Faculty

Lara De Sousa Penin (she/her/ela) is a Professor of Transdisciplinary Design at Parsons School of Design, The New School since 2008.

Her work centers on service design, strategic design, participatory design, design studies and social justice, seeking to explore the agency of design to effect positive social change, while bridging the gap between the innovation of design pedagogy and practice to equip designers to play a more transformative role, involving both civil society and the public sector.

Lara is co-founder of the Parsons DESIS Lab (Parsons Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability Lab), an action research laboratory founded in 2009 at The New School in New York City, working at the intersection of design and social theory, applying interdisciplinary expertise to sustainable practices and social innovation (https://www.newschool.edu/desis/)

She has been director of the Transdisciplinary Design graduate program from 2015 to 2019. A full-time faculty in the School of Design Strategies since joining The New School in 2008, she has taught in the Transdisciplinary Design MFA, the Integrated Design BFA and the Strategic Design and Management BBA programs teaching studios, intensive and elective courses involving service design for public interest, systems thinking and participatory methods as well as advising master degree theses.

Lara currently co-leads the Graduate Minor in Civic Service Design, which draws upon a practice and subfield of research and theory that connect to design, social theory, and public policy and management frameworks, methods, and tools to reformulate participation and decision-making in the creation of public policies, programs, and services, aiming at fostering more just and equitable cities and societies.

Lara is the author of An Introduction to Service Design. Designing the Invisible (Bloomsbury, 2018) and the editor of The Disobedience of Design, a Gui Bonsiepe Reader (Bloomsbury, 2021). Recent work includes the development of a tool for service designer-service worker solidarity and the development of a critical research agenda for service design (http://workerstarot.com/). 

Highlights of her several externally funded projects, she has been the principal investigator of “Amplifying Creative Communities” and more recently, she is the PI of a project for the Brooklyn Public Library related to improving community and outreach services offered at the library branches. She received grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the São Paulo Architecture Biennale. 

Lara serves the professional and academic community as a jury in service design awards, institutional review committees, Ph.D. panels and editorial boards nationally and internationally and is a speaker at design conferences worldwide. Lara was the chair of the Service Design Network Global Conference in 2015. She served as Parsons representative at the University Faculty Senate for two terms and served in the School Leadership Council at the School of Design Strategies, among several other leadership roles. She currently co-chairs the university’s Strategic Planning.

Lara has a bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Urbanism (University of São Paulo, Brazil) and a Ph.D. in Design (Milan Polytechnic University, Italy). 

PhD in Design, Milan Polytechnic University, Italy

Bachelor in Architecture and Urbanism, School of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São Paulo, Brazil

Books

Penin L. (2023, 2^nd ed) An Introduction to Service Design. Designing the Invisible. Bloomsbury.  London, New York (Second edition in contract).

Sangiorgi, D.; Prendville, A., Penin, L (eds) (2023). Service Design Handbook: A Critical Agenda (provisional title). Bloomsbury (in contract)

Penin, L (ed) (2021) The Disobedience of Design. A Gui Bonsiepe Reader. Bloomsbury. London, New York

Penin L. (2018) An Introduction to Service Design. Designing the Invisible. Bloomsbury.  London, New York First textbook covering the basics of service design with interviews with leaders in the field, detailed case studies and a methods guide. Translated in Korean and Greek.

Penin L. (ed) (2012) Parsons DESIS LAB The New School (2013) Amplifying Creative Communities New York City. NYC: Parsons DESIS LAB. Self-published volume (Parsons DESIS Lab). Project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.

Book review

Telalbasic, Ida & Bofylatos, Spyros (2019) “Book Review Designing the Invisible: An Introduction to Service Design, by Lara Penin” In The Design Journal An International Journal for All Aspects of Design. Taylor & Francis https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/6xFYEfW5mt5Pr2FUdtmz/full?target=10.1080%2F14606925.2019.1615677&

Papers, articles and book chapters

Penin, L.; Staszowski, E.; Bruce, J.; Adams, B; Amatullo, M. (2019a) “Public libraries as engines of democracy: A research and pedagogical case study on designing for re-entry”. Submitted to NORDES Conference 2019. Available online

Penin, L.; Staszowski, E.; Bruce, J.; Adams, B; Amatullo, M. (2019b) “Striving for solidarity: a case study with the Brooklyn Public Library”. SED 2 Socially Engaged Design Conference, Limassol, Cyprus 2019. (abstract only) Available online

Penin, L., Staszowski, E., Brown, S. (2015a) “A new generation of transdisciplinary thinkers and practitioners of design-led social innovation”. Design and Culture Journal, Volume 7, Issue 3, 2015. Routledge. Available online

Staszowski E.; Penin, L.; Moon, A. (2015b) “Towards a Sustainable Present: Urgency and Agency in Transition Design”. Transition Design Symposium: Provocation and Position Papers, Carnegie Mellon University on March 7, 2015. Available online

Penin, L.; Staszowski, E.; Harriss, H. (2014). “Amplify Soundview: reflecting on the use of digital tools for promoting community engagement & stewardship in the development and care of the Soundview Park in New York City”.  The Electronic Journal of Communication Available online

Penin, L., Forlano, L., Staszowski, E. (2013). “Designing in the Wild: Amplifying Creative Communities in North Brooklyn”. Cumulus Working Papers Helsinki-Espoo 28/12. Publication Aalto University. School of Arts, Design and Architecture 2013.

Penin, L.; Manix, R. (2012) “Beyond the service journey: How improvisation can enable better services and better service designers” In Touchpoint The Journal of Service Design Vol.4 #2. Service Design Network: Cologne.

Penin, L. (2011). “A Critical Approach to Service Design Education: Building an Undergraduate Learning Path at Parsons School of Design Strategies.” In Touchpoint The Journal of Service Design Volume 3 No.1 Service Design Network: Cologne, 2011. Pp 62-65

Penin, L. (2010a) “Amplifying Creative Communities in New York City.” In Cumulus Working Papers Shanghai. College of Design and Innovation Tongji University. Pp 446-452.

Manzini, E.; Penin, L., Gong, M.; Cipolla, C.; M’Rithaa , M.; Mendoza, A. (2010b) “The DESIS Network:  Design and Social Innovation for Sustainability.” In The Journal of Design Strategies, Parsons The New School for Design. Vol. 4, No. 1 | Spring 2010. Issue ‘Change Design’. Pp 14-21

Penin, L. and Tonkinwise, C. (2009). “The Politics and Theatre of Service Design” In proceedings of the conference IASDS (International Association of Societies of Design Research), Seoul, Korea October 2009.