Atelier Spring 2022

Maureen Carley-Vallejo ’95 (BFA), principal and senior healthcare interiors leader, Perkins Eastman

WELCOME

As we recover from another phase of the pandemic, it’s impossible not to see our spaces differently than we did a few years ago. People are prioritizing their health and well-being more than ever before. They want offices that encourage healthy behaviors, support a sense of psychological well-being, open up to nature, and provide the mobility to sometimes work from home. They want residences that serve as a refuge, but also as a stimulating workspace. They want hospitals that promote healing for patients, and also support the emotional wellness of healthcare workers. Our discipline is about creating interiors that help people feel better and function at the upper level of their potential every day. It’s never been more clear that interior design is about the health, safety, and well-being of us all.

Perhaps this is one reason the healthcare sector of the building and design industry is booming. There’s been a surge of interest in NYSID’s Master of Professional Studies in Healthcare Interior Design (MPSH). Last fall, we appointed a new program director of the MPSH, alumna Suzy Genzler ’12 (BFA). Genzler is a medical planner, healthcare researcher, and designer who is a healthcare design research specialist at EwingCole. Our cover story, Designing for Healthy Outcomes, is a conversation between Genzler and fellow alumna Maureen Carley-Vallejo ’95 (BFA), the principal and senior healthcare interiors leader at Perkins Eastman.

SPRING 2022  VOL. 4 / NO. 1

PRESIDENT David Sprouls

EDITORIAL AND MARKETING DIRECTOR

Laura Catlan

WRITER AND MANAGING EDITOR

Jennifer Dorr

ART DIRECTION

Boyd Delancey

Heather Travier

COPY EDITING

Leslie Robinson

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY

Matthew Septimus

PRINTING

JMT Communications

Jeff Tucker, President

New York School of Interior Design

170 East 70 Street

New York, NY 10021

Atelier is published twice a year, by the Office of External Relations, for the alumni and friends of the New York School of Interior Design. It is printed on recycled paper with vegetable inks.

To submit story ideas or comment, email Atelier@NYSID.edu.

NYSID.edu/atelier

The healthcare sector has led the industry in its application of evidence to design decisions. Perhaps there is no one better equipped to discuss the ways in which biophilic design—design that takes its cues from nature—is based in a body of research than William Browning. We count ourselves lucky that Browning, a founder of the firm Terrapin Bright Green and an advisor to NYSID’s Master of Professional Studies in Sustainable Interiors (MPSS), has shared his deep expertise in Using Evidence to Bring Nature Inside.

If you want to understand how skilled NYSID students can be at creating spaces that enhance the happiness and well-being of their users, take a look at Designing for DeafBlind Clients. Through NYSID’s unique service learning studio, some of our MFA1 students created designs for DeafBlind residents and staff of the Helen Keller National Center. I was able to sit in on the students’ final presentations to their real clients, and I was moved by the clients’ response.

In this era of recovery, people are re-evaluating their relationships with work. I believe that the movement to find more fulfilling work is one reason NYSID is having a banner year for enrollment. Another is the way this College has evolved to create more flexibility and digital offerings during the pandemic. In the 2021-22 academic year, NYSID has had its highest enrollment in more than a decade.

NYSID is a college, but also a community constantly being improved by you. Please send comments and story leads to Atelier@NYSID.edu. We hope we’ll see you at NYSID’s Gala 2022 on Tuesday, May 3, when we honor Jamie Drake with the NYSID Centennial Medal, Young Huh with the Larry Kravet Design Industry Leadership Award, and alumna Laura Hodges ’09 (AAS) with the Rising Star Award (sponsored by The Shade Store). I’m looking forward to seeing you in person, at last.

DAVID SPROULS , PRESIDENT, NEW YORK SCHOOL OF INTERIOR DESIGN

CONTENTS

FEATURES

Designing for Healthy Outcomes Insight from Maureen Carley-Vallejo ’95 (BFA), Principal, Perkins Eastman

Designing for DeafBlind Clients

MFA1 Students’ Unique Summer of Service Learning

Using Evidence to Bring Nature Inside MPSS Advisor William Browning on Biophilia’s Impact

The Strugle Is Worth It How to Juggle Parenting & a Design Education

FRONT COVER: MAUREEN CARLEY-VALLEJO, PRINCIPAL AND SENIOR HEALTHCARE INTERIORS LEADER, PERKINS EASTMAN

PHOTO: MATTHEW SEPTIMUS

VISUAL THINKER / Design Deconstructed

Laura Hodges ’09 (AAS) is the owner and principal of Laura Hodges Studio, a residential interior design firm based in the Baltimore area, and Domain, a design boutique. Hodges was named a House Beautiful Next Wave Designer for 2019, a Traditional Home New Trad Designer, and one of Sotheby’s Home 20 Designers for 2020. On May 3, at NYSID’s Gala 2022, she will be presented with the Rising Star, an award reserved for a designer who is garnering a reputation for excellence in the industry. For the fourth year in a row, The Shade Store proudly sponsors the Rising Star award.

The custom stairwell was designed by Hodges and crafted by Gutierrez Studios, a metalworking firm in Baltimore. The white oak treads match the floors. The stairwell, made of steel and frosted glass, gives the illusion of transparency, but since a bedroom is right at the top of the stairs, the frosted glass provides some privacy.

These sculptural light blocks from Vibia are sold with one light block and a number of reflectors. They can be positioned in any way. Hodges drew the almost botanical pattern here and had them installed to her specifications.

Hodges specified a double-layer window treatment with blackout shades and sheers. The sheer curtains allow for light and views while decreasing the energy it takes to cool the space. The blackout shades allow for privacy and light blocking since the bedroom opens up to the main living space.

This table, designed by Hodges and crafted by Baltimore woodworking studio Goodwood, has an ebonized oak base. The top of the table is cerused, open-grain oak with a starburst pattern one can see from the stairs. From the entryway, the table forms a graceful silhouette against the backlight.

The paint color is Benjamin Moore’s “Super White,” which Hodges says “is not too warm and not too cool, so it’s very complementary for art work.”

PHOTO: TARA HOPE

Open to Possibility

Some parents perceive the moment when their youngest child goes off to college as an ending. Laura Hodges’ clients approached this time of life as an opening. They wanted their new home to reflect this attitude of possibility. Downsizing from a 6,000-SF suburban home to 2,000-SF in the city of Baltimore, they sought a light, airy, open loft space “for adults” (with an adaptable sitting room/guest room for visits from their grown-up daughters). The clients collect local modern art, so they needed a home that served as an envelope for their growing collection. “It was a wonderful experience to envision a space for the art they planned to purchase,” says Hodges. In the original space, the entrance was beneath the stairs and led to a dark, closed-in hallway, which obstructed sight lines to the 18-foot windows. Hodges opened up the space under the stairs by commissioning a custom stairwell. “I wanted to make sure when you walk in, your eyes go straight to the glorious view outside. It was important that nothing in the space detract from that.”

PHOTO: JENNIFER HUGHES

Designing for Healthy Outcomes

An Innovator’s Insights into Healthcare Design

RIGHT: MAUREEN CARLEY-VALLEJO, PRINCIPAL AND SENIOR HEALTHCARE INTERIORS LEADER, PERKINS EASTMAN. PHOTO: MATTHEW SEPTIMUS; FAR RIGHT : INFUSION LOUNGE AT THE DAVID H. KOCH CENTER FOR CANCER CARE AT MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER. PHOTO: CHRIS COOPER, COURTESY OF PERKINS EASTMAN

SUZY GENZLER ’12 (BFA), PROGRAM DIRECTOR OF NYSID’S MASTER OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES IN HEALTHCARE DESIGN, TALKS WITH MAUREEN CARLEY-VALLEJO ’95 (BFA), PRINCIPAL AND SENIOR HEALTHCARE INTERIORS LEADER, PERKINS EASTMAN

As we continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the culture is waking up to the fact that health is more than the absence of disease. But this is not a recent revelation for Maureen Carley-Vallejo ’95 (BFA) , who is in her 25th year in the healthcare design industry at Perkins Eastman, and has been spearheading healthcare interior design projects that prioritize the physical and emotional wellbeing of patients, caregivers, and medical personnel for decades. Carley-Vallejo is known for designing spaces that blend evidence-based principles within a welcoming, comforting environment. Her spaces are thoughtfully designed to help reduce stress, fear, and anxiety. As a result, her interiors have transformed how healthcare facilities look, feel, and operate—going beyond architecture to produce places of healing that preserve dignity and exude compassion. The teams she leads at Perkins Eastman have won many awards, and she herself was named “Interior Designer of the Year” by Healthcare Design in 2016. Her sector of design is booming (and was even during the first lockdown) because the healthcare industry is ever changing, and evolving at such a rapid pace. Carley-Vallejo discusses her career and the evolution of her sector with Suzy Genzler , another NYSID alumna in healthcare design, who is currently a healthcare design research specialist at EwingCole and program director of NYSID’s Master of Professional Studies in Healthcare Interior Design.

Suzy Genzler: Will you tell us how your undergraduate work at NYSID (with your thesis advisors Robert and Victor Dadras, principals of Dadras Architects) led you into healthcare design?

Maureen Carley-Vallejo: I took Contract Design III with Victor and Robert because I had worked in highend residential design before coming to NYSID to do my bachelor’s degree and I wanted to explore other interior design practice areas. For my first project, I was focused on a senior living facility based on a Hyatt senior living facility that had just opened in New Jersey. The Hyatt facility took inspiration from the hospitality sector, which intrigued me. I was actually able to arrange site visits and interview staff members about the facility and, in particular, the public amenity spaces. All of my research informed my program and design for my project. Victor and Robert were very pleased with my research methodology and the overall quality of the design and encouraged me to continue on and do healthcare for the Thesis course. In the second course, the assignment was to create a healthcare facility within the real footprint and floorplan of an Upper East Side building site. At the time, my friend was working for Memorial Sloan Kettering at the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center so I decided that I wanted to design a cancer center within the site plan assigned to me in my coursework. I had the opportunity to go to what was then the Evelyn H.

