to create a place for worship, for God. So I decided to propose interior design work for City Harvest Church.”
The project required her to create a proposal for the church in a particular location, bearing in mind its existing restrictions and space limitations.
Cecilia Kusomo’s final year project was a proposal for CHC’s interior design. PHOTO COURTESY OF CECILIA KUSOMO
“My project was a new place of worship for CHC. While keeping in mind the demands and teachings of CHC, I chose the Esplanade—The Recital and Jendela auditoriums—as the ideal site.
“The size of the new site was approximately 10,000 sq ft, which was the requirement from the project brief. So based on the limitation of the size, I had to create a place of worship that reflected the concept, with new interior structures, finishes, materials, etc.”
Kusomo’s inspired efforts earned her an outstanding grade—one of two in her entire cohort of 2011.
The markers made complimentary comments about her project. Ng Ai Hwa, Kusomo’s Level 1 lecturer at LASALLE, wrote: “Dynamic form and bold design. Planning and layout well thought-out with great sensitivity in scale, proportion, uses, etc. Great design proposal. Well done!”
“Great effort throughout the semester. Good finale with great work,” commented her Level 2 lecturer Masaki Harimoto, who is also the principal of Atelier M+A. Her Level 2 coordinator Daniel Pillai, a lecturer at LASALLE, said, “It’s students like you that make teaching worthwhile for me.”
Kusomo has already landed a job with 7InteriorArchitecture “by the grace of God”, but is keen to apply to LASALLE for a scholarship to pursue her degree. “If I get it, I will continue my degree studies at LASALLE.”
The young woman admits her decision was not an easy one to make—though it ultimately paid off.
“When I decided to do the design proposal for CHC, I was afraid that it would cost me a chance of getting a job, because the market for interior design for places of worship is very limited. But God is faithful. He used this project to answer my prayer, which was to be an outstanding student and to find a great job in the interior design industry. During this project, God continually encouraged me and spoke to me through the preaching of His word in CHC, through the rhema of His words from the Bible, and through my lecturers and friends.”
