re:
cessful collaborative opera production.
New alumni discuss their work and the faculty and processes that helped shape it.
Together Parsons alumni and students, faculty, and staff helped First Lady Michelle Obama introduce U.S. high schoolers
led process, the university created a flexible new identity system that is engaging the Parsons community.
Jacobs’ unflagging ingenuity has elevated him and the field. Calling himself “the most confident insecure person,” Jacobs discusses his collaborative, evolutionary process.
and services. But this issue of re:D—which has “storytelling” as its theme—takes a step back, presenting creative approaches and results that connect the school to the broader university. This shared identity takes the Parsons story to the highest levels of achievement and widest public, communicating how learning is different—and better—at Parsons.
Parsons Reunion and Alumni Exhibition Opening 2015 is Saturday, October 10. Register for this event and learn more about your global Parsons alumni community at newschool.edu/alumni.
Our Supporters
red-handed
intelligently created, and beautifully expressed ideas, objects,
29
Parsons story of achievement.
thank you
munity’s continuing relevance in the story of human-centered,
amplifies the
28
These pages typically highlight the ones pointing to our com-
and disciplines—
giving
on campus, or worked with a grad of the school has a Parsons story. Collectively these stories chronicle a legendary history.
of graduates— spanning decades
26
Anyone who’s ever studied here, experienced a student show
The creativity
22
STORYTELLING
Alumni at Work
19
15
12
to creative careers.
Through a design-
Persistence of Vision: Marc Jacobs on Fashion
healthful building materials; a suc-
portfolio
recaps; a major initiative promoting
newschool.edu/parsons/red
A New Visual Identity Sparks Innovation
Parsons Festival and Fashion Benefit
Reaching Higher: Parsons’ Designs on the White House
rankings of art and design schools; 2015
7
NEWS & EVENTS 1
Parsons tops
REGARDING DESIGN (re:D) 2015
Ryan McGinley
1
PARSONS FESTIVAL Parsons Festival 2015 expanded
NYCxDESIGN, a citywide initia-
production of Jonathan Dove’s
Clockwise from bottom left:
beyond its Manhattan setting of
tive celebrating New York City’s
opera Flight (a Parsons and
Parsons’ 25 E. 13th St Street
previous years to include a new
commitment to design. Parsons
Mannes collaboration), and
Studios; Taylor Drake and
venue: Brooklyn’s Industry City
Festival 2015 kicked off with an
guided tours of Parsons’ latest
Chris Hepner, Downsprout: a
complex. Exhibitions, installa-
opening-night party at Industry
Design Workshop project
biometric solution to storm-
tions, events, and performances
City and a conversation between
at Brooklyn’s Sunset Park
water; Emma Lillian, untitled;
presented in Brooklyn and
Carol Lim and Humberto Leon,
Recreation Center. They also
SCE installation, created with
throughout Greenwich Village
founders of Opening Ceremony,
explored student work on view
ALPI reconstituted, at Wanted
invited the public to interact with
and professor Hazel Clark of
at the Sheila C. Johnson Design
Design 2015; Gavyn Ferguson,
Parsons’ creative community
Parsons’ School of Art and
Center, The Kitchen, and
Cyber Paraller Neuron Stimula-
working in a range of disciplines.
Design History and Theory.
Industry City.
tor; process: concept exhibition
Now in its fifth year, the
Over the following two weeks,
newschool.edu/parsons/festival
at Industry City
festival was once again part of
festivalgoers attended talks, a
1
TOP-RANKED
Product Design program director,
School of Design Strategies
Parsons recently ranked high
the class resulted in two pieces
partnered with Green Eileen, a
by BFA Product Design ’15
sustainability initiative of the
DESIGN AND VIOLENCE
students being brought to
Eileen Fisher Company, to design
Jamer Hunt, director of the MFA
market: Prism, by Daniel
products using re-purposed gar-
Transdisciplinary Design pro-
Martinez, and Bottle Axe, by
ments from the clothing retailer.
gram, along with The Museum
Sam Falco. Prism functions as
areaware.com/products threadless.com/parsons newschool.edu/moleskine newschool.edu/green-eileen
of Modern Art’s Paola Antonelli,
among its peers worldwide in outcomes and educational merit. Named the Best College of Art and Design in the United States by Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings, Parsons also took the number-two spot in the world in the same cate-
Parsons re:D 2015
a paperweight and magnifying glass and is available online and nationwide through Areaware
created Design and Violence, an experimental online curatorial project. The project’s creators
becomes available in August
ALUM BIZ BOOTCAMP
2015. Noe Paparella, BFA
The Parsons Entrepreneurial
tion about manifestations of
Illustration ’15, won the Parsons/
Lab is redefining the alumni
global violence, design’s connec-
Moleskine competition, which
experience for selected graduate
tion to violence around the world,
challenged seniors in Parsons’
students of Parsons’ School of
and design’s potential to address
School of Art, Media, and Tech-
Design Strategies. The ELab is
it. The endeavor recently con-
nology to design a cover for a
expanding its partnerships with
cluded with a debate on com-
Moleskine journal and belly-
incubators and accelerators
puter viruses as digital weapons.
band responding to the prompt
around New York City and at
designandviolence.moma.org
#WanderingMind. Paparella’s
international campuses in order
design will be sold exclusively at
to support recent graduates
Moleskine’s Greenwich Village
making the transition from stu-
store. Threadless and Parsons’
dents to start-up entrepreneurs.
PRISON OBSCURA 2
School of Fashion also teamed
Grantees benefit from direct
American prisons hold 2.3 million
Partner collaborations give
up, tasking students with
mentoring and coaching and
citizens, at an annual cost of
students opportunities to work
transforming T-shirts into haute
have access to events and work-
$70 billion. This reality was
with prominent firms and bring
couture. The three top designs,
shops. Applicants must have
addressed in Prison Obscura,
their designs to market. Product
by rising seniors Renee Pabon,
recently completed one of the
an exhibition on view this past spring at the Sheila C. Johnson
gory. Payscale ranked Parsons at
2
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the top of art and design schools for salary potential. Parsons graduates earn, on average, $43,300 annually in early-career salaries and $93,700 at midcareer, according to the report. Parsons also appeared on SuccessfulStudent.org’s list of “Top 27 Video Game Colleges.” topuniversities.com payscale.com/college-salary-report
IN STORE FOR YOU 1
outlets such as the MoMA Design Store. Bottle Axe, a bottle opener,
invited experts from diverse fields to respond to design objects and engage the public in conversa-
design firm Areaware collabo-
Michael Jafine, and Anmol
graduate programs of the School
rated with Parsons’ School of
Vaswani, are available online
of Design Strategies or the MFA
Design Center. Prison Obscura
Constructed Environments in
at threadless.com. In a third
Design and Technology program
presented rarely seen vernacular,
spring 2014 on Small Things
initiative—led by Laura Sansone,
of Parsons’ School of Art, Media,
surveillance, evidentiary, and
Matter, a product design studio.
curator and adjunct professor
and Technology.
intimate prisoner-made photo-
Led by Daniel Michalik, BFA
of design—students of Parsons’
sds.parsons.edu/elab
graphs representing incarcerated
3
4
of the Year Award for her collec-
Mol); legendary fashion designer
by Prison Photography project
tion designed for seated disabled
Ralph Lauren (pictured above
founder Pete Brook, the show
people, a community mostly
with Paul Goldberger), who
included works by Josh Begley,
ignored by the fashion industry.
spoke as the inaugural Marvin
Paul Rucker, Steve Davis, Kristen
Parsons and Kering also selected
Traub Lecturer as part of the
S. Wilkins, Robert Gumpert,
Jones as one of two winners of
series At the Parsons Table with
Mark Strandquist, Alyse Emdur,
the Empowering Imagination
Paul Goldberger; Paul Clemence
and others. Prison Obscura is
Fashion Design Competition.
and Lily Wei, who discussed
connected to The New School’s
Recipients are awarded a trip to
architectural photography at
Humanities Action Lab (HAL)
Kering’s manufacturing facilities
SCE; “The Fear of Art”: 32nd
Global Dialogues on Incar-
and material libraries in Italy,
Social Research Conference
ceration, an interdisciplinary
an opportunity to display their
guests (Ai Weiwei, Holland
initiative that fosters public
work at Saks Fifth Avenue, and
Cotter, Agnes Gund, Boris Groys,
engagement with America’s
mentorship from Style.com.