Lauder Breast Center on 64th Street, as I had an insider who could arrange a site visit and provide access to some of the clinicians and clinical spaces. This enabled me to learn about the facility as it existed then and how Evelyn Lauder was a driving force behind the selection of the finishes and details like the light wells in the chemotherapy area. I was very inspired by what I saw there and how it was designed, and this exposure shaped my thesis project.

Later, in my professional career, after I graduated from NYSID and was hired by Perkins Eastman in 1996, I was given the exact same Upper East Side floor plan and tasked with designing a sports medicine facility for the Hospital for Special Surgery within the very same footprint of my thesis! I thought, “What a strange coincidence.”

A few years later, my team was awarded the opportunity to design the new Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center, a ground-up building at 65th and 2nd. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work very closely with Ms. Lauder on the design of the project. Evelyn was very involved in every aspect of the design from the exterior to the interior. She also had certain philosophies on color theory, and coming from the cosmetics industry, strong ideas about which colors made people look and feel better. We created custom patterns for materials based on biophilic elements and more. It’s another intriguing coincidence of how my theoretical thesis actually turned into the basis for one of

ABOVE AND LEFT: WHITE PLAINS HOSPITAL LOBBY. PHOTOS: CHRIS COOPER, COURTESY OF PERKINS EASTMAN

the most important projects in my professional career. It was serendipity…and I felt that it was destiny to do what I was doing.

SG: What appealed to you about healthcare design? Why did you decide to go into it?

MCV: Creating a home away from home for patients and families, a space that’s warm and welcoming, and deinstitutionalizing the healthcare experience for all users is really what interested me, and continues to interest me. I think my unique perspective comes from the fact that I started my career as a high-end residential designer before entering corporate and, then, healthcare design.

SG: You are known as a force behind the patientcentered design movement. What was revolutionary about your earlier projects, such as the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center?

MCV: The mid to late ’90s was at the cusp of when everything started to change and evolve in healthcare design. The Laurance Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion (also part of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center) that opened in 1999 was groundbreaking in that it was designed on a hospitality model. The administrator at Memorial Sloan Kettering at the time was instrumental in changing the way patients experienced healthcare. She actually came from the hospitality industry and had been an Air Force One flight attendant, so she really knew how to treat people, and how to give people a first-class service experience. Her focus was not only on how people should be treated and greeted as guests the minute they walk through the front door of a healthcare facility, but also on how they are made to feel all the way through their stay or visit. This project was recognized for its new model of care and hospitality-focused design in the US, and also piqued international interest. It was featured in the September 2000 Vogue magazine issue feature on health. It broke the mold of what a typical healthcare facility looked and felt like as we knew it.

The Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center, completed almost a decade later, was the next generation of this more patient-centered hospitality model, but this project focused specifically on breast cancer and designing spaces patients could feel comfortable and relaxed in. Access to daylight was very important for those who were coming in to have treatments on a regular basis. We designed the dressing rooms that were inboard of an internal corridor to have some external seating that provided personal sub-waiting space with access to daylight and views, which was very

forward thinking at the time. We designed infusion cubicles that preserved patient dignity, and we also implemented custom all-glass doors with a diffused ‘leaf pattern,’ providing privacy but also allowing the clinicians to monitor patients. We even incorporated clear clerestory windows above the sliding glass doors that allowed even more daylight to spill deep into the clinical core and into staff nursing stations as well. Evidence has proven abundant natural light can have a such a positive impact on the well-being of patients and staff. Natural light aids in the healing process.

SG: What aspects of these innovations from early in your career have carried over into what you see happening today in the 2020s? How have things evolved?

MCV: As you know, we just completed the David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and I think it is essentially rooted in the same basic core of ideals and principles as found in some of our earlier projects, such as the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center, but this new center is more modern and high tech. Back then, very few institutions were doing private rooms, but Memorial Sloan Kettering received so much positive feedback from the patient population and it changed the standard.

However, different institutions have differing opinions on the benefits of privacy versus socialization when it comes to planning for infusion therapy rooms. Of course with COVID-19, private patient rooms have become the norm.

At Perkins Eastman, it is our standard practice to plan for all private infusion rooms as we feel it’s best practice, but the model is still changing and evolving with advancements in technology and as models of care change.

It’s evolved to the point where we are now designing spaces that provide choices for patients who are receiving chemotherapy infusion treatment. So the next evolution is about creating spaces outside the infusion cubicles that we have termed “mobility zones”: lounge areas that encourage patients to come out of the room to socialize and ambulate. These mobility zones are also intended for use by family members who are there to support the patient, and amenities are provided there, such as coffee or a bite to eat. It’s designed so patients can pass the time with other patients and family members actively if they choose to. This new model has proven to be another success in the evolution of infusion planning and design. We worked with the Memorial Sloan Kettering team on the research and development of this new model.

Continues on page 12

There’s More Than One Path in Healthcare Design

NYSID alumna Christina Peters ’09 (BFA) is a senior associate at Perkins Eastman with expertise in design for aging and healthcare design. She sometimes works with principal Maureen Carley-Vallejo on the design of hospitals, but her deepest level of experience is in the planning and design of senior living communities.

One of Christina Peters’ most exciting current projects is a confidential project in Hong Kong, for which she gets to draw on her knowledge of creating both senior centers and healthcare environments. The building is expanding to a 14-floor facility with over 500 hospital beds and 24 outpatient units, with physical therapy centers on every floor. The population of the area is aging, so the hospital is expanding to accommodate increased geriatric spaces and spaces for other forms of care.

Peters says that one of the most wonderful aspects of this project is the addition of a staff garden and canteen to serve as a retreat for the workers who are caring for the elderly. “Creating beautiful spaces for staff who do such hard work is a form of compensation and appreciation and helps attract and retain workers,” she says. Peters says that these days, communities for the elderly are “anything but institutional.” Here’s what she wants emerging designers to know about senior living, her sub-sector of healthcare design: “The senior living market is extremely competitive,” Peters says. “Owners want the best designers so they can attract residents with sophisticated tastes. There’s a movement away from skilled nursing to assisted living. The mandate is senior living communities with a very contemporary and luxurious feel.”

“A senior living community is such a fascinating place where the elderly go to continue learning and enjoying life,” Peters muses. “It’s a little like a college for older adults. In addition to physical therapy rooms and residences, you get to design the most interesting and fun kinds of spaces: pools; billiards rooms, exercise rooms, pickleball courts, and dining spaces. It’s very satisfying.”

CHRISTINA PETERS, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, PERKINS EASTMAN.

PHOTO: MATTHEW SEPTIMUS

SG: How does research factor into your design decisions?

MCV: At Perkins Eastman, we have created PE Strategies, a talented group of research experts who provide consulting that builds upon the firm’s design excellence and interdisciplinary research. They become involved in projects early in the design process and help guide the design team with an eye to existing research and resources. This team also gets involved in interviewing the staff and patients and have even followed patients through a day in their lives to gather data. Your healthcare design students should also know about the Center for Health Design, an incredible resource for data when they are doing specific research for a health and wellness project.

SG: Is there a recent project that exemplifies the way one of your design plans led to a desired outcome?

MCV: My team has been working with White Plains Hospital for over a decade. We created the master plan for them and out of that came a series of projects. The CEO’s vision was to bring high-quality healthcare to the local community, and to convince the population of Westchester that they could receive exceptional care without trekking into NYC. Doing that meant having our experts create all kinds of programs and facilities for them, from outpatient clinics, to ORs, to new inpatient model rooms to transform the overall brand and face of the White Plains Hospital campus. White Plains Hospital was highly successful in bringing high-quality healing environments to the local community, and they were able to attract top specialists to the hospital. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we worked on the Center for Advanced Medicine & Surgery, a nine-story outpatient building on the campus. It was considered essential construction. The design of that building implements everything we talked about earlier with patient-centered care, and also has a specific focus

on wellness for both patients and staff. They engaged with a local restaurant partner (NY Hospitality Group) and together created the Everyday Healthy Café brand of eatery that only serves healthy, high-quality choices, not only for the patients but also for the staff. This was a very important wellness option for the entire hospital staff. We also incorporated an outdoor garden plaza located between the main hospital and the new building. With the continuation of COVID-19, there has been a huge push to include outdoor gardens so patients and staff feel if they want to have access to fresh air and sunlight, they can.

SG: Is it a good time to go into healthcare design, and what’s your advice for an emerging designer interested in the sector?

MCV: From my perspective, it’s always a good time to get into the healthcare sector. It’s always evolving and there is always something new to learn. You do need to have some patience and determination as some large-scale healthcare projects can be almost 10 years in duration from inception to completion. But what’s so interesting about it is that a healthcare project can encompass almost all practice areas within a singular building or project. It can encompass hospitality, in which you’re designing lobby spaces and restaurants; to the retail component of a gift shop; to conference centers and workplace design; to spiritual spaces, such as chapels within a single hospital system. You are in essence planning and designing a whole community in a large-scale healthcare project. It’s not just exam rooms and patient rooms. That’s what I find most interesting. At the end of the day, when I see a facility I’ve designed finally in use by patients, staff, and visitors, it makes all of the hard work, challenges, and struggles along the way to get it done so worth it and so rewarding. I am very proud that the work we do every day impacts and improves the quality of life of millions of people we will never meet. •

NYSID’s one-year Master of Professional Studies in Healthcare Interior Design (MPSH) is the first program of its kind in the country. “What makes the MPSH an extraordinary experience for those who want to go into healthcare design is the focus the program places on design that supports health by building on empathy and research,” says Suzy Genzler, program director of the MPSH program. “Our instructors are thought leaders in the industry who bridge the academic and design practice areas. We take an interdisciplinary approach, connecting to medical planners, healthcare researchers, interior designers, and hospital administrators to provide a well-rounded perspective on this important design focus area.” For information, reach out to Suzy Genzler: Suzy.Genzler@NYSID.edu.

