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Santiago Piedrafita

Visiting Professor

Email
spiedraf@pratt.edu
Phone
718.636.3594

Having most recently returned to a facutly role, Santiago Piedrafita chaired the Graduate Communications / Packaging Design Department, in the School of Design, at Pratt Institute, New York, from 2014 through 2020. Previously, Piedrafita chaired the Department of Graphic Design and Industrial Design at North Carolina State University (NCSU), and the Design Department at Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). Piedrafita’s scholarly activity focuses on the re-tooling of design studies and pedagogy; the intersection of branding, interaction, and service design systems; and the complementarity of critical and creative thinking.

Before joining academia, Piedrafita was Senior Designer at the Walker Art Center’s Design Department, having worked with Directors Andrew Blauvelt and Laurie Haycock-Makela, respectively. At the Walker, he designed a diverse array of exhibitions, communications, and publications for the museum’s multidisciplinary curatorial and institutional departments. In New York, Piedrafita worked in renowned studios such as the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) in-house Design Department, J. Abbott Miller’s Design/Writing/Research (then joining Pentagram), and Chermayeff & Geismar Inc. (now Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv).

B.I.D., ESDI, Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; M.S. Communications Design, Pratt Institute.