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The Daily Hub

A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute

  • Kenneth Cobonpue, BID ’91, reflects on the state of Filipino craft and design and spotlights up-and-coming designers for Vogue Philippines. “Only on this island can I find the quality of craftsmen and artisans who can transform my dreams into reality,” he says. 

  • Daniel Lopatin, MSLIS ’10, is profiled in the latest issue of The New Yorker, which delves into his “career writing elegiac, otherworldly electronic compositions using computers, synthesizers, and digital scree.” Lopatin says he wanted to become a librarian because “the human instinct to preserve and to document the past while it’s falling to rubble is one of the most romantic things I can possibly think of.”

  • Kellan Cantrell, MS City and Regional Planning ’17, discusses his new role as village planner for Scarsdale, New York, along with how he approaches issues of affordability, sustainability, and zoning in an interview with Scarsdale 10583. “I have never been accused of being artistic but being a Planner is like being a painter, you bring together other professionals into a project in order to paint the overall picture of that project,” he said.

  • Billy Cotton, Industrial Design ’10, and Loren Daye, MID ’06, recall film and television apartments that sparked their interest in New York for The New York Times. “This city throws so much visual energy at you on a daily basis, and I love the idea of having just a couple good things you can take with you from place to place,” Cotton said.

  • Dean of the School of Architecture Quilian Riano discusses his goals, inspirations, and views on leadership in an interview with The Architect’s Newspaper. “Leadership becomes easier when there is a grassroots desire for it, which I see right now to tackle rigorously with labor, environmental, and social justice issues,” he said.

  • Sylvia Morse, a program manager for policy at the Pratt Center for Community Development, recently spoke about local efforts to establish community land trusts and affordable housing at a public event hosted by Pratt Institute. “Why is it that the majority of CLTs are still fighting for land even as the city mentions CLTs as an important model in its current housing plan?” Morse asked the audience. “We’re seeing forms of vocal support, but there isn’t a comprehensive approach yet to how the city is looking at building out community land trusts.”

  • Ryan Pauly, BID ’02, and Cody Stonerock of Kuzco Lighting have been awarded a Prize Design for Modern Furniture + Lighting 2023 by Global Design News and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum for Architecture and Design as Best Lighting of the Year for their work Collide that took inspiration from ocean waves.

  • Pratt Institute has earned a STARS Gold rating in the 2023 Sustainable Campus Index, ranking in the top 10 of masters degree-awarding institutions for overall performance. Pratt received particularly high marks for curriculum, research, and campus engagement. STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System) measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education.

  • Aura Rosenberg, adjunct professor-CCE of photography, discusses her work and career in a wide-ranging interview with writer and filmmaker Veronica Gonzalez Peña for the Los Angeles Review of Books. Rosenberg and Peña also talk about the film that they have been working on for the past year and a half.

More Pratt Institute News

A group portrait of nine smiling Project SEARCH interns dressed in formal and semi-formal attire, seated together on wooden steps in a brightly lit interior space. The group includes a diverse mix of individuals, with some in suits, button-down shirts, and one wearing a white ruffled dress. They appear proud and celebratory, possibly marking their graduation or completion of the program.

Workplace Ready: Project SEARCH Interns Graduate

New York City high school students received career training through Project SEARCH, a national program focused on workforce-readiness for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Pratt Names Courtney Knapp New Chair of the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment

From Pratt Institute News

An award-winning scholar and professor in the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment’s Urban and Community Planning program, Knapp will assume the role on July 1, 2025, succeeding Eve Baron, who is stepping down to join the full-time faculty.
Two smiling individuals dressed in formal attire pose on a red carpet holding Tony Awards. The man on the left wears a blue tuxedo with a colorful bow tie, while the man on the right wears a black suit with decorative details and a white high-collared shirt. The background includes logos for CBS, Paramount+, and the Tony Awards.

Alumni Harvey Fierstein and Paul Tazewell Shine at the Tony Awards

From Pratt Institute News

Esteemed writer and actor Harvey Fierstein was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the theater; Oscar-winning designer Paul Tazewell won for Best Costume Design in a Musical.