Victor S. Navasky, Ethan Cohen,
prison system.
style.com/trends/fashion/2015/ parsons-kering-lucy-jones
Melissa Chiu, Minky Worden,
VISITORS TO CAMPUS 4
Persekian, Nikahang Kowsar, Jeffrey Deitch, Lisa Phillips, and
Among the many prominent
(hi)STORIES speakers (Grace
newschool.edu/sjdc/prison
CAPABLY CLAD 3 In 2012, BFA Fashion Design student Lucy Jones was given an ambitious assignment in her
lecturers on campus were speak-
Design Communication class:
ers from the New School Public
Design a product that could
Art Fund Talks (Jeff Koons and
change the world. Jones turned
Dread Scott); the team behind
to her cousin Jake, who—despite
the documentary Citizenfour
being otherwise independent—is
(Edward Snowden, David Carr,
unable to dress himself as a
Glenn Greenwald, and Laura
result of paralysis on the left
Poitras, BA Liberal Arts ’96);
side of his body. “I remember
speakers from the Graduate
thinking how strange it was
Institute for Design, Ethnogra-
that we’re not tackling these
phy & Social Thought (GIDEST)
issues,” says Jones. She designed
Seminar series, who addressed
trousers equipped with magnets
the intersection of design, eth-
that enable Jake to dress with
nography, and social thought
one hand. Jones won Parsons’
(Peter Hall, Krzysztof Wodiczko,
coveted Womenswear Designer
Reggie Wilson, and Annemarie
Paul Chan, Shirin Neshat, Jan
Svetlana Mintcheva); INSIDE Lees-Maffei and Sara Kristofferson); AMT Visiting Artists Lecture Series presenters (Julia Scher, Jacolby Satterwhite, Liz Magic Laser, Cheryl Dunye, Shadi Habab Allah, and Laylah Ali, pictured above); and Glenn Ligon, who spoke about his site-specific neon work, For Comrades and Lovers, installed in the University Center.
NEW EDU OPS Two new graduate programs and a host of minors expand Parsons’ offerings aimed at growing industries. Housed in the School of Constructed Environments (SCE), the MFA Industrial Design program launched in fall 2015. In the program, students design services and products employing advanced making skills while influencing the industry through direct engagement with manufacturing systems at all scales. The MS Data Visualization program, offered by the School of Art, Media, and Technology, also launched in fall 2015. The curriculum brings together design, statistics, and computer
News & Events
populations in the U.S. Curated
science and offers instruction in conducting data-driven research for settings in which quantified information increasingly shapes opinion, policy, and decision making. Minors at Parsons and throughout The New School enable students to tailor their study paths with offerings including Comics and Graphic Narrative, Creative Entrepreneurship, and nondesign subjects ranging from foreign languages to psychology to media making. newschool.edu/parsons/academics
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4
Parsons re:D 2015
6
5
7
DESIGN TAKES FLIGHT 5
ALUMNI ACCLAIM 6
GATHERED BY DESIGN 7
Activating the university’s focus
Anthony Deen, MArch ’95,
Work by a Student in the Type
In late April, alumni, faculty, and
on multidisciplinary collabo-
part-time associate professor
Directors Club’s 36 Typography
students gathered at Madison
ration, students from Mannes
in Parsons’ School of Art, Media,
Competition. Her winning entry,
Square Park for an evening of
School of Music and Parsons
and Technology and creative
packaging for a Japanese
design industry networking
recently presented Flight, an
director of Branded Environ-
confection, was inspired by
hosted at Häfele USA with
opera by composer Jonathan
ments at design consultancy
Dutch typographic master Piet
iGuzzini North America. Parsons’
Dove. Led by faculty members
CBX, created the logo for the
Zwart. Her design was created
School of Constructed Envi-
Alla Eizenberg and John Jerard,
new World Trade Center. Deen’s
for a design history course
ronments dean Brian McGrath
students from a range of Parsons
concept-driven design, created
taught by Jason Booher,
introduced the evening’s
programs created flamboyant
while he was a creative director
AAS Graphic Design ’05.
speakers, MFA Interior Design
costumes and designed a set,
at branding agency Landor
and MFA Lighting Design
complete with a ticket counter
Associates, references six key
newschool.edu/wtclogo parsons.edu/yoko-nire
and a giant turnstile, evoking
aspects of the WTC’s past, pres-
recently debuted innovative
Dove’s dystopian airport termi-
ent, and future. Yoko Nire, AAS
projects in international settings.
nal in this fully staged production.
Graphic Design ’14, won the
newschool.edu/flight
Award for Excellent Typographic
program alumni who had
9
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FETING FASHION 8
photography Jeanine Oleson—
to work with artisans from the
MA Fashion Studies’ latest issue
have been awarded Creative Cap-
participating luxury companies.
of BIAS: Journal of Dress Practice,
ital grants. Burns’ multichannel
luxuryeducationfoundation.org
focuses on fashion’s connection
Celebrated designer Marc
video installation Negative Space explores gender identity through
STREET SEATS
to surveillance, dress codes, and
Jacobs, BFA Fashion Design ’84, and global luxury products group
a surreal narrative about bodies
A 240-square-foot parking spot
of the MA Design Studies
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis
in transition and their interaction
at the northeast corner of 13th
program’s Plot(s): Journal of
Vuitton were recognized for their
with nature and technology. In a
Street and Fifth Avenue is now
Design Studies highlights the
significant industry contributions
series of performances, work-
the site of a sleek platform—
practice of data collection in
at the 2015 Parsons Fashion
shops, and a film, Oleson’s A
constructed using sustainably
urban places and the evolution
Benefit. Held at the Javits Center,
human(e) orchestra presents an
harvested Ipe wood—that is
of performance spaces.
the event raised more than $1.7
ever-changing ensemble per-
equipped with seats and tables.
million for student scholarships.
forming works that range from
The project, led by assistant
GREEN PLATED
Jacobs, a two-time honoree,
conventional music to speech.
professor Nick Brinen in
Last year, students from Parsons’
received his award from Vogue
akburns.net jeanineoleson.com
partnership with the NYC
School of Constructed Environ-
Department of Transportation,
ments began a project to replace New York City school lunch trays
sit and relax. “The platform was
made from polystyrene foam
creative advisor to Parsons’
DECADE DELUXE 9
invites community members to entirely built by hand, working
with a recyclable and com-
School of Fashion and a member
Industry insiders packed The
within Parsons’ own facilities,”
postable alternative. Working
New School last March to cele-
says Mark Rakhmanov, a
with the environmental nonprofit
brate the tenth anniversary of
member of a ten-student project
Global Green USA and led by BFA
the Luxury Education Founda-
team drawn from Parsons’ Archi-
Product Design program director
tion and its partnership with
tectural Design, Interior Design,
Daniel Michalik, students visited
Parsons and Columbia Business
and Product Design programs.
