HML RESOURCES
Materials Newspaper
The “Materials Newspaper”, created by HML co-founder Jonsara Ruth with graduate interior design students, is based on Parsons’ MFA Interior Design course taught with interior design faculty, professor Yu Nong Khew and part-time faculty Sam Bennett, also a senior researcher at Healthy Materials Lab. Together they revised the required materials course for MFA Interior Design at Parsons to include a deep look into all aspects of material health while examining the performance of eight common materials used in design.
This publication and the course, Materials & Performance, suggests a new way of studying materials and introducing them in the classroom by focusing on each material’s impact on both human and environmental health. It starts with a provocative question rarely asked in design classrooms: ‘Why make anything new?’ Then each material, including materials such as wood, clay, and textiles is investigated. The “Materials Newspaper” includes excerpts from student research, class readings, and faculty presentations.
This open-source publication shares how student investigations into design and material health can be equally inspiring and transformative.
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