Students Launch Dialogue in Green

Event: Sustainable Design Review
Organizers: Students at Parsons The New School for Design: Rishi Desai, Justine Abu-Haidar, Patricia Ormaza, Tanye Prive (Design and Management); Aritz Bermudez Monfort (Communication Design)
Winners: First Place: Caroline Pham (Integrated Design); Second Place: Hae Jeong Choi (Product Design)

(l-r): “Subway Light Project” lights up commuters’ days; “Holon A.” is an interactive industrial agricultural information booth; “Why Sustain?” is a learning and information center made from sustainable materials maximizing natural light.

(l-r): Caroline Pham; Becky Stern; Amanda Gilbert

The first annual Sustainable Design Review, a student-led green initiative at Parsons The New School for Design, asked students to define sustainability. “Our mission is to foster an overall awareness and dialogue relating to social, environmental, and other forms of sustainability in school projects and consequently student perceptions,” according to founder and chairperson Rishi Desai, who conceived of the project with other Design and Management and Communication Design students at Parsons.

The winning entry, called the “Subway Light Project,” submitted by Caroline Pham of the Integrated Design Curriculum, introduces natural light into subway stations by incorporating fiber optic technology and sunlight collection panels. Windows and seating areas illustrating natural and urban landscapes are illuminated with full spectrum light to benefit sun-deprived city residents. “Terra Bites,” the second place entry by Product Design major Hae Jeong Choi, is a mobile cart that acts as a delivery and vending truck for local, fresh food.

Jury members, who sifted through more than 100 submissions and chose 10 finalists, included: Susan Szensay, editor-in-chief of Metropolis; Majora Carter, founder and executive director of Sustainable South Bronx; Kira Gould, Assoc. AIA, AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) chair; Chelsea Holden Baker, assistant editor of DWELL; Douglas Diaz and Loretta Staples, professors at Parsons; Jackie Brookner, ecological artist; and students Ryan Wood and Tracy Chow.

“Word of mouth was the weapon to get this idea the support it needed. Now it is all about the dialogue,” the website background statement declares. After being in contact with some of the students who entered the competition, and in an effort to continue the discussion, they wrote to me about their experiences participating in the Sustainable Design Review:

[This competition] contributes to the argument that design should not only be about beauty and creativity, but should also be about responsibility. Winning this competition has taught me the importance of responsible design. I believe that the idea of sustainability can be beneficial to a new way of thinking, not as an alternative to normal life, but as a trigger for innovation.
– Caroline Pham, Winner. The “Subway Light Project” began Fall 2006 while she was an exchange student at Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts, and Design in Stockholm.

[The Sustainable Design Review] initiative provides peer and industry review outside the classroom environment for projects with a nontraditional goal. Experiencing the process helped me put my project in a larger perspective.
– Becky Stern, “Holon A.,” Design & Technology Department

By entering this competition, I wanted to increase the recognition of interior design as paramount to sustainability. I hope to focus my career on creating sustainable interior spaces and increase awareness that sustainability can be beautiful and effective on many levels.
– Amanda Gilbert, “Why Sustain?” Associate in Applied Sciences student