schools, toured manufacturing
School. The event showcased
newschool.edu/streetseats
and recycling facilities, and pre-
ten iconic design and marketing
IMPRINTING ADHT 10
creative director Anna Wintour. Jacobs and Simon Collins,
of Parsons’ board of governors, announced the 2015 Designer of the Year awards. This year’s winners are Lucy Jones (womenswear); Jon Max Goh and Sungho Kim (menswear); Jennifer Lia Kim (childrenswear); and Steffi Tsz and Wing Lau (accessories).
projects that students from the
newschool.edu/benefit
two schools developed for firms
CAPITAL FOR CREATIVES
including Salvatore Ferragamo,
Two faculty members from
Lalique. LEF and Parsons also
Parsons’ School of Art, Media, and Technology—lecturer A. K. Burns and assistant professor of
Van Cleef & Arpels, Cadillac, Cartier, GRAFF, Loro Piano, and launched the Luxury Craftsmanship Workshop, for which 16 Parsons students were chosen
In its debut issue, the MA History of Design and Curatorial Studies’ new journal Objective examines objects ranging from coffee cups to cinema seating and the contexts in which they are produced.
sented their designs to industry professionals. “The class engaged students in a user-centric design approach to investigate the nature of the tray,” said Michalik. The Urban Food Alliance, which will roll out the biodegradable trays, estimates that 225 million polystyrene trays will be kept out of landfills every year. newschool.edu/trays
News & Events
editor-in-chief and Condé Nast
social control. The second issue
5
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11
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HEALTHY HOMES
Project, a collaborative working
Design, MFA Interior Design,
with manufacturers and devel-
MArch, and MA Fashion Studies
opers to replace existing materi-
programs helped design the
REUNION RECAP 12
Co-founded by Parsons, Healthy
als with safer alternatives.
DOT space, explore products to
More than 500 alumni and
Building Network, Green Science
healthymaterialslab.org
develop, research local practices
guests, including artists and
Policy Institute, and Health Product Declaration Collaborative, Healthy Materials Lab (HML) received a transformative grant from The JPB Foundation to
6
Parsons re:D 2015
support its goal of reducing the amount of toxic substances in building materials while encouraging the adoption of less toxic materials. Housed at Parsons Design Lab, HML will influence how designers are taught about building practice. “Our work creates actionable strategies, integrating healthy building protocols, products, and green science with research to impact the health-related qualities of building materials,” said Alison Mears, director of HML and assistant professor at Parsons’ School of Design Strategies. The lab focuses on low-income populations, typically the most vulnerable to the negative effects of such materials. HML’s first project is the Healthy Affordable Materials
AID TO ARTISANS 11 Parsons recently partnered with
and materials, and lead work-
designers representing all of
shops involving jewelry, textiles,
Parsons’ disciplines and
leather, pottery, hand-dyeing,
graduating years gathered last
printing, and beading.
October at venues throughout
Fashion Design ’87—and Haitian
CAKMAK JOINS PARSONS
designer Paula Coles to create
Parsons announced Burak
DOT (Design, Organization and
Cakmak as the new dean of the
Training) Center, a new voca-
School of Fashion. Cakmak will
tional education hub for Haiti’s
oversee the BFA Fashion Design
artisan community. “Haiti is a
program, AAS degree programs
country of artisans bursting with
in Fashion Design and Fashion
creativity but without the voca-
Marketing, and the MFA in Fash-
tional skills to bring that talent
ion Design and Society program.
to the next level,” says Karan.
Under his leadership, the School
“Vocational education, I believe,
of Fashion will continue to
is the answer. I thought, ‘Why
pursue collaborations spanning
not connect the dots and bring
technological development,
educators and students from
sustainable construction, and
Parsons, my alma mater, to Haiti
ethical manufacturing in artistic,
to work with artisans?’” Over
luxury, and consumer-focused
the last two years, a Parsons
fashion. Previously Cakmak
interdisciplinary design team led
spearheaded innovation-driven
by faculty member Alison Mears
sustainability strategies for
worked closely with Karan and
Swarovski Group, MADE-BY
artisans in Port-au-Prince. Stu-
Benelux, and Kering.
dents from Parsons’ BFA Product
newschool.edu/cakmak
Urban Zen Foundation—a project of alumna Donna Karan, BFA
the campus and city for Parsons Reunion 2014. Highlights included a reception and the fourth annual Alumni Exhibition opening. Another special feature was a public conversation—part of At the Parsons Table, the school’s ongoing series of design dialogues—between Paul Goldberger, Joseph Urban Professor of Design, and vice president of Google Creative Lab, Robert Wong, BFA Communication Design ’90. The Alumni Exhibition included nearly 100 works by alumni spanning six decades, representing more than 20 areas of study. Parsons Reunion takes place in NYC this year on October 10. newschool.edu/parsons-reunion
Highlighting innovation and creativity in recent graduates’ work
NOMAD Miriam Josi and Stella Lee Prowse developed an interest in gardening, sustainable design, and reclaimed materials while sharing a Brooklyn garden apartment. Today their portable planter, Nomad, is bringing them global acclaim.
Miriam Josi ’14 & Stella Lee Prowse ’14 BFA PRODUCT DESIGN Josi and Lee Prowse began collaborating while students at Parsons before founding The Garden Apartment, their aptly named design studio. Collaboration is “a conversation that never ends,” says Lee Prowse. “We get excited about an idea and take it to the moon before coming back to earth in the end.”
Nomad, their studio’s first product, is
a collapsible fabric planter. Designed for herbs, the versatile product can be hung, sit upright, or attach to a wall to create a vertical garden. When sourcing materials, Josi and Lee Prowse chose reclaimed sailcloth from a Bronx boatyard. “We were looking for lightweight, durable, low-cost, easy-to-clean fabrics,” explains Josi. Manufactured locally,
7
the product ships flat. Its minimal construction is an essential part of the conscious approach to design that they developed at Parsons, where “sustainability is considered indispensable,” says Josi.
Raised in Switzerland, Josi lives in Paris,
where she continues developing products. Australian-born Lee Prowse is now based in Newburgh, New York, overseeing studio production. The pair recently participated in Project 50, an intensive design workshop at Domaine de Boisbouchet led by Parsons faculty member Allan Wexler and sponsored by USM Modular Furniture. thegardenapartment.com
Josi and Lee Prowse designed their planter with New Yorkers’ small apartments in mind. They hope to encourage people to grow their own herbs and become aware of food sources.
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Parsons re:D 2015
CONSUMING SOCIALISM In her thesis, “Consuming Socialism: Mid-Century Modernist Interiors in the Former Yugoslavia,” Dora Sapunar explores the power of visual culture to imprint political ideals on the public’s consciousness.
Dora Sapunar ’14 MA DESIGN STUDIES After finding industry fair brochures and
chose Parsons for its reputation in design
popular media from Communist Yugoslavia
education. Reflecting on her education,
that depicted idealized modern interiors,
Sapunar recalls that Professor Jilly Traganou
Sapunar knew she’d found rich material to
was “incredibly helpful at every step” and
document the role of design in constructing
provided invaluable assistance with “the less
national identity. She analyzed coordinated
glamorous aspects of thesis writing.”
efforts to establish Yugoslavian national
tastes through promotion of modern domes-
and was an editorial assistant at Dwell. She
tic design and representations of family life.
has written on midcentury architects and
Although many of the interiors shown were
designers and recently published “Spatial
beyond the public’s reach, they nonetheless
Reasoning: Gender History and Minimalist
hoped to become the model for
were effective propaganda for a government
Spaces,” an article for A Women’s Thing mag-
a future society.” The govern-
eager to promote what Sapunar calls “an
azine, at which she is a contributing editor.
ment employed images of
alternative to the Soviet model of socialism.”