SUZY GENZLER. PHOTO: JOE TOMCHO

Jamie

Laura

Introduced by Michael R. Bloomberg

Introduced by Wendy Goodman

Introduced by Zach Gibbs, co-founder The Shade Store

ABOVE AND RIGHT: NYSID STUDENTS’ RENDERINGS OF A TRAINING LOUNGE FOR HELLEN KELLER NATIONAL CENTER. THE BURGUNDY AND ORANGE BACKGROUNDS STAND OUT AGAINST ALL SKIN TONES FOR AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE.

Designing for DeafBlind Clients

Service Learning Changed the Way These Designers Approach Interiors

During the summer of 2021, twelve MFA1 students in NYSID’s summer service learning studio were tasked with designing spaces for the Helen Keller National Center in Sands Point, New York. The requirements of the client were complex and challenging. The designs from the students are elegant and innovative.

“People assume that total freedom makes designers more creative,” muses Terry Kleinberg , AIA, the faculty member who plans and teaches NYSID’s summer service learning course for MFA1 students. “But constraints can lead to creativity. This summer, my students had to work under so many constraints, and I was blown away by all they absorbed and incorporated without sacrificing good design.” The students were challenged to meet

the needs of end users who are some combination of partially, or fully, hearing and vision impaired at the Helen Keller National Center. The facility serves as the national headquarters for Helen Keller Services as well as a residential campus and vocational rehabilitation program for youth and adults who are DeafBlind. People come to the residential training program to gain or regain skills for independence and employment. It’s a place that transforms lives.

The student designers had to take into account that some of the residents are young people who were born with vision and hearing impairments, and others are older people who have lost their sight and hearing with age and might use wheelchairs or walkers. Furthermore, the client didn’t want navigation to be too easy, because the point of the Helen Keller National Center is to train people to function in the real world. As is the case with so many nonprofits, the existing interiors of the Helen Keller National Center are not optimized for the vital services provided there. Through NYSID’s unique service learning program, students were able to offer pro-bono interior design to this nonprofit. They were drawn by the opportunity to do good and to learn about accessible design from engagement with a real client. The NYSID team consisted of four groups of three designers, each assigned to re-envision a different space in the Helen Keller National Center. Atara Gastwirth ,

April Podlask i, and Kiki Sui proposed a design for the lobby of the training facility; Rebecca Lipschitz , Louis Lu , and Winnie Wu proposed a design for the lobby of the dormitory; Sherry Guo, Ann Rietmann , and Kylie Whitehouse proposed a design for the dormitory lounge; and Praveena Aleti , Julianne Daly, and Felicia Gordon proposed a design for the training facility lounge. In the words of participating student Gordon, “Designing for a specific group rather than a group-at-large is what really expanded my knowledge of accessible design.”

The eight-week course began with a deep research phase that involved presentations from the NYSID librarians, student research projects that were shared with the whole group, and interviews with all of the stakeholders at the Helen Keller National Center. Over the course of the engagement, the student designers were able to deliver two schematic design presentations to both staff members and residents via Zoom and receive feedback before their final presentations. Staff participants included the Helen Keller Association’s orientation mobility specialist, low vision specialist, accessibility specialist, audiologist, coordinator of vocational service, supervisor of independent living, and executive director, among many others, and the students got feedback on their work from all of those perspectives. Many of the staff participants are on the DeafBlind spectrum, so there were interpreters who spoke for those who signed, signed for those who spoke, and signed directly into the hands of people who could neither see nor hear. Some of the NYSID students also did an in-person site visit to take measurements. Shaun Fillion, director of NYSID’s Master of Professional Studies in Lighting Design, and Eric Cohen , a NYSID faculty member, provided guidance and guest criticism to the student designers.

“NYSID does a really good job of incorporating accessible design into all of our studios, and because I had this previous experience of ADA standards, I thought I had a handle on it,” says student Kylie Whitehouse. “But hearing the personal perspectives of our clients at Helen Keller Services opened my mind to what this group needs to feel normal, comfortable, and accepted in the world. It was incredibly humbling to realize these people who need thoughtful design more than anyone else, were not getting it anywhere. Our project became so much more than meeting the requirements of clearances and standards. I was motivated to deliver a design that made my clients feel safe and at home in their communal space.”

THE RIGHT SEATING CAN RELIEVE SOCIAL ISOLATION

NYSID student April Podlaski said, “I learned how much social isolation people who are visually and hearing impaired can suffer because it’s so difficult to interact with other people. The inability to communicate can have a profound impact on their mental health. This touched all of us.”

Adds Kylie Whitehouse, “You need to understand the psychological and anthropological aspects of the way people on the DeafBlind spectrum communicate with their hands. They need space in order to have social interactions.” The NYSID students had to set up seating in such a way that hearing impaired people with some vision could have an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter sitting in front of them. They also had to set up seating such that it worked for someone who was fully deaf and blind, who would need an interpreter to

sit beside them and sign directly into their hand. The designers had to create backdrops with contrast to all skin tones so that signing hands would be visible to people with low vision.

Felicia Gordon and her team members, Praveena Aleti and Julianne Daly, created a design for the training center lounge. They were challenged by the client’s request that they increase the seating capacity of the room so more people could fit in, yet also create lots of space around each seat for ASL interpreters and even Seeing Eye dogs (and their tails). Says Gordon, “The solution was moveable and adaptable furniture. We made it easy for them to move furniture to form places for conversation and allow for wheelchairs to be added. The furniture we specified is on pedestals, and the chairs swivel. We specified custom tables built in from the wall. Originally, the tables had no legs, but we learned from

client feedback that people who use canes to navigate can’t have furniture with ‘voids.’ They need legs on the furniture so they can perceive the boundaries of the furniture, so we added those.” Gordon and her team also added burgundy acoustic paneling in the “quiet reading zone” of their space because the backdrop stands out against every skin tone and makes ASL more visible to people with partial sight.

THE WRONG LIGHT CAN DISTRACT

Designers tend to think of bright sunlight as a boon to a room, but not for this community. “Direct sunlight really bothers the blind and partially blind community that lives there,” observed Kylie Whitehouse. “It’s a huge distraction when they are trying to navigate and communicate. Glare off surfaces is even more distracting.” In their design of the dormitory lounge, Sherry Guo, Ann Rietmann, and Kylie Whitehouse

OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP AND BOTTOM: STUDENT RENDERINGS OF THE DORMITORY LOBBY; ABOVE, TOP AND BOTTOM: STUDENT RENDERINGS OF THE TRAINING BUILDING LOBBY; RIGHT, TOP AND BOTTOM : STUDENT RENDERINGS OF THE DORMITORY LOUNGE.

were stuck with two huge, striped windows that were built into the envelope of the building, so they specified a special anti-glare film for the windows, and added shades to mitigate direct sunlight yet still provide a bit of light to allow people with some vision to sense the parameters of the room. They specified flooring that would not reflect the light from the windows and cause glare.

NON-VISUAL WAYFINDING

When one thinks of wayfinding in design, it’s usually of visual cues like signs and graphics that communicate how to move through a space. The students in this service learning course had to build in tactile wayfinding, and also set up the space in zones, grouping by the function of the space, so that it would be logical to navigate without sight.

In the proposal for the dormitory lounge, the designers created clear circulation in a round path around the seating area. They used flooring with two rows of raised pegs that could help someone with low or no vision follow the round path around the room. They selected what Kylie Whitehouse calls “huge, fun, cheeky graphics” on the recycling containers to communicate the function to low-vision users, but also specified braille on the countertops for those with no vision.

The designers of the training lobby had to completely rethink the layout of the space. In the original space, the front desk was built into a wall beside the entrance so new residents would enter, walk right past it, and immediately get lost. “What we did is move the reception desk to the center of the space because this is the more traditional setup and the client wanted to create a space that mimicked everyday life to prepare their residents for life out in the world,” says April Podlaski. “We used tactile carpeting underneath the reception desk so anyone using a cane could tell when they were approaching a space intended for a different use. The rest of the floor is a wood-look vinyl that helps reduce glare.”

The designers of the dormitory lobby had to deal with challenging wayfinding problems and difficult glare caused by natural light. They introduced a tactile and acoustic wall with integral lighting and increased the ceiling lighting at the entrance to improve wayfinding and to create a transitional lighting zone for eyes adjusting to coming inside in strong daylight.

THE CLIENT’S RESPONSE

Susan Ruzenski Ed.D., CEO of Helen Keller Services, says she will use the design proposals provided by NYSID to fundraise for the build. She intends to make the proposals a reality, because the DeafBlind

community she serves requires the facilities the student designers imagined. “The designs were truly beautiful, yet brought functionality into the space. Considerations for access and communication for the diverse community of DeafBlind learners at HKNC were taken into account,” she says. “The modern designs will give our living and working environments new life.”

TOWARD UNIVERSAL DESIGN

Universal design is the concept of designing inclusive spaces that accommodate everyone. Terry Kleinberg feels her students moved much closer toward universal design through the specificity of their planning for this community. As America ages, huge portions of the population are somewhat hearing and vision impaired, and everything these students learned will make spaces more welcoming to more people. Says Kleinberg, “Something as simple as understanding how distracting a water element in a gathering space can be for someone with hearing impairment will impact the decisions these designers make.” She believes that by challenging these students to strip away the visual aspects of a design, the clients at Hellen Keller Services forced them to focus on “the logic of space use and function.”

WHY CHOOSE SERVICE LEARNING?

