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.
The Daily Hub
A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute
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Hazel Sun, BArch ’20, was profiled in the Village Voice. “Sun approaches design as a conversation between people, nature, and culture. Her work at Hart Howerton, an award-winning firm specializing in hospitality projects, shows her belief that spaces can become destinations for connection. By combining architectural precision with ecological sensitivity, she infuses her projects with a sense of warmth and belonging.”
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Visiting Professor of Fine Arts Karen Bachmann was interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered for a segment on Leila’s Hair Museum in Independence, Missouri.
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Former Undergraduate Architecture student Jamaal Durr was featured in The Kettering Foundation in a profile that explores his journey to becoming a full-time artist. “I’m ready to make art that speaks to something greater than just my individual journey. I’m really excited to step into this kind of role and speak for more people. I like that people are able to resonate with the work that I have been doing or see themselves in it, or even hear themselves in the narrative.”
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Associate Professor in the School of Information John Decker presented a paper titled “Closing the Barn Door After the Horse Has Bolted. Problems Making AI Safe & Ethical” for the SIG AI Symposium at the 2025 ASIS&T Annual Conference in Crystal City, VA.
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Illya Azaroff, MArch ’97, was inaugurated as the 2026 President of the American Institute of Architects. “Architects are at the forefront of designing buildings and spaces that can withstand nature’s fury,” said Azaroff in his inaugural address. “As AIA President, I will work to ensure architects are empowered to create communities that are better prepared to deal with future disruptions.”
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Semantic Lab co-director Matt Miller analyzed AI scraper activity and traffic patterns on the Lab’s Wikibase instance, highlighting how disguised bots generating nearly a million requests per day can overwhelm small research infrastructures.
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Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Information Jennifer Hubert Swan published a children’s feature in The New York Times book review titled “My Kid Loves Percy Jackson. What Should They Read Next?”
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Pratt’s AquaSteady research was featured in an article by project collaborator New Mexico State University (NMSU). “Apart from its potential to improve soil water retention, [AquaSteady] could also increase microbial activity in the soil, leading to better soil health in agricultural fields. This could be a critical water management strategy for soils in New Mexico,” said John Idowu, professor in the college of agricultural, cultural, and economic sciences at NMSU.
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Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, associate professor of writing, received a Warhol Foundation grant to support her forthcoming publication, Proving Ground: Proposals for a Genealogy of Black Feminist Land Art. “The incisive criticism and expansive scholarship of this year’s grantees underscore the invaluable role of visual art in our lives today.”
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