Sapunar also lectures part-time at Parsons.
Sapunar studied art history and English
at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and then
Sapunar has contributed to Metropolis
dorasapunar.com
Sapunar notes, “Yugoslavia
model interiors to align public consumption and taste with official goals.
CHILDREN OF LENINGRADSKY Ximon Lee’s thesis collection earned him Parsons’ 2014 Designer of the Year award. In 2015, he won the H&M Design Award, becoming the first American and the only menswear designer to receive that honor.
Ximon Lee ’14 BFA FASHION DESIGN For his striking collection, Lee drew inspiration from the layered oversized adult clothing worn by youth in the documentary The Children of Leningradsky. Lee deconstructed found clothing and explored techniques of bonding fabrics, combining materials including denim, cardboard, and trash bags. His signature style includes exaggerated proportions in details like sleeves, trouser legs, lapels, and pockets.
Lee is adapting pieces for a capsule
collection H&M is producing in conjunction with the prize. About Lee’s process of adapting conceptual work for retail, his advisor,
PORTFOLIO
Alla Eizenberg, says, “He always finds a way to create without compromising what he believes.”
Born to Korean parents in northeastern
China, Lee developed an interest in graphic design that led him to Parsons. He initially had little interest in fashion but discovered
9
a passion for garment construction during a summer class. He then enrolled in the BFA program and interned at Calvin Klein, Phillip Lim, and Prabal Gurung, AAS Fashion Design ’01. More recently, Lee has developed his collection for the fall–winter 2015 market and was a semifinalist for the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers, awarded to innovative entrepreneurial young designers. ximonlee.com
Thesis advisor Alla Eizenberg describes Lee’s work ethic this way: “He produces in a week what others do in a month, a quality that brought his senior collection to a distinctive place.”
Parsons re:D 2015
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MATERIAL COMMUNICATIONS For her master’s thesis, Doremy Diatta developed objects for use in therapy involving parents of children with disruptive behavioral disorders. Today her work is attracting attention internationally.
Doremy Diatta ’14 MFA TRANSDISCIPLINARY DESIGN With support from Parsons, Diatta recently
often use three parent-child interaction
and at Character Lab, where she develops
presented her thesis on principles of therapy
methods—praise, verbal reflection, and
design-driven strategies for use in mental
for children with disruptive behavioral dis-
description—to reinforce positive behaviors.
health treatment and education.
orders at the 2015 Design Indaba conference
Bridging cognitive science and design, Diatta
in Cape Town. She shared objects she had
developed the object shown on this page,
designed for a family therapy strategy
and others, which enable parents to use the
employing alternative communication
therapy techniques at home.
methods to help therapists comprehend how
people construct their worlds. “Uncovering
thesis that it “felt like it was my life.” But her
the meaning we attach to objects, I tap into
advisor, Patricia Beirne, wisely reminded
therapy for children with
our implicit understanding of relationships
her that “what you do after will be greater.”
disruptive behavioral disorders.
and events,” says Diatta.
Diatta is now building a design practice and
Simple wood, metal, and plexi-
is also an independent contractor at the
glass items help parents apply
University of Pennsylvania’s Duckworth Lab
core therapy skills.
When working with children with
disruptive behavioral disorders, professionals
Diatta says she worked so hard on her
doremydiatta.com
Diatta designed objects to enhance communication and
THE MOTHER NATION Kai Margarida-Ramírez ’14 MFA FINE ARTS Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New
which Margarida-Ramírez explores craft,
Papel! Pico, Rico y Chico. In 2014, she was an
Mexico, Margarida-Ramírez developed a
gender, and the lives of female relatives.
Artist Fellow at the de Young Museum in San
unique perspective on postcolonial and
“Embroidery and paper cutting are often
feminist identity that anchored her work
considered feminine, crafts rather than fine
at Parsons. “In my second year,” she recalls,
art,” she explains. “Cutting into the paper and
“faculty members Thomas Butter and Ernesto
fiber, I insert my hand and myself into the
Pujol encouraged me to delve deeper into my
untold histories of these Caribbean women,”
family stories and examine what it means to
says Margarida-Ramírez. Margarida-Ramírez holds a BA in
Francisco. Today Margarida-Ramírez lives in Brooklyn and exhibits nationally. kaimargaridaramirez.com
Margarida-Ramírez balances
use photographs taken by my great-great-
grandmother.” Cutting and embroidering the
Sociology and Women Studies from the
positive and negative space,
photographs, she obscures faces and bodies,
University of New Mexico. Her work is in
contrasting the emotional
evoking the impermanence of memory.
the permanent collection of the National
weight and the elusiveness
Needlework and papel picado—traditional
Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque
of memory in La Danza de
Mexican paper cutting—are tools through
and was included in the center’s exhibition
Nuestra Mestizaje, shown above.
11
PORTFOLIO
Memory and identity are central to Kai Margarida-Ramírez’s work. She embroiders and hand-cuts family photographs with patterns based on floor tiles in her great-great-grandmother’s house.
Parsons re:D 2015
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PARSONS’ DESIGNS ON THE WHITE HOUSE First Lady Michelle Obama recently enlisted the Parsons community to lead her Fashion Education Workshop for U.S. high schoolers. Parsons fashion alumni led workshops, and faculty and students from Parsons’ Schools of Design Strategies and Constructed Environments transformed the East Room with installations made from repurposed materials.
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hen The First Lady conceived the workshop, part of her “Reach Higher”
initiative to promote post–high school education, she began by contacting
Narciso Rodriguez, BFA Fashion Design ’82. One of Obama’s favorite designers and
a Parsons graduate, Rodriguez represented a logical first point of contact: His commitment to full access to education and close connections with Parsons rallied the community. Celebrated designers and fellow alumni—including Tracy Reese, Jason Wu, Jenna Lyons, Charles Elliott Harbison, Zac Posen, Reed Krakoff, Lela Rose, Edward Wilkerson, and Prabal Gurung—were called on to lead the day’s events. In total, more than 30 Parsons alumni and university faculty and staff participated. Meanwhile, the White House invited 150 East Coast high school students to take part in hands-on workshops with the designers and hear their fashion industry insights.
The day opened with skill-focused activities dealing with inspiration,
construction techniques, wearable technology, entrepreneurship, and writing, which gave the designers opportunities to engage with students informally, sharing selfies and snacks. Rodriguez and Krakoff led the session on inspiration, handing out sketchbooks and encouraging students to look around them for design ideas. “Look at the way people move, how they present themselves to the world. Observe, then start sketching,” said Rodriguez. Krakoff urged them to “let go and follow your instincts.”
Posen demonstrated fashion construction fundamentals, guiding students in
designing on miniature dress forms. Rose led a session on journal writing, stressing the value of recording one’s ideas in written or drawn form. The First Lady visited the workshops, offering encouragement and emphasizing the important but unglamorous aspects of jobs in creative industries. Rodriguez echoed her points, reminding students, “To succeed, you have to put in the work.”
Among the attendees were ten Parsons Scholars—New York City high school
students who undertake a multiyear program of free art, design, and college-prep courses at Parsons. Destiny Pastrana, a Parsons Scholar in her final year at the High School of Fashion Industries, highlighted the importance of academic rigor need more than just passion for fashion. ‘Education is the key,’ he said. ‘You have to understand all aspects of the industry to create the designs you envision.’”