NYSID requires all MFA1 students to participate in summer experiential learning. The options include this service learning studio, an internship, an independent study, or travel study. The service learning program has existed since 2015 and, in years past, NYSID students have designed the interiors of New York City police stations; domestic violence residences; a counseling center and offices for Safe Horizon, a nonprofit that provides services for victims of violence; and a nonprofit optometry center and teaching hospital for SUNY College of Optometry. Nonprofits are rarely flush with funds, so often the design proposals from NYSID students are used to fundraise. The Safe Horizon center that NYSID students designed in 2020 recently received funding, and construction is underway. For a rising generation of designers inspired by service, the opportunity to have such a direct impact is appealing.

“Doing good work for an organization that needed it is what motivated me,” says Felicia Gordon. “What’s different about service learning is that you are not doing part of the design process. You are in charge of the whole design process. When the clients finally saw the end product and were really grateful. . . .well, that was the best part.” •

NEXT SUMMER’S SERVICE LEARNING

Students in the MFA1 program will have another unique service learning opportunity in the summer of 2022. The client will be the Lavelle School for the Blind, which provides students with visual impairments and multiple disabilities with the education, services, resources, and experiences necessary for them to reach their fullest potential. The NYSID team will design two training spaces: a model studio apartment where Lavelle students can learn life skills such as cooking, bed-making, laundry, and vacuuming and a school store and coffee bar where students can learn job skills such as taking inventory, restocking shelves, and using a cash register. They will also design the entryway to the school. For more information, reach out to Terry.Kleinberg@NYSID.edu.

Accessible Design at NYSID

Making designs that are accessible to everybody is part of NYSID’s mission of diversifying interior design and expanding the communities it serves. Moreover, teaching ADA standards is a key requirement for NYSID’s accreditations from the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA). Says Ellen Fisher, NYSID’s dean and vice president for academic affairs, “Interior design is human-centered design. You must be inclusive to be human-centered.” Adds Barbara Weinreich , NYSID’s director of graduate programs, “Most standards of reach and dimensional norms for desks and chairs were based on military standards for white males, age 20, from World War II! They do not address lots of types of bodies. When you design for inclusion, everyone benefits.” Here are some key projects in the curricula of the BFA and MFA1 that challenge students to envision the spectrum of peoples’ abilities.

AN ACCESSIBLE HOME FOR A WHEELCHAIR USER

Part of Residential Studio II, a third-semester course in the BFA and AAS, this project requires students to design a home for an individual in a wheelchair. Students are challenged to consider accessible doorways, kitchens

that can be adaptable, turning radiuses for wheelchairs, countertops that can be altered for guests, accessible bathrooms, and more.

A NEURODIVERSE DAYCARE

Stefanie Werner, RA, owner and principal of DAS Studio and a NYSID faculty member, recently created this new curriculum for NYSID’s Contract III studio in the BFA program. Students are tasked with research on a particular syndrome or condition, such as autism, attention deficit disorder, or cerebral palsy. They design a daycare to meet the needs of children with the syndrome, and well as their siblings and other children in the community. “The idea is that it’s not just for the children with the syndrome. All children benefit from an integrated classroom,” says Werner.

AN “OWL’S NEST” FOR LIKE-MINDED SENIORS

This project, a mainstay of the MFA1 program created by faculty member Eric Cohen, challenges students to create a residence for a cooperative community of elders organized around a common passion—music, for example. Students learn the practical details of designing for elders, such as the interactive effects of color and contrast, controlling temperature, and the effect of spatial organization on balance and perception.

RENDERING:

Using Evidence to Bring Nature Inside

NYSID MPSS Advisor William Browning on Biophilia, the Subject of His Latest Book

William Browning is one of the green building industry’s foremost thinkers and strategists, and an advocate for sustainable design solutions at all levels of business, government, and civil society. He’s a co-founder and a principal of Terrapin Bright Green, a sustainability consulting firm that specializes in environmental strategy, biophilic design, ecological design, and innovation through biomimicry.

His company “consults on projects from the scale of an individual product to an entire ecosystem,” he says.

His team has consulted on New York State’s Energy and Nature Center at Jones Beach, a 3.3-million-SF skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur that is tracking LEED Platinum and the sustainability strategies for the

central business district for New Songdo, a new city in South Korea. He was a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Board of Directors. A work he coauthored with his colleague Catherine O. Ryan, 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design, gave the building industry a system for describing and applying the many facets of biophilia. His recent book, Nature Inside: A Biophilic Design Guide, also co-authored with Ryan, is already in its third printing due to the explosion of interest in biophilia during the pandemic lockdown. Browning is on the advisory board of NYSID’s MPS in Sustainable Interior Environments, and recently spoke at NYSID’s Teaching Green Symposium with Lorraine Francis. He shares a bit of his expertise here.

NYSID: What is biophilic design in theory and in practice?

William Browning: The briefest definition is that it’s design that intentionally brings experiences of nature into the built environment. These experiences are intended to support people’s health and well-being, stress reduction, improvements in cognitive function, and more. There are three main categories of biophilic design:

• “Nature in the Space,” direct experiences of nature in an interior, such as plants, water, a view, or a breeze through a window.

• “Natural Analogues,” the use of natural materials, or biomorphic forms or fractals.

• “Nature of the Space” patterns, referring to interiors that mimic spatial experiences in nature and how that impacts us physiologically and psychologically.

NYSID: The structure of your newest book, Nature Inside, is interesting. It begins with scientific and economic data on the ways biophilic design impacts human physiology, mood, and behavior. Then it launches into case studies. How did you envision people using it?

WB: The intended readers are designers. In fact, the book was commissioned by the Royal Institute of British

Architects. We thought it was important for people to understand some of the science behind biophilia. A lot of designers are practicing biophilia intuitively, but it helps to understand the science behind why people make these choices, especially since different experiences of biophilic design support different outcomes for the users of the space. If the outcome that you seek is stress reduction, you use one strategy; if it’s productivity, you use a different strategy. Understanding the research behind biophilic design makes designers more effective. It also helps

Continues on page 22

15 Patterns of Biophilic Design

Over the years, academics, researchers, and others have identified numerous design strategies for improving health and well-being in the built environment. To better enable discussion, adoption, and interdisciplinary collaboration, Terrapin has codified this research into a pattern language characterizing 15 experiences in nature:

Nature in the Space

ABOVE: LOBBY AT PARKROYAL ON PICKERING, SINGAPORE, DESIGNED BY WOHA;

RIGHT : COVER OF NATURE INSIDE

Nature of the Space

“The dappled light under trees is something we love as a species. That dancing pattern of light is what is known as a statistical fractal. It can be mathematically calculated, and it can be replicated in human-designed objects...”

—WILLIAM BROWNING, NYSID MPSS ADVISOR

Courtesy of Terrapin Bright Green

designers make a business case for biophilic design in their conversations with clients.

With the case studies, we wanted to start at the scale of products, then rooms, and go to the scale of neighborhoods and campuses. We look at a broad diversity of design styles and spaces from all over the world. The appendices are really important in this book; they are a series of tools intended to help designers with implementation.

NYSID: With the 14 patterns of biophilic design (expanded to 15 in your latest book), you give designers what you call a “pattern language.” Will you explain what you mean by that?

WB: Pattern language has been used by designers for hundreds of years, but this pattern language is a little different. Instead of being object based, it’s experience based. It’s a way to make sure users are having certain experiences within the space.

NYSID: May we drill down into one of your 15 patterns to show the extent of the research that goes into making each of these recommendations? We’re fascinated by “dynamic and diffuse light.”

WB: Sure. There are three components of dynamic and diffuse light. One has to do with having shadow and bright light. . .the opposite of uniform light in a room. Changes in light levels cause variations in the muscles of the eye. Also, if I am in an environment and staring at a short visual focus (like a computer screen), all the muscles in the eye have to contract to round the lens. We can do that for a short period of time, but eventually it will cause eye strain and fatigue, so I need to give you a distant view and variations in light to get you to look up and away to flatten the lens and relax the eye.

Another piece of the dynamic and diffuse light is changes in the color of light over the course of the day. We know that this shift in natural light triggers a cascade of responses in the body: heart rate, temperature, blood pressure, and perhaps most significantly, the balance of serotonin and melatonin in the body. Sunlight is yellow in the morning, shifts to blue around high noon, and becomes redder in the afternoon. That midday blue, specifically 480-nanometer blue, suppresses melatonin production, which is a great thing in the middle of the day because you want to be alert. In the late afternoon, the light becomes redder and melatonin production picks up. Most LEDs, including our computer and phone screens, are made with blue chips which makes sense from an efficiency standpoint because you want to produce light at the most energetic state with short wavelengths. The problem is that if we have an environment dominated by blue light at night, we’re suppressing melatonin and making it really tough to get to sleep. Getting that color spectrum correct for the right time of day is really important for sleep cycles. There are companies that make good products that address this. Now you can find lamps with daylight and evening chips that can be adjusted throughout the day to provide better circadian lighting.

The final aspect you need to know about dynamic and diffuse light is this: The dappled light under trees is something we love as a species. That dancing pattern of light is what is known as a statistical fractal. It can be mathematically calculated, and it can be replicated in human-designed objects producing similar shapes that are repeating, but never the same. We find this calming. The brain is predisposed to be able to process this pattern, something neuroscientists call fractal fluency. When we see something like this, it results in an almost automatic reduction of stress. An example is the panel

in the foyer leading into the guestrooms of the Westin Hotels. The panel creates a dappled light pattern that’s helping reduce stress the instant someone steps into the room after a long day.

NYSID: You added a 15th experience from the natural world to your pattern language for biophilia: awe. How can you define, study, and replicate awe?

