Emile Batrouny | Graduation Year: 2021
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emile-b-657098106/

• Executed: 5th Year
• Degree Path: Interior Architecture & Product Design
• Course: Advanced Furniture Design Studio
• Materials:

Thoughtful design allows for simple elements—such as furniture—to carry the memory and meaning of a place. When designed with care, these pieces can reflect both the character of their surroundings and the stories embedded in the materials themselves, cultivating a lasting emotional bond for the incidental observer as well as the everyday passerby. In the year this Design Thesis began, McCain Auditorium at Kansas State University was undergoing a much-needed addition. As part of that process, several mature trees on the site were removed. Rather than discard them, the trees were milled into large slabs and kiln-dried, preserving their material history to be transformed into custom furniture for the new addition.

Fifth-year graduate student Emile Batrouny collaborated closely with Executive Director Todd Holmberg, the McCain staff, BNIM Architects, and the McCown & Gordon Construction team to determine what furniture should be designed, how it would function, and how it would be installed within the new lobby. The project became not only a study in craft and design but also in collaboration—an effort that connected architecture, performance, and material stewardship.

Within the McCain lobby, Batrouny sought to create pieces that respond to the existing columns exposed by the addition—marking the threshold between the original façade and the new construction. These columns stand as silent witnesses to the building’s evolution, symbolizing the intersection of past and present. Designing for such a transitional space required sensitivity to proportion, material, and memory. By embracing the natural grain, color variation, and texture of each slab, Batrouny highlighted the individuality of each piece of wood—honoring its previous life as a living tree and its new life as part of McCain’s architectural story. Through this transformation, the furniture embodies continuity, renewal, and a deeply rooted sense of place.