Tracy Reese said of the workshops, “The message was about education,
about going after your dreams and seeking the right educational path to achieve your goals.”
Between a morning of workshops and an afternoon panel in which designers
shared their career success stories, Obama assured students that they can achieve their goals, beginning with the right education. “Fashion is about passion and creativity, just like music or dance or poetry,” she observed. “For many people, it is a calling and a career.”
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by citing one of her workshop instructors. “Naeem Khan reminded me that you
SE T TING A STAGE FOR LEARNING The Fashion Education Workshop also gave Parsons
rings. They also assembled Brancusi-inspired sculptural
faculty and students an opportunity to showcase their
columns made from reconstructed books.
leadership in sustainable design. In the weeks leading
Garlands fashioned from local flowers and ferns
up to the event, Obama invited students to create a
complemented the sculptural paper centerpieces. For
complete design experience in the East Room of the
a showpiece, students fabricated an impressive back-
White House.
drop made of 4,000 folded pages. An elegant open
Led by faculty members Alison Mears, Helen
lectern welded from discarded steel was designed to
Quinn, and Jonsara Ruth, Parsons students developed
highlight the First Lady’s dress. “Students went above
concepts employing repurposed materials and reflect-
and beyond to create interesting pieces that delineated
ing the theme of design education. “The role of the
spaces for making art and for presentations,” said Ruth.
designer is to create within constraints,” Quinn noted.
“The choice of discarded books as a material was both
Surveying the striking installation he helped cre-
ate, BFA Architectural Design student Nelson De Jesus
a literal and a metaphoric link to Parsons’ approach
Ubri attributed the rare creative opportunity to his prior
to education.”
participation in the Parsons Scholars program. “Being
part of a high-profile event promoting design education
During an intensive two-week period, students
visited Materials for the Arts, a local clearinghouse for
at the White House—or becoming an architect—would
donated goods, where they collected more than 600
not have been possible without Parsons,” said De Jesus
books and other source materials. Working in teams,
Ubri. “Getting the chance to design something for the
students developed a design concept that involved var-
East Room was a huge honor.” The installation embod-
ious methods of folding pages and laser-cutting hard
ied a lesson of design education taught at Parsons—
covers to construct tabletop constructions including
that with ingenuity, intelligence, and available means,
centerpieces, mantelpieces, and objects such as napkin
one can create extraordinary things.
Parsons students decorated The White House with a dramatic installation made from discarded books—a nod to the day’s theme of education.
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As Ma ap rc pe are h ca an m d1 d an 3th in t e to df he ac St on ne t. C reet hear lose w , re — v inn lai i dre t of d mi ov sual G w r ng at ee bann vis ive iden n s ers pa w ito ti sp wi irit ty, o ce in rs’ a ich V th n i t an l t bo d r e tha he u tent lage l i . etu on rba tc On d ty ha pe rns sk nl es l y id len an ma wa Pa d g rso rki entif rd, sc es ap n yin ns t ou g ow e to rc at Pars g Ne om in st its er on w rik for mu to me we s’ co Scho nit ing w rne rn r yt ol am bu o p ays s cla r , th i d i —Fif ut e. nt th lding eu int he Av s niv oa en sa ers cti ue on ity me co its u lor cre nve il at ive ed a an d
Parsons re:D 2015
16
Inset: Peter Bil’ak’s sketches for our new typeface. Background: Students used Parsons’ custom red color and Neue Random in wallpaper they designed for the main building’s Fifth Avenue lobby.
HHJJJKKKLLLMMMNNNOOOPP
created for graphics in the University Center. Bil’ak drew
of integration that has been unfolding at The New
Neue in an upper-and-lowercase font for regular copy
School in recent years. The University Center has given
and a bold all-uppercase version in three widths and
the community a place to activate cross-disciplinary
two weights for headlines. The three widths arose from
work and Parsons’ School of Fashion a new home; this
experimentation: Scher discovered that stretching some
fall, Mannes School of Music opens in its new location
letterforms horizontally gave Neue a pleasing rhythm
nearby in a center housing all our performing arts
when applied to the names of the university’s schools.
schools. Groundbreaking interdisciplinary programs— including ones uniting design and journalism, and
“The P in Parsons looked particularly good when widened,” she recalls. “Then we realized you could program
entrepreneurship and the arts—have students collabo-
a font to randomly choose between the three widths.”
rating in ways that uniquely prepare them for the future.
Bil’ak developed an algorithm to maintain legibility
Driving these developments is The New School’s
while randomizing type widths—a function that can be
mission to bring together the university’s remarkable
turned on and off—inviting designers to introduce an
creativity, intellectual might, and resources so that
improvisational syncopation into their work.
students can achieve their full potential, contributing to
the world as engaged citizens and innovators. Broad-
bars—evoking the exterior banding on both the Urban
casting this story called for a new public face for The
building and the University Center—to join the New
New School—one as distinctive, forward-looking, and
School logomark to the names of university schools
flexible as our community. To guide efforts to update
and offices set beneath. The type-and-bar system
The logo system employs a pair of horizontal
the university’s visual identity, The New School enlisted
is designed to visually communicate the connection
Paula Scher, principal designer at global design con-
between the university and its schools and to grow
sultancy Pentagram. Using a design research process
with The New School’s evolving array of programs,
like the one taught at Parsons, Scher explored ways to
research centers, and offices. Parallel to the design
express the university’s “oneness” and the connection
process was a project to refine the names of academic
between its schools while allowing for individuality and
units, which included creating a school combining Jazz,
the growth a pioneer like The New School experiences.
Mannes, and Drama (College of Performing Arts) and
In the end, Scher embodied The New School’s progres-
returning to Parsons’ former name: Parsons School of
sive legacy and innovative nature in a flexible system
Design. The resulting logo system and group of names
she calls a “gift from the university to the community.”
situate The New School as the overarching entity
Scher began with a new logo anchored by an
arresting custom-designed typeface. The ever-modern
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T
HE NEW VISUAL IDENTITY is one chapter in a story
connecting all the schools—Parsons, Lang, The New School for Social Research, Performing Arts, and
type on the façade of The New School’s Joseph Urban
Schools of Public Engagement.
building on West 12th Street inspired her initial
sketches, which she refined over months. The result
school or administrative names can appear in larger
was Neue (German for “new”), a font by celebrated
or smaller type according to communication needs
type designer Peter Bil’ak based on the typeface he
and desire for visual impact. For university-wide
While prescriptive, the system isn’t rigid: The
PPQQQRRRSSSTTTUUUV V V WW
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Parsons re:D 2015
P communications, designers can use the New School
possibilities to go to exponential levels of design appli-
logo alone or a version that includes the name of a
cations, ones Pentagram never anticipated.” Cordoba
school or office. The schools within Parsons (School
and Evans also worked with Pentagram and Parsons
of Art and Design History and Theory; School of Art,
faculty member Pascal Glissmann to design “wraps”
Media, and Technology; School of Fashion; School of
for campus water towers over two intensive weeks.
