During the busy weeks at the end of last spring semester, Prattfolio caught up with five students working across mediums in Pratt’s shops and labs. They were creating everything from shoe soles to building facades using a range of tools, machines, and processes. Read on and dive into each of their stories for an inside look at how they’ve experimented, created, and guided their peers in Pratt’s production facilities—just a glimpse at the making happening at Pratt.
Knit, Turn, Rivet, Mold
Prattfolio visited Chanbin Im, BID ’25, one afternoon in her studio, just after she had been working in the School of Design’s CNC Lab milling foam for a chair prototype. Im, who came to Pratt for its industrial design tradition, has used her love of making and tools as a jumping-off point into all kinds of fabrication. She has been a student monitor in the Foundation and School of Design woodshops for much of her time at Pratt and in her own work often combines a number of fabrication techniques in a single project.
Cut, Curve, Stretch, Shrink
Baker Townsend, BFA Fine Arts (Painting) ’26, studied computer science and graphic design before coming to Pratt, taking a new step into fine arts. Painting has since led to metalwork, and Townsend spoke with Prattfolio in the fine arts metal shop, amid the whirs, clangs, and snaps of work in progress, to talk about that journey.
Draw, Program, Pack, Extrude
Master of Architecture students Kerry Richardson and Colin House, both finishing their second year in the program, met Prattfolio in the School of Architecture Robotics Lab and studios to talk about their experiments and successes in 3D printing with clay. For an assignment to design building facades, both designed clay brick systems and used the robot to make their models, working together to navigate an unconventional and inventive process.
Bend, Sculpt, Plaster, Pop
Hui Ying Koh, BFA Fine Arts (Sculpture and Integrated Practices) ’25, was drawn to sculpture because of its expansive possibilities, and when considering schools, shop and studio space to explore the many ways of making were a priority. Determined to make the most of the resources she had at her fingertips as a Pratt student, Koh worked in the ceramics and metal shops (alongside volunteer work at the American Museum of Natural History and an internship at multidisciplinary artist Betty Beaumont’s studio, where she is now an assistant). Koh met with Prattfolio in her studio to talk about the tools, techniques, and process behind her work.