“The service structure of design professions obstructs the potential for design to be the liberal arts of the 21st century—that is, unless you radically reconceive and redesign the client. Without that, you are only as interesting as your client.” Natalie Jeremijenko heads the Environmental Health Clinic at NYU. www.environmentalhealthclinic.net
From think tank to “do tank” * Design and design education are intricately linked; it is impossible to assess the state of the design profession without thinking about how one becomes a good designer. The School of Design Strategies pushes this idea even further. “Design structures our lives, interactions, consumption, democratic and governmental processes, and so on, to such a degree that a basic comprehension of how design ‘works’ should be required as part of a general education,” states Tim Marshall in the Form article. This idea, relatively new to Americans, has been embraced in Europe for centuries. For instance, a great number of students in Italy study architecture in college as the framework for a classical education. “I have always understood this rationale, since it also shaped the foundation of ecumenical and multidisciplinary training in the Renaissance,” says green architect and University of Pennsylvania professor of architecture James Wines. Parsons’ ongoing objective is to foster a new generation of designer-citizens: productive, engaged, inventive businesspeople, policy makers, and community activists, many of whom
also make beautiful and useful things. The hallmarks of a liberal arts education— critical thinking, civic and historical knowledge, and ethical reasoning—are certainly instrumental in the training of a good designer. But the liberal arts have traditionally explored the meaning of being human, not necessarily the place of humans in their environment, which is where design and design thinking take the lead. “There’s a greater sense today that we need to find ways of not only thinking and reflecting on the world but also diving in and rolling up our sleeves. Design is perfectly positioned for that sort of intervention in the world,” says Jamer Hunt, director of the new Transdisciplinary Design Program. Innovation plays a crucial role in devising new pedagogical models for higher education. The MFA programs being developed at Parsons incorporate a number of these models. Classes are structured as long-term projects, making learners active participants or “co-producers” in the educational process. The objective is to develop critically engaged design students. “The models we are used to in the social sciences are theoretical, in contrast to those in design, which are
* T he term “Do Tank” comes from Hilary Cottam’s Do Tank Ltd organization.
CASE STUDY 2
MAPPING SOCIAL INNOVATION
Challenge: To develop services to help previously incarcerated individuals re-enter society and build fulfilling lives. Parsons Team: Students from the School of Design Strategies, led by faculty member Lara Penin, with Savitri Lopez-Negrete and Shana Agid.
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Graphic Mapping CO2 emissions in Long Island City, NY. (Diagram by Fidelma Hawley)
Partner: The Fortune Society, a nonprofit organization that offers services such as health care, career development, education, housing, family support, and counseling.
Outcome: Students explored ways to improve existing services and design new ones, using methods such as ethnographic research and “culture hunts” to analyze the urban fabric around the Fortune Society facility in Long Island City, Queens.
Final outcomes will vary according to the nature of the new service and may include websites, brochures, space and environment design, protocols, and events. nextfproject.blogspot.com