GREENWICH VILLAGE — The Parsons School of Design opened a new "Making Center" at the New School last week, geared at enabling students and faculty from all fields of study to create things that will produce social good, the school announced.
The 28,000-square-foot space at Fifth Avenue and 13th Street is meant to be the hub of the school's 78,000-square-foot network of spaces devoted to creating and manufacturing.
"This new space allows education and practice to shift from 20th century siloed industrial model, which separates disciplines and thus limits interaction and collaboration, to a cross-platform model, which allows different designers to work together and learn from one another to design the future," said Joel Towers, executive dean of Parsons School of Design, in a statement. "This approach prepares students to become 21st century leaders within design professions and across management and business."
The space was designed by New York City-based firm Rice+Lipka Architects and has an open floor plan with modular walls and tables to encourage collaboration among students and faculty from different disciplines.
More than half of the 14,000-square-foot main floor is "dedicated to not being dedicated," according to architect Lyn Rice.
"R+L conceived of the Center as a de-siloed making place where design students from Parsons’ broad range of creative disciplines can work side-by-side," Rice said.
Available tools and equipment include state-of-the-art DSLR cameras, milling machines, a molder, 3-D printers and scanners, embroidery and knitting machines and pottery wheels, among many others.
School administrators want students to use the space to problem-solve issues relating to sustainability and urban life, and be part of the revival of manufacturing culture in New York City, along with recently-developed hubs like the Navy Yard and Industry City in Brooklyn.
"Our students are committed to designing a better, more sustainable, and more beautiful world," Towers said. "The Making Center — a dynamic environment housing a suite of cutting-edge resources — will provide the space for them to do just that."