WB: We know from the work of neuroscientists watching the awe experience in the brain that nearly the entire frontal cortex lights up and then activity comes to a halt. It’s an experience of being overwhelmed, and that’s really what happens, the brain becomes overloaded. The eyes open wider, the heart rate slows, the breath slows, and then we see this interesting cascade of psychological responses. We see more prosocial behavior. People tend to be more humble and charitable after having that awe experience.

So how do you create the experience of awe? Most people think that awe is something that happens spatially with grand and vast spaces, such as the experience of walking into the Grand Canyon or a

great cathedral, and it does. But Frank Lloyd Wright did it with small houses using a technique he called compression and release. A great example is Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey House in Virginia, which is open to the public. You enter under a porte cochère barely 8 ft. high, through a foyer hallway, going forward to an office and kitchen, to dining and living room beyond it, into a narrow space with extremely low ceilings, and then you step down into this open space with a cantilevered roof plane over you. . .the roof plane seems to be floating on light. It’s astonishing. It’s a tiny space, but through what Wright called compression and release, it induces awe. Usually spaces that induce awe have a really great transition. Awe is usually a spatial experience.

NYSID: Why have you become a member of the advisory board of NYSID’s Master of Professional Studies in Sustainable Interior Environments?

WB: The reason for doing this with NYSID is that there are very few programs out there in sustainable interior design. It’s important to support a really good one like NYSID’s because we want to see more people out there being trained in this work. There are only a handful of instructors in architecture and design programs who specifically teach biophilic design, and this is knowledge that improves lives.

•

OPPOSITE PAGE: WESTIN ROOM BY MARRIOTT GLOBAL DESIGN STRATEGIES. PHOTO COURESY OF MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL; BELOW: TORTONO BROOKFIELD PLACE CONNECTOR BY SANTIAGO CALATRAVA; RIGHT: SHEIKH ZAYED GRAND MOSQUE BY YUSEF ABDELKI OF HALCROW GROUP (COURTESY OF ATIMEDIA FROM PIXABAY)

The Struggle is Worth It

NYSID Students on Juggling, Parenting, Higher Education, & a Creative Life

Shruti Kashikar (MFA1 student), Ryan Biggs (BFA, ’21), and Dalia Cunow (BID student) are parents of young children who set out to reinvent themselves through a NYSID education. They say simultaneously parenting and studying at NYSID is challenging, and worth it. Here are their insights, along with those of Penni Morganstein, PsyD, NYSID’s director of counseling services.

During the spring 2020 lockdown, the editors of this magazine started using Zoom to interview NYSID students and noticed that some of them had children in the background (or in their laps). The first wave of the pandemic was a period of extreme challenges in childcare, yet these interactions highlighted the fact that a portion of the NYSID community is always juggling the demands of a NYSID education and the needs of their children. Seventy percent of students in NYSID’s undergraduate and graduate programs are people with degrees in other disciplines who are going back to school to forge a new career. These students are often embarking on a new career in their late 20s or early 30s, at the same time of life when they are finding partners, and in some cases, adding to their families.

As abundant digital and distance learning options become business as usual at the College in the wake of the “Zoom Boom,” the dream of a higher education in design is getting more attainable for people with young children. NYSID began offering a fully online BFA, accredited by the Council of Interior Design Accreditation, in fall of 2021. The MPS in Sustainable Interior Environments and the MPS in Lighting Design both can be pursued fully online, and every degree program at NYSID has many online course options. As the students in this article will tell you, these digital options are a boon for parents with limited time.

Yet, with more access to learning from home and the constant temptation to multitask on a phone, creating clear boundaries between one’s school life and family life can be a challenge. Penni Morganstein , PsyD, NYSID’s director of counseling services, believes that mindfulness, specifically the ability to give one’s full

attention to the task at hand, is a key to getting more satisfaction from a life in which one has to juggle multiple roles. “You have to get prepared, so you can be present in the moment,” she says. “If you are attuned to your child and their needs, you are less likely to feel guilty when you step away and do what you need to do for school. And when you are able to focus on designing, you do your best work. When you are half in on everything, that’s when the problems might start.”

Morganstein explains that the first and most important step is lining up “rock-solid” childcare for your school and study time, and if that childcare comes from a family member, making sure that person understands they will be needed for set hours every week. She suggests mapping out a schedule in advance so you can pay more attention in the moment. Morganstein has a great technique for setting up psychological boundaries between school and home life. She says, “Treat walking (or commuting) from school as a silent meditation to prepare yourself for the transition to home. Use the downtime to listen to a meditation, so when you walk through the door, you are ready to transition into the next phase of your life.” She says that the apps Calm, Headspace, and Koru Mindfulness are all good resources for practicing meditation. She also wants all NYSID students to know she is a resource for them if they feel overwhelmed or just want guidance. (She can be reached at Penni.Morganstein@nysid.edu.)

What the parent-students on these pages are accomplishing takes planning and perseverance. We hope their insights are a resource for those hoping to nurture a creative career and raise humans at the same time.

SHRUTI KASHIKAR

Third-year MFA1 student, mother of two

BELOW: FROM KASHIKAR’S “EMBRACE” RETAIL PROJECT FOR STUDIO III

“It’s important to me that you don’t present me as this per son who has it all together,” said Shruti Kashikar, when we sat down at the end of her second year in the MFA1. “Juggling what amounts to two ‘jobs’ sometimes can feel like a circus, and I want other parents to get a real picture.” Indeed, Kashikar, the mother of an almost 2-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy, does seem like something of a supermom. She is the gradu ate assistant of Christopher Vinger, NYSID’s director of institutional research. Even during the pandemic, she managed to get hands-on de sign experience, assisting Vir gina Toledo of Toledo Geller in the Kaleidoscope Project showhouse in the winter of

2021. She entered the MFA1 program in 2020 right after giving birth to her second child, when her baby was four months old. Before applying to NYSID, she worked as a professor of oral pathology at Rutgers University. Design was her dream, but since both of her parents are in the medical profession, she didn’t have models of creative careers growing up. Kashikar, who immigrated from India as a child, says, “Applying to the program while pregnant, I knew it would be difficult. But you can’t stop life when you have kids. My parents are immigrants, and so am I. They taught me that if you want to achieve something, there’s always a sacrifice. There have been many sacrifices. But I keep my goals in mind.” Her best advice for student-parents follows:

Form Your Own Village

Kashikar’s parents are doctors, so before COVID vaccinations, they could not see the children, and one of her major sources of weekend babysitting evaporated. She quickly learned to seek out support from other parents. She says, “Set up playdates. Ask other moms to help you. Create an exchange of childcare. A few hours here and there make a huge difference, and let you get the work done.” Kashikar employs a babysitter during the weekdays, and she can’t imagine finishing her degree without this level of support. She says, “Children benefit from a collage of caretakers.” She explains that another aspect of her “village” is the other moms in her MFA1 cohort. “Once you find another mom in the program, there is a connection. They understand what your life is like. My two ‘mom-friends’ in

the MFA1 have older children, and they have been a big source of emotional support.”

Online Courses Are Amazing

Says Kashikar, “During the lockdown when NYSID was totally remote, I found the education was equally good online, even the studios. The online format allows for a lot of feedback from teachers and peers, and weirdly, my remote courses have felt even more communal than the in-person ones.” She adds, “Online courses are better for parents because they remove the commute. They allow you a little more time to get things done. The recorded [aka asynchronous] lectures let you pause, go back, and slow down to absorb the lessons at your own pace, after the kids are in bed.”

“Good Enough” Needs to Be Fine Sometimes

Kashikar is an achiever. She says, “One of the things I struggle with is that I don’t have enough time to make my projects perfect, or the ultimate. There are students in my program who spend every hour of the weekend producing a project. I have to say to myself: Last night my daughter was sick and I had to drop everything, so my project will have to be good enough. I learned not to beat myself up over this.”

Share Your Passion with Your Children

Kashikar gets some of her best ideas when she sits down and draws with her 5-year-old son. She involves him in interior design tasks. She says, “It’s important to me that my children understand that things are not just given. You have to work for them. It’s also important for them to experience joy and creativity with me.”

RYAN BIGGS

When we spoke with Ryan Biggs, he was finishing his last semester at NYSID and in the end stages of his thesis. (He completed his degree in December of 2021.) If there’s one quality that defined Biggs as he graduated from NYSID, it was gratitude. Interior design will be his third career: He previously worked as a chef, and in the military as a translator on a naval submarine. “I was dating my wife when I entered the BFA in 2018, and she was very supportive of me going. We got married while I was in the program and decided to have a baby because I was 36 and I didn’t want to wait any longer,” he recalled. “My wife has worked full time—really insane hours—so that I could study and care for our son in

the daytime. I am so thankful. My life has been amazing since I met my wife.”

Before he even graduated, Biggs was hired by Splice (a workplace management firm) to do space planning for the interiors of a major corporation. His family—his wife and now-2-year-old son, Redmond—was in the process of moving to Seattle for his new job. His thesis advisor, Robert Dadras, was working with him remotely so that he could finish and present his thesis to his jury digitally, from a distance. (NYSID became more flexible and adaptive to student’s needs through technology during the pandemic, so virtual presentations have become an option.)

Biggs feels it has been a blessing to stay home for a portion of the day and spend time with his son during the first year of his life, but it hasn’t always been easy. He shares his advice here.

Follow a Strict Schedule

“It comes down to keeping a routine,” says Biggs. “My son is very oriented to our schedule. In the morning, I take care of him until the second shift, when family or our babysitter comes in the afternoon. My time to design is 7 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., and I protect that time. I miss social things like dinners out and birthday parties, but I keep my goals in sight.”

