Interior Design in Canada has lost another icon. Michele Guest, BID, RID, FIDIBC, FIDC, an IDC founding member and former IDC president, passed away on September 21, 2022.
A graduate of the University of Manitoba’s School of Interior Design in the mid-sixties, Michele’s career in design and education resulted in leadership in several design organizations, including the Interior Designers Institute of British Columbia (IDIBC), of which she was a Fellow. One of the founders of the Interior Designers of Canada, Michele served as president of IDC in 1974, and was named a Fellow of IDC in 1987.
Michele helped to move forward common standards for interior design through her extensive work for the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ), later renamed the Council for Interior Design Qualification (CIDQ), serving as its Chair in 1990. Michele also founded and led Design BC, a broad based, multi-disciplinary organization recognizing all design professions.
As an educator in the late 1970s and early 1980s Michele was instrumental in re-shaping the then two-year diploma course at Kwantlen College into a program that could grow into a Bachelor of Interior Design. Under Kwantlen Polytechnic University, this program offered the first CIDA accredited Bachelor Degree in Interior Design in British Columbia.
Michele gave selflessly of her time and energy in seeking respect and making progress for recognition of interior design as an equal player to other professions within the built environment. She worked provincially, nationally, and internationally, to promote the profession of interior design. She was a consummate committed volunteer, giving a tremendous amount of energy and effort to the profession that gave her so much pleasure and satisfaction.
