The Daily Hub

Ursula Michelle, MS Packaging Design ’22, won the Grand Prize in the sixth annual Role Models Contest hosted by Parsons Healthy Materials Lab. The competition challenges students to combine design innovation with advocacy for healthier futures. Michelle’s “Rethinking Contact Lens Packaging” project reimagines disposable blister packs through smart packaging design that emphasizes reuse and compostable materials. Graduate industrial design students Charlotte Böhning and Mary Lempres were also recognized with an Honorable Mention for “(Stool)Stool” made with biochar.

A project by Pratt architecture student Kevin (Tianyi) Wang was shortlisted in the Skyhive 2021 Skyscraper Challenge, an international competition seeking innovative high-rise concepts. Wang’s “Tree Habitat” was inspired by the mangrove trees local to Shenzhen for a mixed-use residential tower that would act as a giant air purifier for the Chinese city.

Hannah Fink, MID ’20, was profiled by Women in Industrial Design. Fink works at Industrial Craft in San Francisco and shared her experiences designing as part of a small team where her projects have included an intuitive clock: “We design to meet the needs of humanity. Our understanding of people’s needs—both those articulated and unrecognized—powers our imagination.”

Quilian Riano, who was recently appointed the new assistant dean within Pratt’s School of Architecture, contributed to Architect Magazine’s “One Year Later” series reflecting on what has changed over the past months of pandemic and protests: “What I have learned and keep learning is how to give up more space, put things into practice, and make sure that voices are heard. … We can all work in multiple ways toward our overall goal of creating anti-racist, decolonializing models of pedagogy.” Riano’s appointment as assistant dean was also covered by Architect Magazine as well as Archinect and The Architect’s Newspaper.

A Patch story on public art to see this summer on Myrtle Avenue highlighted the “Watching” installation by Pratt student Jack Ketteler that covers the utility boxes in Myrtle Avenue Plaza with colorful eyes.

Elena Conte, senior fellow at the Pratt Center for Community Development, co-authored the City Limits op-ed “NYC’s Next Mayor Needs to Revamp City Planning for Equity”: “Rather than focusing exclusively on the number of jobs or housing units, our city’s next leaders must center inclusive growth by improving the quality of life and place for the hardest-hit communities first.”

Graduate industrial design students Charlotte Böhning and Mary Lempres are part of a seven-month incubator organized by Waste Management and the Slow Factory Foundation. The design challenge is focused on regenerative fashion that is recycled or remade and Böhning and Lempres are exploring a carbon-capturing leather alternative. The competition was covered by Forbes and will culminate in a February 2022 showcase of work by the six participating designers.