Be Scrappy About Funding

Biggs had a paid internship lined up when the first wave of the pandemic hit New York City. He and his wife moved with their newborn out of New York City, to his sister’s house in Massachusetts, because they were terrified for the baby’s safety. The paid internship possibilities disappeared, and there was a gap in funding for the family. Biggs applied for a

number of scholarships, and was awarded NYSID’s Albert Hadley Scholarship, which made the continuation of his full-time education possible. At the time of this interview, he was entering the Bienenstock Furniture & Interior Design Competition, with first-prize money of $5,000. “If this is your dream and funds are an issue, do the research and be scrappy about funding,” he says.

Ask for Help & Show Gratitude

“Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” says Biggs. “Your friends and family, they love you and will help you so much. They want you to achieve. They want to be part of your kids’ lives. I never used to call my mom, and now I call her every day because I want her to see my son every day and for my son to know his grandmother.”

BELOW: MOVING THROUGH SPACE WITH KIDS IS ON BIGGS’ MIND IN HIS RECENT RENDERINGS

Recent graduate, father of a toddler

Dalia Cunow was raising three small children and working as the women’s creative director for Onia, an apparel company her husband co-founded, when she began to feel like she needed “something that was just mine and didn’t have to do with anyone else in the family.” She already has an MA in psychology from Columbia University, but she wanted to move forward in a creative field. She got a bit of interior design experience helping a friend remodel a loft in SoHo, but felt she needed formal training, so she applied to NYSID’s BID (Basic Interior Design) certificate program and got in. She has a 3-year-old, 5-year-old, and 7-year-old, and she is still consulting with Onia, so she decided to go to school part time. “It would have been really hard for me to commit to going full time for a 2- or 4-year degree with so much going on,” she says. “The BID seemed like a

good place to start because it stacks into the AAS and the BFA. I knew if I wanted to move on to get the next degree, that was something that could happen.” She was fastidious about making a plan before she jumped into classes. She met with her NYSID academic advisor, Shell Azar, and took away the impression that the design history courses are the best classes to take online, and drafting and studios might be the better courses to take in person. She set up a schedule in which she comes on campus to study on Mondays, and studies or works from home on other weekdays.

Be Prepared / Line Up Help

“I do have a regular babysitter and I feel very thankful I can do that,” says Cunow. “Even as we speak, I am gameplanning about who is going to pick up whom. I absolutely need an extra pair of hands

to get it all done.” She adds, “You need a good support system and I know I am privileged to have mine. My husband has been supportive, and he’s excited for me. He takes the kids out on Sundays so I can get my schoolwork done.”

Keep Moving When the Plan Falls Apart

“Look, I have a very set schedule but sometimes the kids get sick and it falls apart,” Cunow muses. “You

DALIA CUNOW

BID student, mother of three

have to be able to be flexible. You must accept that you are doing the best you can. It’s not subpar. It’s something to be proud of. I keep it moving. You have the time you have, and you do your absolute best in that limited time. You sometimes have to let go of the perfect schedule. If you remember that, you will get it done in the end.”

ABOVE AND RIGHT: ELEVATION DRAWING AND SKETCH OF A LOUIS XVI DESK BY DALIA CUNOW

GIVING / Supporting Our Community

Why I Give: Corey Damen Jenkins

Corey Damen Jenkins is the founder and principal of the eponymous firm, Corey Damen Jenkins & Associates. The firm’s design team has developed interiors for towers in New York City, private residences on Nantucket and Hawaii, hospitality spaces in Saudi Arabia and Washington, D.C., and even the Yellowstone Club in Montana. Jenkins is an inducted member of Architectural Digest’s AD100 and ELLE Decor’s A-List.

In 2021, the New York School of Interior Design awarded him the Larry Kravet Design Industry Leadership Award. His bold interiors have graced the covers of House Beautiful and Traditional Home and received extensive features in publications, including Vanity Fair and The New York Times. When we caught up with him for this interview, his first coffee table book, Design Remix: A New Spin on Traditional Rooms (Rizzoli), was entering its fourth printing. He was also in the process of creating a product line with Kravet Inc. called Trad Nouveau, scheduled to launch in spring 2022. His business is on fire, yet Jenkins always finds time to give of himself to people and nonprofit organizations. Through his firm, he founded the Corey Damen Jenkins Diversity Scholarship at NYSID and will personally mentor several NYSID students this year. We discuss what motivates him here.

NYSID: Why have you chosen to support the College’s diversity scholarship fund through your firm?

CDJ: Representation in design is very important to me. So many people love the art of interior design and decoration and want to find their way into this world, but not everyone has a clear way to get there. I want to help make that pathway accessible for others. I always told myself if I was able to climb the ladder of success and get to the top, I would not pull the ladder up after myself. I would leave it down for others to climb. When I launched my firm in 2009, I reached out to established designers for advice and so many people just didn’t want to share any information. I always felt that if I found a measure of success, I wouldn’t be that way. So that’s what this scholarship means to me. I intend for it to benefit talented and creative people who just need a ladder to climb to get into this industry.

NYSID: I’m told you will be mentoring two students this year at NYSID. Will you tell me about your vision for the mentorship opportunity you plan to offer?

CDJ: The vision for the mentorship is to fill in information that I don’t think is readily available in academic design programs. In school, you might learn how to be an incredible designer, but you don’t necessarily learn how to make a living, how to charge, how to compete for business. So my goal will be to fill in those gaps. I want to show my mentees how to be left-brained enough to apply business acumen and right-brained enough to handle the creative aspect.

NYSID: Who were your mentors in interior design?

CDJ: Well, Michigan is an incredibly competitive market for interior design, so as I’ve mentioned, other designers were not forthcoming about sources or contacts when I started my firm. I made mistakes, and I learned from them. There wasn’t anyone to guide me. There was, however, Patty Mulkiten, who was the manager at the Robert Allen, Beacon Hill, showroom. She became a friend and confidant. Our dynamic was like mother and son, and she became my sounding board for the challenges and concerns I had when I opened the firm.

NYSID: Why did you decide to get involved in the New York School of Interior Design?

CDJ: I appreciate NYSID’s vision for the student body, the work they do to outreach to communities, and the quality of the design curriculum for the students. Often it comes down to people, and it’s clear to me that David Sprouls (NYSID’s president) and Joy Cooper (NYSID’s development director) care for the students and approach their work with warmth, generosity, humility, and kindness.

I’m impressed by the work NYSID has done to create opportunities for Pre-College courses (through the Kravet Pipeline to Design) for young people involved in Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, a charity that is dear to my heart. Anything we can do to help children have an upwardly mobile life is something I want to be involved in. I want to help young designers get over the rainbow to the other side. Part of our company’s culture is to give back and nourish creative talent. I have a world view informed by different life experiences than most people in this industry. At Corey Damen Jenkins & Associates, we want to be in touch with what’s going on in most of the world, which is why it’s my privilege to be involved with organizations like NYSID and Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club.

Editor’s note: There are two scholarships named after Corey Damen Jenkins at NYSID, the Corey Damen Jenkins Scholarship from the New York Design Center, and the Corey Damen Jenkins Diversity Scholarship established by Corey Damen Jenkins & Associates. Both are diversity scholarships made possible by the generosity of funders who want to make interior design more inclusive.

PHOTO: NATHAN SCHROEDER

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Cowtan & Tout

Designers Lighting Forum of New York, Inc.

Jill H. Dienst

Nina Farmer*

Susan Zises Green*

Heather Hay Murren Foundation Holland & Sherry

Young Huh Holly Hunt

Corey Damen Jenkins Courtney McLeod

Dennis Miller & Milan Hughston New York Design Center/Jim Druckman

Suzanne Rheinstein

Brad Schneller

David Scott/David Scott Interiors Joanna Silver/Bond Schoeneck & King

$5,000-$9,999

Amy & David Abrams, in honor of David Kleinberg

Mark Armenante & Young Sohn

Nate Berkus Chesie Breen

Tika Brewer*

Laura & Stafford Broumand

Lucy Chudson

Cullman & Kravis, Inc.

Edmund Hollander Landscape Architects

George L. Farias

Ferguson & Shamamian Architects, LLP

Andrew & Susan Goldberg

Kay Unger Family Foundation

Jessie & Tim Kisling

Linda London

Brian J. McCarthy & Daniel Sager

Lisa & Brian McCarthy Hansrobyn Vanoosten Morris Janice Parker

Probber Estate/Jory Probber

Jane Scott & Philip Hodges/ Leontine Linens

Andy Singer/Visual Comfort & Company

Gale Singer/Circa Lighting, LLC Steelcase, Inc.

Newell Turner & Douglas Clarke

$1,000-$4,999

Anne & David Altchek

Jeff Arnstein

Robin Klehr Avia/Gensler

Suzanne Pearl Bakst

Leslie Banker

Charlotte Barnes

Dennis Basso & Michael Caminotto Beauvais Carpets Inc.

