Dean of the School of Architecture Quilian Riano reflected on the recent past and the year ahead for The Architect’s Newspaper. “The Pratt Institute School of Architecture celebrated its 70th anniversary this past academic year with events and two exhibitions: one about recent student work and the other about our history. This coming year, we are building on the excitement around this work to host programs that look at the role of our fields in shaping the public sphere and to support faculty and students as they continue to tackle the challenges communities are facing, such as dealing with the climate and housing crises.”
The Daily Hub
A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute
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Librarian Adeeba Rana, MSLIS ’13, will discuss the trend of censorship with author and activist George Takei at the Brooklyn Public Library’s event Unscripted: A Night Against Censorship at Central Library on October 6.
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Three Pratt students were chosen as Atlantic East athletes of the week: Pallavi Verghese, BArch ’28, for Women’s Tennis; Coralie Norenberg, MFA Communications Design ’27, for Women’s Cross Country; and Liam Reilly, BFA Film ’27, for Men’s Cross Country.
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“Last Year…”, an animated short by Emmett Goodman, adjunct instructor of Digital Arts and Animation, will be included in the 2025 Woodstock Film Fest, an Oscar-qualifying competition showcasing 112 films, including 28 animated shorts. “An animator creates one second of animation every day for a whole year, resulting in a visual stream-of-consciousness that is funny, colorful and whimsical.”
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Visiting Assistant Professor of History of Art and Design Kate Sekules was featured in the Costume Society of America’s Dialogues on Dress series. “I stand behind the term ‘visible mending’ because it conveys the general idea, but it can also sound a bit too trendy. Which is a problem, because trends end,” said Sekules. “An alternative way to frame it is perhaps ‘codesign.’ There are infinite ways to fix and alter something and add to it, to make it a collaborative process between you and the item. […] We need to innovate in style and design, and this is a design form. Fashion is fairly moribund and profit-driven, but mending can step in and disrupt that.”
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Pratt pair Claire McKinney and Sophie Andes Gascon, both BFA Fashion Design ’15, were included in The New York Times Style Magazine’s article on new and emerging designers on the rise. “The pair, who met while studying at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, also design clothing. This season, after taking a break from it, they returned to a runway format and were included on the CFDA’s official New York calendar for the first time.” They also received coverage in i-D.
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Pratt Institute has been subcontracted by Aalto University to support their efforts on a project titled UTOPIZE project, Urban Transformation Through Open Participation and Inclusivity for Citizen Empowerment, funded under Horizon Europe (HORIZON-MISS-2024-NEB-01-02). The originating grant, led by the Comunidade Intermunicipal de Coimbra, UTOPIZE is a €3.9 million, 36-month project piloting UTOPIA Labs to co-design and co-govern public spaces in communities across Portugal, Italy, and Sweden. Pratt’s project lead, David Erdman, associate professor of Graduate Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design (GA/LA/UD), has been subcontracted to co-develop workshops that use artificial intelligence and machine learning to examine climate threats and strategies for adaptation.
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Professor of Undergraduate Architecture Jason Vigneri-Beane is participating in a panel on Designing with Intelligence: An AI Collection of Speculative Objects hosted by the Lawrence Technological University’s College of Architecture and Design. Experts will discuss AI’s impact on art and design, how it can be used in design work, and more.
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Rachel Lee, BFA Digital Arts (2-D Animation) ’26 was awarded a merit scholarship from ASIFA-Hollywood’s Animation Educators Forum (AEF).
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Syllogism, an exhibition by Lisa Corinne Davis, BFA ’80, received a glowing review in Hyperallergic. “Davis has stretched the possibilities of geometric abstraction into a territory defined by digital systems, algorithms, flow charts, and diagrams—a visual realm that alludes to the measurement and prediction of our behavior.” The exhibition was also named one of the five New York shows to see this season by Hyperallergic.
More Pratt Institute News
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Summer in the City: PreCollege Scholars Experience Life at Pratt
From Pratt Institute News
The 2025 recipients of The Black Alumni of Pratt (BAP) PreCollege scholarships deepened their creative skills and expanded their community in the city
Creative Solutions for a Changing Climate
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Across disciplines, Pratt students and faculty are tackling the climate crisis through research, material innovation, and community collaboration.