Judging panel announced for Caesarstone Student Designer 2015 competition

Dorothy van’t Riet, Stefan Antoni, Lisa Younger, Jonathan Anstey, Greg Wright

van't Riet is the creative director and principal interior designer of her company Dorothy van't Riet Design Consultants, based in Johannesburg and founder of the DVR Design Academy. "I am excited and privileged to be part of the judging panel. The standard of the students' presentations continues to go from strength to strength each year. This competition is an excellent forum for architecture and interior design students to compete with like-minded people on an open platform. The competition allows them to find a solutions-based outcome to the design challenges presented to them and gives them the opportunity to combine their expertise, passion and talent as well as deliver measurable and meaningful results."

Anstey is the group executive director of Anstey Steynberg architects. "As architects and essentially designers, we create microcosms of reality. We define the edges of spatial behaviour and the volumes in which we exist. Inside of each of us is the potential to inspire, empower and create.... I cannot wait to see how this year's competition entrants have responded to the brief."

Antoni is a director of multi-award winning architectural practice SAOTA, which has carved a niche for itself locally and internationally with powerful designs that respond dynamically to context and brief. He also conceptualised the competition brief for this year's competition. "It's both a simple and challenging brief, but great spaces enhanced by simple, neutral lines and a restrained, raw base of textures and finishes do facilitate an emotional and sensory experience. I'll be looking for a sense of the sculptural, sheer, natural or organic, with an ambiance of calm and serenity."

Wright is the principle architect of his Cape Town architecture practice, Greg Wright Architects. "It's been fantastic to be involved with the competition for so many years. I have enjoyed keeping in touch with student work and being exposed to up-and-coming design work. I'm hoping for a bumper year, since it will be my last time on the panel for the foreseeable future."

Younger, the senior designer of Activate Space, has enjoyed a spot on the competition panel for several years. Her words of inspiration for this year's students come from poet Maya Angelou, "You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."

Trevor King, marketing director of Caesarstone South Africa, is delighted with the strong panel for this year's competition, "Our competition is always only as good as our judging panel and we are exceptionally privileged to have some of South Africa's top architects and interior designers represented here."