Shelley Belling Melinda Jaeger Bickers * Migdalia Bonilla

Boyd Lighting Company

Meg Braff

Peter Brandt

The Brown Foundation, Inc

Allison Caccoma

Carrier & Company Interiors

Laura Casale

Laura* & Tim Casey

Kitty Chou* Cynthia Foster Curry

Beth Rudin DeWoody

Sara Paschell Dodd, in honor of Alex Papachristidis & Chesie Breen

Kathleen M. Doyle

Anne * & John Duffy

Cheryl S. Durst

Anne Eisenhower* Ennead Architects

Carrie & Jake Erhard

Becky Button Espiritu*

Andrea Henderson Fahnestock

Anne Fairfax

Waldo Fernandez

Michael Field & Doug Hamilton

Clair Fitzgerald*

G. P. Schafer Architect, DPC Eric Joseph Gering

Estate of Beatrice S. Gneses

Mira Goldberg

Elliot Greene

Alexander C. Hitz

IIDA: International Interior Design Association

Lisa Jackson

Michelle Jacobson*/MLJacobson Design

Libby & Shahab Karmely

Patricia Kennedy*

John Kilfoyle/United Marble Fabricators

Wolfram Koeppe

Elizabeth Lawrence *

Ros L’Esperance

Barbara Liberman

The Honorable & Mrs. Earle I. Mack

Stewart Manger

Susan Marinello *

Material Bank/Sandow Media

Alison A. Mazzola

Gideon Mendelson

Phillip & Taraneh Mills

MindClick

Richard & Marcia Mishaan

David Monn

Robert Morris

Cynthia Murphy* Susan Nagle *

Mario Nievera Liz O’Brien

Sylvia Curry Owen* Avani Parikh

Partners in Design - Jim Sersich Perkins & Will

Peter Pennoyer Architects

Leslie Anderson Petrick*

Kathy & Othon Prounis

Robin Reigi Inc. Rachel Rudin

Sabrina & Michael Rudin Courtney & Christopher Sarofim Sawyer|Berson

Elizabeth Sinclair Scout* Dennis Scully

Tracy & Jay Snyder

Jesse Solomon & Jason Purcell Patricia M. Sovern

Daniel Spelman & James Zimmerman Christopher Spitzmiller

David Sprouls & Kate Wood Tara Stacom

James M. Steinmeyer Steven King Decorative Carpets, in honor of Nina Farmer

Rose Tarlow*

Art & Peeka Tildesley Antoinette Tollman Guiseppe & Michele Torroni Phoebe & Bobby Tudor Urban Electric Company

Van Wyck Estate Fund Nadia Watts *

Wellen Construction & the Gadbois Family Court Whisman*

Ashley Whittaker

Jeff Wigginton & Mikki Gardner Bettina Zilkha

$500-$999

Bryan L. Baldwin

Doug & Lily Band

Lawrence Chabra *

Mr. & Mrs. James C. Cowles

John Danzer/Munder-Skiles

F.H. Perry Builder Ross & Austin M. Francis Marsha & Richard Goldberg Krista Leintz Gurevich* Leonard & Fleur Harlan Inge Heckel

Marcella M. Holmes * Jane Jackson Toby & Michael Kumin Lawrence A. Levy* Little Man Parking

Marie Aiello * Design Studio

MEBL | Transforming Furniture Lori & David Moore

George Marshall Peters * Philip Gorrivan Design Caroline Phitoussi

Miles Redd, Redd Kaihoi, LLC

Suzanne Reidy Colleen Rogers *

Hunter K. Runnette & Mark P. VandenBosch Loren Taufield

Barbara Toll, in honor of Dennis Miller Frank Webb John Yunis $100-$499 Gayle Ahrens * Ethan & Sharon Alpert Warren Ashworth Tess Atkinson Irene Aurovsky* Jerry Balest* Joan Barenholtz

Anthony Barnes Cynthia Beglin Julie Bernstein* Stacey Bewkes Taylor Biancone Diana Brazill* Kelly Buchsbaum Ruth Burt* Susan Bush Libby Cameron Lawrence Cohen Bobette Cohn Rosemary Cona* Joy Cooper Kate Cordsen Andrea Cross * Carlotta Cubi

Allison Davis *

Francisco De Leon

Kiki Dennis *

Kathy Duffin* Liz & Larry Dutton

Elizabeth Guest Interiors LLC *

Erick Espinoza *

Melissa Feldman Samantha Fingleton

Aly O’Leary Fitzpatrick* Barbra Fordyce *

Leta Austin Foster

Anthony Freund

Lois Avery Gaeta * Babette Gladstein, VMD *

Jordana Goldman*

Jacqueline & Yves Gonnet Dr. Linda Gray Kaitlin Gwock

Jennifer Gyr

Lew Haber & Carmen Dubroc

Michael D. Harold*

Holly Hayden Camille Hellwig* Claire Hernandez Su Hilty

Richard & Gloria Honeck

Christina Janoura

Coco Kanakis *

Veronica Kelly

Lindsay Key* Don Kossar*

Judit Lang

Maria Lannamann*

Anthony Law

Maisie Lee * Deborah Lefevre Ann Lehman & Bill Rittinger Nitzia Logothetis Araxi MacAulay

Magrino PR

Karen Elizabeth Marx Masterpiece Woodworks, Inc.

Madeline Merin* Pauline Metcalf

Melanie Millner

Jennifer Monaco

Wendy Lyon Moonan Munder-Skiles, LLC Natasha Willauer Interiors * Susan Nitze

Olivia Stutz Design, LLC * David Owens-Hill

Mr. Charles E. Pavarini III* Charles & Carole Purse Rizzoli Bookstore, Inc.

Leslie Robinson* Jose Rolon

Ethel M. Rompilla* Jill Roosevelt Nicola Rosendorff* Susanne Rudiger* Margaret Russell Ingrid Schneider Wendy Shanker Elizabeth S. Singer Mary & Alok Singh Beth Diana Smith Leslie Steiner Jean Stenger Susan Thorn* Andrea Traubner Mish Tworkowski Mary Van Pelt Christopher Vinger Barbara Weinreich

Erin Wells Kathleen Whelan

Richard & Nancy Whitney

Below $100

Cameron Boardman*

Meredith Burns

Rachael Burrow*

Laura Catlan

David Evans

Karina Firme

Portia Furst*

Laurie Genovese * Robin S. Graham

Faith Hoops *

Andrea Horn*

Gloria Jaroff* Shelly Johnson Saira Kay* Emily Kessler* Pamela Markano Caroline Mayer* Mackenzie Meeks Jennifer Melendez Cindy Mullin

Mary Pilling* Deepa Ramchandani*

Ashley Rose * Melanie Schofield* Linda Sclafani*

Rachel Simon* Christopher Spinelli Sarah Elizabeth Swatez* J. Randall Tarasuk* Christine Tomaszewski* Heather Travier Kelsey Venditozzi

Mercy Vera Elaine Vukov

Fei Wang* Gifts In-Kind Bacarrat Clovis Cavalcanti

Christina Daily Daniel Romauldez Architects Fabricut Inc. Edward R. Haleman

Home Studios

Karen Josue * Edward Lee Kennedy David G. Lowe

Kristen Russo Elizabeth Scheuer Thibaut Designs Thom Filicia, Inc.

Supporters who gave after January 10, 2022 will be ac knowledged in a future Atelier. Asterisks indicate alumni.

LAYOUT / News from NYSID

The New York School of Interior Design’s curricula and offerings are constantly evolving, pushing the standards of design education further. Perhaps that’s one reason our students are winning top industry awards and getting great jobs after graduation.

Study Abroad Semester in Italy Is on the Horizon

For many years, NYSID has offered short-term, design-focused travel study opportunities to destinations such as Austria, China, Greece, India, Italy, and Japan. Now the College is preparing to offer a full semester abroad in Italy. “Plans are in the works for the creation of a true junior year/semester abroad in Florence, Italy,” says NYSID Dean and VP for Academic Affairs Ellen Fisher. “NYSID is working on a collaboration with an accredited art and design program to offer classes that align with the required courses of the 5th and 6th semesters of the BFA, so that students can stay on track for graduation.” The program is expected to launch in the ’22/’23 academic year.

New “Sustainable Materials” Course Is Coming in Fall ’22

There are many products for interiors that claim to be “eco-friendly” and have a great backstory, but whether they are truly sustainable depends on a combination of factors. This course, which launches in fall ’22, is designed to give emerging interior designers some of the knowledge they need to make decisions about what textiles, furnishings, finishes, and other products help make a space sustainable. The Sustainable Materials course will be taught by Janet Hild , who also teaches the Sustainable Soft Goods course in the Master of Professional Studies in Sustainable Interior Environments (MPSS), as well as Textiles for Interiors in the MFA and undergraduate programs. She’s a textile and surface pattern designer with a long history of sustainable product development for the commercial sector of the industry, as well as the Design Firm and Design School Engagement Lead for MindClick, a company that offers an index to help brands deliver on the social and environmental commitments they make to their consumers. “When you’re thinking about sustainability in interiors, you’re evaluating the safety of space, the toxins and emissions to the actual space, but also where the products come from—the impact to the environment where they come from and the energy it takes to make and ship the materials,” explains Hild. “There is a saying that will guide us: Design for health. Design for climate. Design for equity.” Registration for the new course is happening this spring and it’s open to MFA and undergraduate students who have taken Introduction to Sustainability and the Built Environment. Designers looking to extend their studies to achieve true expertise in designing sustainable interiors may opt to apply to the Master of Professional Studies in Sustainable Interior Environments.

PHOTO BY DANIELLE SUIJKERBUIJK/UNSPLASH

“NYSID@200Lex” Will Be a NYSID Outpost in the New York Design Center

NYSID’s Institute for Continuing and Professional Studies (ICPS) will have a education/ networking space at the New York Design Center (NYDC). It will open by the end of 2022. “NYSID@200Lex” will offer a lecture series for designers, interactive workshops, field coaching, and studio classes. The programs there will help sharpen practicing designers’ skills, enhance careers, and help designers grow their businesses. Most courses will hold CEUs and LUs for design professionals. Ashley Rose, NYSID’s director of continuing education, Todd Class, NYSID’s assistant dean of academic computing and technologies, and David Sprouls, NYSID’s president, introduced the unfinished showroom space this past September with a “Hard Hat Party” at NYDC’s “What’s New, What’s Next?” event. This partnership is possible because of the help of NYSID trustee James Druckman , president and CEO of NYDC. Interested in learning more about the education/networking space, program offerings, or partnerships? Contact Ashley.Rose@nysid.edu.

 NEW

Two New ICPS Offerings

“Revit for Lighting Design,” (CE539) taught by Samuel Mikhail , is new to the ICPS program this year. This class is meant to introduce individuals in the lighting design fields to Revit workflows. After completing this course, designers will be able to: collaborate with multiple users in the same model and with multiple discipline models, design options, and phasing, and create advanced 3D geometric families.