Constructed Environments; School of Design Strategies)
After experimenting with the system, Cordoba says, “As
have their own logos, as does Parsons Alumni. A custom-
a tool, it’s so adaptable; it enabled us to create some-
created Pantone color, Parsons Red, completes the new
thing of our own.” For Evans, the creative project had
visual identity’s palette (red, white, and black) and hints
clear benefits. Deepening his co-operative design skills
at Parsons’ cornerstone position in the university.
was one: “Working with Rafael on the towers didn’t feel
like a competition but rather a true collaboration of two
Both the font and the logo system break tradi-
tional design rules to create something recognizable,
approaches to design.” Another benefit? Evans is now
flexible, and new. “New is an extreme position,” Scher
an intern at Pentagram.
asserts, referring to the university’s name. “You can’t
pick a safe letterform for an extreme position.”
30, alumni and other members of the design commu-
This position reflects The New School’s culture of
nity and public began engaging with it. Associate pro-
challenging convention in pursuit of social good,
fessor David Carroll, MFA Design and Technology ’00,
Minutes after the new identity debuted on March
academic excellence, and design-led innovation. Scher
led a dialogue on the system and its pioneering algo-
is delighted to see the community taking the system
rithm in “What’s New Is Neue: An Alumni Conversation
she created and bringing it to life. “You create these
on the New Visual Identity,” at New School Alumni Day
systems and let them go,” she says. “It belongs to the
on May 9. The system grew on people quickly, though
university now, and will grow in ways we can’t predict.”
some initially expressed concern over features like
the wide W in “New,” which they argued can be read
Even before the new identity was made public,
BFA Communication Design students in a course taught
as two V’s. Scher counters, “Neue forces you to think
by Lucille Tenazas, Henry Wolf Professor and associate
about typography differently. The New School is a uni-
dean of Parsons’ School of Art, Media, and Technology,
versity that breaks rules in its pursuit of innovation. We
explored the system in depth. Tenazas guided students
had to break graphic design rules to create something
in creating designs to announce the arrival of The New
in keeping with the university’s spirit.”
School’s refreshed identity. With input from Pentagram,
juniors Rafael Cordoba, Joe Louis Evans, Josh Estrella,
goal of communicating its unity and integration in a
and senior Sunghoon Kim worked together to design
recognizable way that allows for evolution. “This school
Through design, the university has achieved its
a bold graphic wallpaper for the lobby of Parsons’
is about questioning, and that fact drove the entire
65 Fifth Avenue entrance. Their creative engagement
process,” Scher says. “Why create a visual identity that
with the Neue font and Parsons Red color reflects the
can change? Because you make rules for yourself and
kind of creativity Scher and Tenazas hoped to see.
explore and expand. That’s what education at The New
Tenazas says, “I see this as opening up even more
School is all about.”
WX X X Y Y YZZZ
Left to right: Students designed wraps for campus water towers; a New School MetroCard helps the university reach new audiences; banners with the new logo appeared on Fifth Avenue and 13th Street, fostering a campus environment.
PERSISTENCE of
VISION MARC JACOBS FASHION
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ON
JOEL TOWERS: Marc, we are delighted to honor you
shows had a whimsical, transformative quality; his
and LVMH and have this opportunity to talk about
collections were more fashion than clothes.
your celebrated career. Let’s start with how you came to Parsons. MARC JACOBS: Thank you; I’m proud to be honored. My Parsons story starts at Charivari, the boutique where I worked in high school and met Perry Ellis, a designer I admired. Perry was very gracious and intro-
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Parsons re:D 2015
duced me to his design assistants, Jed Krascella and
JT: What was Parsons like then? MJ: Tracy Reese, Susan Martin, Chris Isles, and I found each other, and Tracy and I became particularly close. We would sit at my dining room table all night—to the point of tears—doing assignments. Parsons is where you learn that it isn’t finished until it’s finished.
Patricia Pastor, who were Parsons graduates. He said
JT: Students still stay up late, pushing themselves. How
that if I was serious about fashion—which I was—I
do you approach each new collection? As a radical
should go to Parsons. So when the guidance counselor
departure? By revisiting themes?
asked what I planned after high school, I said I was applying to Parsons. I knew that not many people were accepted, but I was jaded and pretty audacious. I said, “I’m going to Parsons or I’m not going to school.” The counselor replied, “That’s not very sensible. You need a backup plan.” But I don’t believe in plan B’s. Parsons was my plan A.
MJ: Design is an evolutionary process—I can never tell what the end of the process will be without going through it. From season to season, the details, colors, and fabrics change, but the approach pretty much stays the same. You revisit things you love, at the core of your vocabulary—razor-cut fabrics, dresses, doublefaced coats. That probably goes back to my grand-
JT: You mentioned Perry Ellis; both he and Chester
mother taking me to Bergdorf Goodman and trying on
Weinberg awarded you a Gold Thimble for your
a red cashmere double-faced cape.
Parsons senior collection. Did they influence your design?
JT: Collaboration is essential at Parsons; students work
MJ: I felt a primal connection to Perry. He was a unique
with peers throughout the university, creating opera
voice on Seventh Avenue and made a statement each
sets and orchestral performance wear, for example.
season with shows influenced by a variety of sources—
Collaboration is important to you, too. Tell us about that.
The Canterbury Tales, and Spain, for example. Perry’s
MJ: Everything is a collaboration; it feels very organic, like when I asked Stephen Sprouse to collaborate with us at Louis Vuitton or Cher to work with us on this season’s ads. And each season begins with me working closely with the designers, stylists, makeup artists, photographers, and others. I’m part of a team that includes press, buyers, merchandisers, and friends. I
JT: What about digital platforms for fashion? MJ: Social media is a tool and a curse. We want to show off and we want attention; I get it. But I want us to do it in real life. Where are the clubs? I love the ritual of dressing up and going out…. I want to feel the fabrics and try on the clothes and interact with the salespeople.
mean, I draw and learned to drape and make patterns
JT: We need to consider human factors and the impli-
in school, but I couldn’t do all of this myself, do the
cations of technology. Marc, we teach students to learn
shows….
from failure. Is that part of your creative process?
JT: What role does the runway play?
MJ: There’s no such thing as failure—it’s all a matter
MJ: Like theater, like a concert, nothing comes close to the emotional pull of a live performance. During Fashion Week, people rush from show to show. Then they
of context and timing. OK, so showing orange tights probably wasn’t the greatest idea for a fall show, but it doesn’t mean that another time, orange tights couldn’t look great. And I don’t know that anything is ever finished. You can show a dress and then a week later think it doesn’t seem relevant—or see something you’d finished for the moment. JT: It becomes the raw material for the next iteration.
arrive at the Armory and forget where they are for a
Any parting advice for young designers?
few minutes during this escapist theater you’ve made,
MJ: If you’re passionate about fashion—don’t give up.
with creatures parading around. It transports you into
People might say that’s being stubborn, but it’s working
a thought, a mood, a spirit, a world. That’s what Perry’s
for me.
work did for me. A fashion show is more than a presentation of clothing.
Page 19: A collage of looks from the Marc
Left to right: Jacobs as a Parsons visiting
Jacobs Collection. Front to back: F/W 2010;
critic; sketches for which Jacobs won the
F/W 2015; F/W 2010.
Perry Ellis Gold Thimble award as a senior; the set of Jacobs’ F/W 2013 show.
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change. Everything is in perpetual change, even if it’s
ERIK MADIGAN HECK MFA ’10 PHOTOGRAPHY
For Erik Madigan Heck, there’s beauty in control. To achieve his vision, he often serves as creative director, setting and props master, and stylist. “For me as an artist, everything is dictated by the idea. Form follows that,” says Heck of his lush artistry. The expansive role suits his creative practice, which straddles fine art and fashion photography and earns him commissions from toptier clients like Comme des Garçons, Etro, and
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Parsons re:D 2015
Alexander McQueen.
