WHERE IT MATTERS MOST

Executive Dean Schreiber is shown in her office, designed by Jordana Maisie Design Studio. Maisie, a 2016 graduate of Parsons’ MArch/MFA Lighting Design dual-degree program, created the office, called Stacked Space, using sustainable safer materials sourced with Parsons’ Healthy Materials Lab and provided mainly as in-kind donations. Shown are Columbia Forest Products plywood, made from responsibly sourced wood and a soy-based binder; nontoxic mineralbased Romabio paint; recyclable, biodegradable paper-based flooring from Aronson’s Floorcovering; and custom furnishings held together by mechanical fasteners instead of toxic glues. The artwork is from The New School Art Collection.

BY RACHEL SCHREIBER, EXECUTIVE DEAN OF PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN

Soon after I started at Parsons, we held a Dean’s Council retreat in which we made an exciting discovery: We found that throughout the college, research and curricula focusing on health and wellness had expanded significantly. And when we considered wellness on a societal and ecosystem-wide basis, it emerged as a thematic that intersects and arches over environmental sustainability and social justice, two long-standing and fundamental values at Parsons. We began to understand wellness as an umbrella concept enabling us to see, for example, climate justice and racial equity as intersecting challenges. In short, wellness means caring for ourselves, one another, and the planet—and understanding that to achieve any one of these, we need to address them all.

Because art and design both reflect and shape the concerns of the day, it isn’t surprising to find that our community would apply its experience, skills, critical thinking, and creativity to fostering wellness at a time marked by climate collapse and faltering systems, including healthcare and political systems—all of which have significantly challenged our well-being. Add the coronavirus pandemic, and one can see why we’ve chosen to address health and wellness in this issue of Regarding Design. The fact that we’re qualifying the theme with an inclusive imperative—well-being for all—makes it clear that at Parsons, we seek to examine the ways full access to health and well-being have been systemically privileged for some and withheld from others.

The COVID-19 outbreak inspired the Parsons community to meet needs ranging from PPE to new approaches to assessing and communicating the pandemic’s unequal effects. These efforts built on our growing expertise in systems related to health. Some of this work involves studio disciplines that have distinguished us for years—including fashion, product, interior, and communication design. In other cases, our healthfostering work has raised awareness of the importance of newer fields such as data visualization, transdisciplinary design, and other approaches. As the critical importance of understanding visual culture becomes more widely recognized, our MA programs continue to play a vital role in critiquing the exclusionary nature of mainstream media and advocating for a broadened representation that supports mental health. Research including that undertaken at Parsons’ Healthy Materials Lab (HML) spans disciplines in a mission to improve the health of systemically underserved populations. HML promotes the use of nontoxic and environmentally responsible materials throughout the building industries, but especially in affordable housing, harnessing design to effect change in health-related systems.

Throughout this issue of re:D, you’ll see examples of health- and wellness-focused work coming from these disciplines and research initiatives, and you’ll also see evidence of our remarkable community’s ability to provide mutual support through a global crisis. I’m referring here to students, faculty, and staff, who modeled the same ability along with creative problem solving, adaptation, collaboration, and a human-centered approach to design in order to persevere with teaching and learning in the face of enormous challenges.

In practical terms, it meant that faculty and staff skilled in online instruction shared teaching techniques and made themselves more available to students than ever, tailoring courses and workshops in response to the challenges of remote learning. Staff at the Making Center helped designers and artists create at home with their own tools. Students found ways to collaborate with one another, engage with their local communities, and use available materials—all valuable capacities for an evolving and uncertain future. Connecting all of these activities were compassion, empathy, and a willingness to listen deeply—all qualities abundantly evident throughout our community and this issue of re:D.

Read on to learn more about projects that reflect our community’s wellness-focused work, which is aimed at expanding access to healthcare and aligns with our commitment to building a better, more resilient world through design.