Will Ching: 30 Years of Legacy

(Above: 2022 Will Ching Design Competition Winner Stüdyo AB's Cocoon Istanbul. Photo by Özlem Turan and Volga Yıldız)

This winter marks the 30th anniversary of IIDA’s Will Ching Design Competition, an award that was founded to honor the legacy of the prolific designer and design advocate, Will (Willard) Ching. Honolulu-born Ching was a prolific designer who left his mark both in his work, and also as a fierce advocate for upholding and promoting excellence and standards in the commercial interior design industry.

As the National Director of the Institute of Business Designers (IBD), IIDA’s predecessor, Ching is an early founder of IIDA. In addition to his design work, he also sat on the board and served as the president of NCIDQ, and was an early founder for the governing board of the commercial interior design standards. Ching founded the eponymous Will Ching Planning and Design firm, based in SoHo In 1978, and went on to design New York landmarks like the New York City's police headquarters, Time magazine's executive offices, Chubb & Son's 85,000-square-foot office in Manhattan, and the New Rochelle Hospital Medical Center.

After his passing, his long-time life partner Charles Bell alongside friends and family created the Will Ching Design Competition to honor him and his legacy—specifically his legacy of supporting and elevating the work done by small firms as a small firm founder himself.

IIDA Executive Vice President and CEO Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA on the legacy of Will Ching:

“Small firms don’t do small work”

Willard Ching

By honoring the work done by small firms, we are acknowledging that the work done in small firms is important and impactful. The award is designed for firms of five or fewer employees doing commercial work, recognizing that in small firms every voice matters and contributes in many ways. For smaller firms, applying for and gaining the visibility that design competitions offer can be a much heavier lift than for larger firms, and therefore should have their own moment to shine.

GMECLUX 1 — 2021 Will Ching Design Competition Winner Dialogue 38 Inc's GMECLUX showroom. Photo by: Kerun Ip

Liberation Coffee House 1 — 2021 Will Ching Design Competition Finalist ORA's Liberation Coffee House. Photography by: Eric Staudenmaier

View the winning and finalist projects from the 2022, 2021, 2020, and the 2019 Will Ching Design Competitions.

The 2023 Will Ching Design Competition opens Thursday December 8, learn more and apply here!