In the image shown here—from Heck’s photo essay
“Drôle d’oiseau” (“strange bird”), for Numéro Magazine— the artist presents his subject in a pose recalling classical portraiture within a signature color-saturated scene. Heck says, “I’ve always been on a quest to make paintings with photography. As a medium, photography never interested me, but bending it to create a new form of 2D imagery—where the medium becomes ambiguous—that does. Parsons was the perfect place to explore fashion photography as an art form rather than a commercial device.” Heck’s use of bold color-blocking and monochromatic backgrounds and his painterly rendering of his subjects usher his rich photography into the realm of fine art.
Today Heck photographs campaigns and editorials
for publications including the New York Times, Vogue, and WWD; exhibits work in fine art settings; and makes films. He recently photographed American menswear designers for a campaign initiated by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Amazon to promote New York City’s first menswear fashion week. Heck attracted attention by launching Nomenus Quarterly, a journal on art and fashion, while he was at Parsons.
DINA DWYER
As a teenager in the Philippines, Dina Dwyer glimpsed
in the bottom photograph on this page). A ladder to fit
her future in the pages of Elle Decor and Architectural
the shelves was salvaged from a New England library. “I
Digest. “The designers whose work I loved studied at
began by thinking we’d keep the façade and gut every-
Parsons, so that’s where I went.” Today Dwyer is a
thing to make it modern,” she says. “But it made sense to
sought-after Bay Area interior designer who undertakes
respect what was already there.”
residential constructions and major renovations with her
husband, Richard, a Silicon Valley area developer.
which now includes buying auction items for “the story
Their first project together was creating a home for
The process transformed her approach to decor,
behind each piece,” says Dwyer. “They reflect how the
themselves in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood.
context of objects evolves over time. How we use vintage
A turn-of-the-century structure that once housed a store
objects today makes their storied pasts more meaningful.”
and shopkeepers’ living quarters, it was renovated in the Prohibition era to conceal a bootleg operation between floors. The couple preserved vestiges of the building’s mercantile history by keeping vintage fixtures and the original shelving in what is now the living room (shown Above: Dwyer preserved traces of her home’s past by painting some floors a red hue reminiscent of their original color.
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INTERIOR DESIGN
Alumni contribute creatively to industry and culture
AAS ’04
PHILLIP BODUM BFA ’11
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Parsons re:D 2015
PRODUCT DESIGN
“Do we really need another
?” asks Phillip Bodum. He
in Europe, the speakers will be sold in the United States
uses the question—a rhetorical device borrowed from
later this year.
faculty mentor Andrea Ruggiero—to remind himself to
consider necessity whenever design projects are pro-
and interiors. Each project reflects his goal of making
posed. When Danish electronics company Clint Digital
good design available to everyone. The groundwork for
approached Bodum to design a Bluetooth speaker short-
Bodum’s commitment was laid by his grandfather, who
Bodum’s practice encompasses products, graphics,
ly after he graduated, the question became a guiding
founded the Danish brand whose affordable goods bear
principle. “A new speaker had to fill a need: produce good
the family name. “I grew up with that model; it’s what I
sound and be easy to use and affordable.”
always try to do.”
The result was Freya, a compact wireless speaker
that won a 2015 Red Dot Award, given to recognize products highlighting the importance of design to business and society, and a 2015 International Forum (iF) Design Award. Bodum has since collaborated with Clint on a line of app-controlled home speakers. Available The sleek Freya speaker has won awards and a place in the U.S. market, beginning in fall 2015.
MONIR SHAHROUDY FARMANFARMAIAN Cert. ’49
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s art practice draws
distinctive aesthetic is apparent in Untitled (Sculpture 2).
on decades spent in Iran, her birthplace, and New York
Here she transforms a traditional Islamic design into a
City, where she attended Parsons and entered the vibrant
gyroscope of concentric hexagons.
art scene. This spring, her pioneering artwork was on
view in Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Infinite
Farmanfarmaian and master craftsmen build stuccoed
To create sculptures like the one shown on this page,
Possibility. Mirror Works and Drawings, 1974–2014, a
armatures that are covered in pieces of mirrored glass,
comprehensive exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum.
applying a centuries-old technique in a modern way. She
describes her three-dimensional panels as “something
After studying fashion illustration at Parsons,
Farmanfarmaian worked alongside Andy Warhol as an
new, something old, all swirling together in a dazzle
illustrator at the department store Bonwit Teller and
of light and color and unpredictable angles.” After two
befriended artists including Willem de Kooning, Joan
decades living in New York following the 1979 Revolution,
Mitchell, and Jackson Pollock. Upon returning to Tehran
she resumed her practice in Tehran, beginning a period of
in 1957, she began exploring traditional Iranian art and
intense creativity. At 90, she says, “Whatever time I have
experimenting with sculpture. Rooted in both Islamic
left, I want to make art.”
geometric forms and minimalist and abstract art, her Farmanfarmaian’s work was recently on view at the Guggenheim Museum and at Tulane University.
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alumni AT work
FASHION ILLUSTRATION
Parsons re:D 2015
26
Emily Meyer (left) and Jessica Ross (right) review Ross’ senior collection in the University Center
ALUMNI GIVE SUPPORTING STUDENTS BY DESIGN Alumni giving enables the university and its students to do their most exciting, innovative, and important work. At Parsons, it also helps donors and students build personal and professional connections through design. Emily Meyer, BFA Fashion Design ’93, founder of the Tea Collection children’s clothing company, established an award that does both. The Emily Meyer/Tea Collection Prize for Childrenswear is making the clothing line created by Jessica Ross, BFA Fashion Design ’15, a reality. The prize includes a cash award and on-site mentoring at Tea Collection’s San Francisco headquarters. Thanks in part to Meyer’s generosity, Ross has completed her childrenswear thesis collection, “which incorporates handmade knits, prints, and graphics as well as recycled denim materials inspired by the sustainability and ethical production measures that make Tea Collection successful,” she says.
“I give today so that the next generation can lead responsibly
and sustainably tomorrow,” says Meyer. “We must learn from—and give to—one another.” The value of reciprocity is equally embodied in the way Meyer manages her global brand. Tea Collection produces its line with ethical manufacturers worldwide. Encouraging young designers to embrace ethical production—and the cultural exchange that comes with working internationally—is a top priority for Meyer.
Every gift makes a difference. Make yours today:
Tea Collection’s Spring 2015 catalog, shot in India. Meyer’s team travels the globe for inspiration and visits production partners, learning about local methods and sharing cultural insights.
