MFA Interior Design Studio 3: Fostering Healthier Futures (Fall 2017)

This interdisciplinary and collaborative studio was offered as the third and penultimate graduate studio in the MFA Interior Design program at Parsons to Lighting Design and Double Major Lighting (ID + LD) and Interior Design students to speculate about the complex relationships between program, building materials and technologies, and architectural lighting, leading to the creation of a detailed design proposal that has a socially responsible impact.

This studio is an opportunity to experiment with a design approach that is specifically focused on the relationship between light, materials, interior volumetric space and human experience to create a place for inhabitation. There will be a strong emphasis on the incorporation of research into the populations and user groups into strategies for the design of both the lighting and the interior environment. As the third of four design studios in the MFA Lighting Design / Interior Design programs, this course builds upon fundamental information gained in the first year and applies this content in a comprehensive capstone project. Significant emphasis will be placed on the “design process” including analysis, research and creative design evolution.

This Studio’s partner is Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), which protects and promotes the safety and well-being of New York City’s children, young people, families, and communities, in particular, in the case of this studio, foster teens. Supported by Healthy Materials Lab (HML) at Parsons the students adopted the focus of HML which is dedicated to a world where people’s health is placed at the center of all design decisions.

The studio proposes a new typology of group homes to accommodate the diverse teen groups who are looked after by the ACS. Each of the proposals had a common thread of reflecting community youth development research and the material and physical health of the teens and their caregivers within the spaces.

All of the students came to the studio with a deep-seated belief that design can help improve lives and are committed to designing to encourage the most supportive social relationships and with the healthiest materials so that all aspects of their designs contribute positively to the populations they serve.

Assignment 1.0 - Family Dynamics and Independence

Teen Persona Building

Presenting Foster Teen Population in Video

Assignment 2.0 - Concept Proposal + Materials and Light

Research Site, mapping Exercises, Material Analysis, Lighting Analysis, Materials Palette

Assignment 3.0 - Design Proposal - Long-Term Care Facility for Foster Teens

Full-Scale Detail with Safe Affordable Materials, Collaborative Design Proposals, Presentation for Stakeholders

A. Learning Plan

1. Development of a challenging learning plan for the semester that recognizes previous strengths and weakness, interests and explorations and defines a set of goals and objectives that will be reviewed throughout the semester.
2. Commitment to following through the initial goals and seeking advice and criticism throughout the semester.
3. Learning Plan should include any particular goals and objectives, including proficiency with software, research strategies, representational methods, organization and time management presentations skills, public speaking, etc.

B. Preliminary Design

1. Commitment to interdisciplinary investigation consistent with studio goals
2. Openness to taking design risks

C. Research / Analysis

1. Commitment to rigorous iterative research approach – Individual’s ability to narrow the scope of study
2. Value of research contribution – Depth of understanding gained by the individual
3. Success at summarizing research conclusions – Quality and clarity of presentations to studio
4. Effectiveness working with others – Individual’s contribution to disciplinary group work
5. Ongoing development and incorporation of research informing and informed by the design propositions.

D. Design Development (Interdisciplinary)

1. Effectiveness and contribution to interdisciplinary studio goals
2. Rigor of research, investigation, and working process
3. Technical and conceptual merit of disciplinary work
4. Quality of presentation and communication of ideas
5. Accuracy / Clarity / Organization / Preparedness / Focus / Openness

Van Eyck, Aldo. “Steps Towards a Configurative Discipline”, Forum, August 1962

Cooper, Clare. The Houses as a Symbol of Self (Institute of Urban and Regional Development, University of California, 1971)

Bonda, Penny and Sosnowchik. Sustainable Commercial Interiors, 2nd Ed. (New Jersey: Wiley, 2014.)

Chapters: 4, 5, 6 & pages: 23, 30 - 31

Braungart, Michael & McDonough, William. Cradle To Cradle: Remaking The Way We Make Things. (North Point Press, 2002.) Chapters: 1 + 2

Geiser, Kenneth. Materials Matter: Toward a Sustainable Materials Policy. (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2001.)

Goleman, Daniel. Ecological Intelligence, How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything. (New York: Broadway Books, 2009)

Guenther, Robin & Vittori, Gail. Sustainable Healthcare Architecture, 2nd Ed. (New Jersey: Wiley, 2013.)

Chapters: 1 (pages 10-17); 3 (45-60); 5 (p.119-126)

Hamblin, James. “The Toxins that Threaten the Brain”, Atlantic Monthly. March 18, 2014

McKlennan, Jason. The Philosophy of Sustainable Design. (Bainbridge, Washington: Ecotone Publishing, 2004.)

McMorrough, Julia. The Architecture Reference & Specification Book: Everything Architects Need to Know Everyday. (Rockport, 2013)

Manzini, Ezio. Design, When Everybody Designs: An Introduction to Design for Social Innovation. (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press 2015

Williams, Jeremy. The One Room Manifesto. (Latvia: Inprint, 2011). [a designers self-published manifesto]

Rao, Tejal. “A New Door Into the Kitchen for Aspiring Chefs”, The New York Times. September 18, 2017

Kools, Susan M. “Adolescent Identity Development in Foster Care”, Family Relations, Vol 46, No. 3 (Jul., 1997) pp 263-271

Lewit, Eugene M. “Children in Foster Care”, The Future of Children, No. 3, Home Visiting (Winter, 1993), pp.192-200

Davies, Mike and Street, Eddy. “Constructing Mental Health Services for Looked After Children”, Adoption & Fostering, Volume 26 Number 24 2002 pp 65-75

Ward, Harriet. Jones, Helen. Lynch, Margaret and Skuse, Tricia. “Issues Concerning the Health of Looked After Children”, Adoption & Fostering, Volume 26 Number 4 2002 pp 8-18

Massinga, Ruth and Pecora, Peter J. “Providing Better Opportunities for Older Children in the Child Welfare System”, The Future of Children, Vol. 14, No. 1, Children, Families, and Foster Care (Winter, 2004). Pp 150-173

MacFarquhar, Larissa. “When Should a Child be Taken from his Parents?”, The New Yorker. August 7 & 14, 2017