Parsons Presents First Annual Sustainable Design Review

Jury of Sustainable Design Advocates Selects Winners of Student-Led Competition

NEW YORK, JULY 17, 2007-A nature-inspired subway design and eco-friendly food vendor carts took first and second place, respectively, at the first annual Sustainable Design Review at Parsons The New School for Design. This newly launched initiative was conceived and coordinated by a team of Parsons students to promote awareness of sustainability by showcasing the work of students from across the disciplines at The New School, from the liberals arts to business and management to the social sciences.

A jury of sustainable design advocates, which included Majora Carter, executive director of Sustainable South Bronx; Guy Geier, principal of FXFOWLE Architects; and Susan Szenasy, editor-in-chief of Metropolis magazine helped narrow down the more than 100 submissions to select the 10 finalists. First prize was awarded to Caroline Pham, a student in Parsons Integrated Design Curriculum BFA program, for her "Subway Light Project," a public art proposal that would bring natural light into the depths of underground stations.

"The Sustainable Design Review asked students to define sustainability in their own creative way and present a concept that exemplifies their unique notion of this issue," said Rishi Desai, a student in Parsons Design and Management BBA program. Desai founded the review along with fellow Design and Management students Justine Abu-Haidar, Patricia Ormaza, and Tanye Prive and Communication Design BFA student Aritz Bermudez Monfort in response to growing student interest in sustainability and its relationship to design. The competition was open to students from all eight of the university's schools. "We were delighted by the overwhelming response to the competition," said Desai.

Submissions to the Sustainable Design Review consisted of two parts: the first a short definition of sustainability in the student's own words and the second a three-page brief presenting the student's concept creatively in words, drawings, print or any other form of media. Design and Management Assistant Professor Scott Pobiner supervised the review and oversaw the group's work.

"It is impressive to see what these students have accomplished and how their work is helping to raise awareness about this important issue," said Tim Marshall, dean of Parsons. "This project reflects a very important focus at Parsons and The New School, where we are committed to exploring the crossroads of design, sustainability, and social responsibility. This initiative will surely grow as the interest in sustainable design grows, at the university and beyond."

Caroline Pham's winning entry is a public art piece intended to encourage biophilia, or appreciation of the living world, in underground subway stations by bringing natural sunlight into the environment through the use of fiber optic technology and patented sunlight collection panels. The light would illuminate windows and sitting areas Illustrated with imagery from the natural environment. According to juror Guy Geier, the project would have "tremendous benefits to subway users and significantly increase their awareness of the world around them."

Second place went to product design student Hae Jeong Choi's proposal for an eco-friendly food vendor cart, uniting the concepts of healthy eating and support for local farmers. Some of the other finalists' entries included a rainwater harvesting canopy, a graphical representation of the life cycle of cephalopods (a class of organisms that includes octopuses, squids and cuttlefishes), and an activity craft book composed entirely of waste materials.

In addition to Geier, Szenasy, and Carter, the Sustainable Design Review jury included Jackie Brookner, an ecological artist; Chelsea Holden Baker, an assistant editor at DWELL magazine; Douglas Diaz, an assistant professor at Columbia and Parsons and founder of acenesthesia, a multi-disciplinary design studio; Kira Gould, chair of the AIA Committee on The Environment and director of communications at William McDonough + Partners; Loretta Staples, a professor of Visual Studies at Parsons; Tracy Chow, a Design and Management student at Parsons; and Ryan Wood, a student at Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts.

For more information on the review, please visit http://whysustain.us.

Located in the heart of New York City, Parsons The New School for Design is one of the most prestigious and comprehensive degree-granting colleges of art and design in the nation, with approximately 3,500 students in degree programs from all 50 states and approximately 60 countries. Parsons has been a forerunner in the field of art and design since its founding in 1896 as the Chase School, named for American impressionist painter William Merrit Chase. By locating visual beauty in the ordinary objects of middle-class American life, Parsons virtually invented the modern concept of design in America. Parsons' rigorous programs and distinguished faculty embrace curricular innovation, pioneer new uses of technology, and instill in students a global perspective on design. For more information, visit http://www.parsons.newschool.edu.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For full project descriptions, please view the complete competition booklet at http://whysustain.us/posters/SDRBOOK1.pdf.