Stair Master: Interior Design Student Earns Prestigious Scholarship for Innovative Design

Photo: When open, Nick Nemaei's "kinetic staircase" reveals an elegant spiral staircase.

For Nima “Nick” Nemaei, interior design lies somewhere between architecture and music.

“Interior design is a bit artsy and a bit technical,” says the amateur pianist and NYIT interior design student. “As an interior designer, I want to create a unique feeling of intensity, mood, and beauty. But I’m also organizing space the way conductors might lead an orchestra. Their baton is my sketchbook and tape measure.”

Born in Tehran, Iran, Nemaei’s family moved to Cyprus when he was a child. In 2014, at the age of 23, he moved to New York City to study interior design.

“NYIT was the only school that offered me a good scholarship,” he says. “Plus, they were super fast with processing my application.”

Though he is on track to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in interior design in 2018, Nemaei isn’t waiting to demonstrate his design skills professionally. In June, he was one of 15 students nationwide to be awarded a $30,000 Angelo Donghia Foundation Scholarship. Nemaei follows in the footsteps of six other NYIT interior design students who have won the prestigious scholarship over the past seven years.

Scholarship judges applauded his winning entry, a “kinetic staircase,” for its innovative and multifunctional design. When the staircase is “closed” it can display a painting, mural, or other image. As the design “opens,” it reveals an elegant spiral staircase.

When closed, the staircase can dipslay a painting, mural, or other image.

“I’ve been fascinated by kinetic architecture since my Design Fundamentals class,” says Nemaei. “I always want to create multifunctional objects and designs in all of my projects.”

His staircase took about a year to design, and the biggest challenge was figuring out how to make it practical. “Those steps moving all together as they open and close all needed to be calculated individually,” Nemaei explains.

Though kinetic architecture dates back to the Middle Ages (castle drawbridges being an early example), the discipline became more popular in the 20th century among architects and interior designers.

“With kinetic architecture, structures can move and create different shapes with multifunctional purpose,” says Nemaei. “Buildings can change from one shape to another, showcasing an entirely new design.”

Nemaei plans to pursue further education after earning his NYIT degree, with the ultimate goal of working in industrial design, creating new furniture concepts, or developing other innovative products.

For now, the $30,000 scholarship will go a long way to helping his defray tuition costs and living expenses in New York City during his senior year at NYIT.

“My family was very happy I got the scholarship,” he says. “Now when I call them, they first ask, ‘What’s up?’ instead of ‘Do you need money?’”