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newschool.edu/giving-back
OUR SUPPORTERS July 1, 2013–June 30, 2014*
re:D (regarding Design) 2015 EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Anne Adriance
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Parsons re:D 2015
EDITORIAL BOARD: Amy Garawitz, Heidi Ihrig,
Anonymous ADCO Electrical Corp. Gina Addeo Lisa Addeo (P) Sidsel T. Alpert ’71 Amazon.com American Red Cross AreaWare Jack and Marion A. Auspitz ’86 Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Inc. Barneys New York Andrew Bernheimer Binational Softwood Lumber Council Blick Art Materials Dominique Bluhdorn Mark and Diana Bowler (P) Keith Brackpool (P) Harlan Bratcher Bobbie Braun ’90 Jason and Melissa Mileff Burnett ’06 Jennifer Andrus Burroughs (P), in memory of Dona J. Filkins Frick Byers ’96 John V. Calcagno ’73 Kristi Carney-Dunkley (P) Claire Chan ’11/The Chan Foundation Charity Buzz Murtaza and Shenaz Chevel (P) Lucy Chudson ’12 and William Schwartz City Lore, Inc. William and Jane Corbellini ’86 Richard and Jean Coyne Family Foundation Creative Sky Richard Darling/LF USA Conor Davis Davler Media Group/New York Spaces Beth Rudin DeWoody ’75/May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc. Angelo Donghia Foundation Michael Donovan ’69 and Nancye Green ’73 Jamie Drake ’78/Drake Design Associates, Inc. Dreamyard Jochen and Christina Duemler (P) Douglas D. Durst/The Durst Organization Renaud Dutreil/LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Inc. The James Dyson Foundation Echo Design Group Robert J. Feeney Fresh Inc. Anne Gaines ’00 GameLab Institute of Play Inc. Henry and Barbara Gooss (P) Allan Greenberg Joe and Gail Gromek Victoria Hagan ’84/Victoria Hagan Interiors Hallmark Corporate Foundation The Haus of Gaga John Hayes (P) Andrew Heffernan ’11 and Anna Lundberg ’12 Estate of Jennifer Hill ’91 ICRAVE Illuminating Engineering Society Japan Foundation Peggy Keenan Jernigan Trust JESCO Lighting Group, LLC Thanos and Daniela Kamiliotis Lonnie and Karen Kane (P) Donna Karan ’87, in loving memory of her husband, Stephan Weiss/The Karan-Weiss Foundation Gabrielle Karan, in loving memory of her father, Stephan Weiss Charles Kenney and Anne Detmer (P) Ada Howe Kent Foundation Stephan and Michaela Keszler (P) Phyllis B. Kriegel
Nicholas and Theresa Leonardy (P) Aura Levitas Shin Yin Liong, MD (P) Theodore Luce Charitable Trust Luxury Education Foundation Dee MacDonald-Miller ’75/Jones Lang LaSalle Peter and Margaret Magerko (P) Anand and Anuradha Mahindra (P) Nancy Mahon/The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. Noel and Nienke Manns (P) Marjorie Marran ’51 MaxMara USA, Inc. Richard J. and Rosemary McCready (P) MetLife Foundation Roberto Thompson Motta and Amalia Spinardi (P) Ms. Foundation for Women Jacki Nemerov/The Nemerov Charitable Foundation The New York Community Trust New York Hall of Science Nokia Research Center One Kings Lane Open Society Foundations Sandra Owen ’57 OXO Perry Ellis International Michèle and Steve Pesner Philips Lighting University Alma M. Phipps ’78 The Pinkerton Foundation Betsy and Robert Pitts ’95 The Henry B. Plant Memorial Fund, Inc. Raul and Luz Ravelo (P) Riverdale Country School The Rockefeller Foundation Susan and Byron Roth (P) Alina Roytberg ’84 Samsung Everland Inc. Johan M. and Isabelle Schouten (P) David Schwartz Foundation, Inc. Richard J. and Sheila W. Schwartz ’88 Thomas and Debra Seiler (P) Ellen Sigal, PhD/Sigal Family Foundation SK Planet, Inc. Christy C. Smith/Southern Fashion House Margaret J. Smith ’89/The Teck Foundation Peter Sole and Helen Mumford-Sole (P)/Gartner Sony Electronics Celina Stabell ’98 The Geraldine Stutz Trust, Inc. Surdna Foundation William Susman and Emily Glasser Dennis and Judy Sweeney/ First Harvest Foundation (P) Tomio Taki Dan and Sheryl Tishman Alyce Williams Toonk (P) Type Directors Club Kay Unger ’68/The Kay Unger Family Foundation UNIQLO Co., Ltd. U.S.-Japan Council Robert and Delores Viarengo ’95 Nancy Vignola ’76 George and Nancy Walker/ The Brown Foundation, Inc. Ian Wayne (P) Angela Weber (P) Gene Weber (P) Jessica Weber ’66 Corey Weiss, in loving memory of his father, Stephan Weiss Lisa Weiss, in loving memory of her father, Stephan Weiss Claire Sepulveda Werner ’83 Thomas Wolf and Ellen Smolka (P) Andrea Woodner * Gifts of $1,000 or more.
Jen Rhee PARSONS ADVISORY BOARD: Joel Towers, Hazel Clark, Anne Gaines, Sarah Lawrence, Brian McGrath, Alison Mears MANAGING EDITOR: Kyle Hansen EDITOR and LEAD WRITER: John Haffner Layden CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Kate McCormick, David Thomas, Aimee Williams ART DIRECTOR: Ed Pusz LEAD DESIGNER: David Robinson PRODUCTION COORDINATORS: Steven Arnerich,
Sung Baik COPY EDITOR: Leora Harris PRODUCED BY: Marketing & Communication, The New School LETTERS AND SUBMISSIONS: re:D welcomes letters to the editor as well as submissions of original manuscripts, photos, and artwork. Unsolicited manuscripts, related materials, photography, and artwork will not be returned. Please include your year of graduation, degree completed, and major or program. ADDRESS CHANGES: Please submit address
changes at newschool.edu/alumni. CONTACT US: re:D, Parsons School of Design
79 Fifth Avenue, 17th floor, New York, NY 10003 alumni@newschool.edu PARSONS (760-830) Volume 32, No. 2, August 2015 PARSONS is published four times a year, in July, December, January, and May, by The New School, 66 W. 12th Street, New York, NY 10011. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to PARSONS, 79 Fifth Avenue, 17th floor, New York, NY 10003. CREDITS: Eugenia Ames, Mannes ’69 (News &
Events); Courtesy of Areaware (News & Events); Associated Press (Reaching Higher); David Barron (Giving); Carter Berg (News & Events); Patricia Chang (Alumni at Work); Clint Digital and Phillip Bodum (Alumni at Work); Suzanne Cotter (Alumni at Work); Alex Dolan, BFA Photography ’14/BA Environmental Studies ’13 (News & Events); Dina Dwyer (Alumni at Work); Courtesy of The Garden Apartment (Portfolio); John Haffner Layden (Persistence of Vision); Hideaki Hamada (Giving); David Heald (Alumni at Work); Erik Madigan Heck (Alumni at Work); Courtesy of Marc Jacobs International (Persistence of Vision); Lucy Jones (News & Events); Sameer Khan (News & Events); The Kellen Design Archives (Persistence of Vision); Ximon Lee (Portfolio); Peter Lindbergh (Persistence of Vision); Ryan McGinley (Red-Handed); David Robinson (News & Events); Martin Seck (Cover, News & Events, Reaching Higher, A New Visual Identity); Matthew Septimus (News & Events); Tori Sulewski for Fotobuddy (News & Events); Marc Tatti (News & Events); Seyyed Arash Fewzee Youssefi (News & Events) The New School does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, religious practices, mental or physical disability, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, or veteran or marital status. The New School is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution.
RED HANDED Ryan McGinley BFA ART, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY Ryan McGinley is one of his generation’s most important photographers, acclaimed for his enigmatic portraits in which naturalism and dreamlike elements come together to produce works blending innocence and sensuousness.
At 25, McGinley became one of the
youngest artists ever to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He has since found artistic and commercial success, exhibiting fine art worldwide and shooting campaigns for Stella McCartney, Dior, and Hermès. His editorials appear in publications like Vogue, the New York Times Magazine, and W Magazine. In Falling (Cornfield), 2007, McGinley draws the viewer into an ambiguous landscape. His nude subject appears to fall through a mist that seems palpable enough to slow his descent. Has he been cast from
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heaven? Or sent aloft in an earthly rite?
New School Alumni 79 Fifth Avenue, 17th floor, New York, NY 10003
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