Certificate in Introduction to Residential Lighting Design

Through the Institute for Continuing and Professional Studies (ICPS), NYSID began offering a “Certificate in Introduction to Residential Lighting Design” for the first time this February. The curriculum consists of lighting fundamentals, tools and resources for lighting in the home, plans, codes, technology, sustainability, and lighting economics. This certificate program is being taught by lighting expert Daniel Blitzer who comes to NYSID with 30 years of experience in developing and conducting training and education for the lighting industry. He has written Introduction to Lighting, a video course for the Illuminating Engineering Society, The Residential Lighting Manual for the American Lighting Association, and The First Hundred Years, a history of the Lightolier Company. More information on the three courses in the certificate sequence are available through the ICPS website (nysid.edu/icps). This certificate will hold CEUs and LUs for design professionals. See CE740 for the introductory course.

Interior designer Claudia Tejada teaches the brand new course “A Day in the Life of an Interior Designer” (CE055). In this course, students gain insight into all aspects of life as an interior designer. Tejada will review in broad strokes what transpires from the moment a project commences until the finished work is photographed. Topics covered include: managing clients expectations; creating project budgets and schedules; and managing trades, vendors, and other professionals.

LIGHTING DESIGN

BY LUMEN ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN BY PAUL CLARK

 NOTABLE

The Impact of NYSID’s “Teaching Green”

On Friday, October 8, and Saturday, October 9, 2022, an audience of 158 design educators, students, and practitioners attended NYSID’s Teaching Green Symposium, the first sustainability symposium focusing on interior design education ever. Said David Sprouls, president of NYSID, “We designed this symposium to create a circular dialogue between students, instructors, and practitioners. . .We opened it up to educational institutions all over the country, because this issue is much bigger than NYSID.” Teaching Green, a hybrid online and in-person event, was co-curated by Barbara Weinreich , NYSID’s director of graduate programs, and David Bergman , director of NYSID’s MPS in Sustainable Interior Environments. It was underwritten by the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.

The symposium opened with a conversation between keynote speaker Aviniash Rajagopal , editor-in-chief of Metropolis magazine, and Andrew Revkin , renowned environmental journalist and the founding director of the Initiative on Communication and Sustainability at Columbia University. Rajagopal described the huge impact interior design has on carbon emissions through the practice of frequent renovation. Keynote speaker and NYSID alumna Jennifer Graham ’85 (BFA), principal and senior project manager at Perkins&Will, was in conversation with Seema Lisa Pandya , the faculty member who teaches NYSID’s Introduction to Sustainability & the Built Environment course. Graham emphasized how closely intertwined issues of climate, health, and equity are within sustainability. In the closing keynote, Eric Corey Freed , vice president of sustainability for CannonDesign, was in conversation with David Bergman . Freed said, “The traditional way that we make things is to. . .harvest stuff at great environmental cost and slowly turn it into trash. The circular economy proposes an alternative for that. . . .Instead of making waste, it’s harvest, make, and remake over and over again.”

Nadia Elrokhsy, director of the Interior Design AAS Program and associate professor of ecological design at Parsons, attended the symposium as both a presenter and an audience member. She noted that despite the many presenters and wide range of expertise at the event, the student roundtable (hosted by Taneshia Albert of Auburn University) was the most revelatory talk for her. “Hearing from students in this way was a rare opportunity,” Elrokhsy says. “In the early days of my teaching (of what was then called Green Design), students didn’t grasp their role in the larger scheme of climate change, but now I am seeing that students have a better understanding of their power to address this large and complex problem. The students felt empowered to use quantitative and qualitative analysis to create evidence-based designs that lower the carbon footprint of an interior over its lifecycle.”

All Teaching Green Symposium presentations can be viewed on NYSID’s YouTube Channel: NYSIDNYC Social.

Update of the Undergraduate Curriculum

Ellen Fisher, NYSID dean & VP for academic affairs and Barbara Lowenthal, a consultant who was NYSID’s associate dean for 27 years, have just updated and enriched the BFA and AAS curricula. Their goals have been additional attention to the foundation of design decision-making in evidence-based research; designing to respond to greater cultural, social, and economic diversity; and expanding NYSID’s focus on sustainability and accessible design. NYSID instructors will begin teaching the new curricula in Fall of 2023.

LEFT TO RIGHT: BARBARA WEINREICH; DAVID SPROULS, JENNIFER GRAHAM, AVINASH RAJAGOPAL, DAVID BERGMAN

Dialogues on Design Focuses on Mentors & Influences

The 2021/22 season of Dialogues on Design kicked off in November with a conversation between Dennis Scully, the series moderator and Business of Home podcast host, and Joy Moyler, founder and principal of Joy Moyler Interiors. The series continued in January with Gail Davis. It’s a particularly meaningful season of this series for people who want to understand the influences behind masterworks of interior design, because the focus of the season is great designers and the mentors who have shaped them. Other design luminaries who have spoken or will speak in the series this season are Alexa Hampton , Young Huh , David Kleinberg , Eddie Lee, Ann Pyne, and Bunny Williams. All of the money raised by Dialogues on Design benefits NYSID’s scholarship funds. For more information, contact Samantha.Fingleton@NYSID.edu.

The Arthur King Satz Lecture – Sam Lubell

On March 28, Sam Lubell , executive editor of Metropolis magazine, gave a lecture called “Learning From Broadway,” derived from Lubell’s book Drama, which Lubell created with architect David Rockwell and designer Bruce Mau. Using examples from Rockwell Group’s portfolio, the talk explored the firm’s approach at the intersection of architecture and theater. The Arthur King Satz Lecture focuses on the cross pollination of ideas between humanities and design. It honors the memory of Arthur King Satz, a former president and chairman of the board of NYSID.

FACULTY NEWS

Two New Books from NYSID Faculty Members

NYSID faculty member Warren Ashworth has woven his knowledge of architectural history into a novel with his co-author and spouse Susan Kander, a well-known composer. We, The House was recently released from Blue Cedar Press. The novel begins in 1878 in a frontier town on the Kansas prairie where a Civil War Union veteran builds his new wife her dream house, an Italianate glory she names Ambleside. “This book came about because of a trip my wife and I took in 2007. We went to visit a house called Ambleside that my mother had spoken of vaguely. My mother’s mother had been born in Newton, Kansas, in that house, built by her father in 1878,” recalls Ashworth. “The couple who have been lovingly restoring it since 1994 welcomed us graciously. From that visit emerged this book, in which Ambleside surrounds the Hart family for three generations.” Incidentally, Ashworth’s fourth lecture in NYSID’s Modern Architecture and Design course also revolves around Ambleside as an example of American wood frame houses. Ashworth spoke about the book at a NYSID alumni event in December.

MPSL faculty member Jason Livingston , principal of Studio T+L, also has a new book out. Wiley has recently published the second edition of Livingston’s Designing with Light: The Art, Science, and Practice of Architectural Lighting Design. This popular textbook is considered the consummate guide to teaching the subject, and has had a second audience as a guide for design enthusiasts. The second edition features new sections on design thinking, common lighting techniques, lighting economics, controlling LEDs, light, and health, and color mixing luminaires.

Joy Moyler

Assistant Dean Linda Sclafani Retires

Linda Sclafani ’90 (BFA), assistant dean and beloved academic advisor to generations of NYSID students, retired in December. Sclafani began working for New York School of Interior Design as a part-time academic advisor in August 1993. She assisted students with their academic programs and advised and counseled some of them through difficult times. She assisted in job placement for our students and was the staff advisor for the student chapter of ASID. In 2006, Linda was promoted to assistant dean, and became assistant dean for academic administration in 2014. In this role, she has supervised course scheduling, the registration office, career services, internship coordination, and student disability services; assisted with faculty assignments; and continued with her responsibilities in academic advising. Says Ellen Fisher, NYSID’s dean & VP of academic affairs, “Linda’s loyalty to NYSID, her calm and kind manner at moments of stress, and her willingness to do whatever is needed has made Linda an invaluable colleague.”

Hans J. Galutera Joins the New York State Board for Interior Design

NYSID faculty member Hans J. Galutera , founder and CEO of HG DesignWorks LLC, has recently been appointed to the New York State Board for Interior Design. As one of the board members for the NYS Board for Interior Design, he will be one of the regulators of the profession’s affairs (specifically interior design education and licensure).

STUDENT AWARDS

BFA student Motomu (Lucia) Sakakibara won Interior Design magazine’s 2021 Best of Year Awards in the student category for her “Komorebi Console.” Her mentor/instructor on the project was faculty member Rene Estacio.

MFA1 student Kaiwen Wei was the 1st prize winner of the 2021 Gensler Brinkmann Scholarship & Design Challenge for his submission of a design for a workplace for a nonprofit called Nexus. The theme of his work was connection in a time of disconnection, and he envisioned a nonprofit environment that would bring social entrepreneurs together with investors. He took his cues from nature, mimicking the structure of a beehive and incorporating motifs of bears seeking honeycomb.

BFA student Sara Alvarez was identified as one of the 50 most promising interior design students graduating this year in North America through Metropolis magazine’s Metropolis Future 100 initiative.

MFA1 students Sheng Wei Yang and Nelson Sanchez won first prize in the Nantucket By Design student design contest for their vision of an immersive gallery space in the historic Thomas Macy Warehouse.

Kira Cedeno (MFA2) took home several awards from the IDA (International Design Awards). Her MFA2 thesis project “Canon Immersive Center” won the Silver award in the IDA Commercial Interior Design category and Bronze for the Interior Design Exhibits category. Her thesis instructor was Kyle Spence. Additionally, her project “Ivy’s Tea Flagship” won the Silver award in the Retail Design category.

BID student Rebecca Dudley won 2nd place in the ASID NY Metro & Kravet’s 2021 Student Textile Design Challenge.

PORTFOLIO / Class of 2021 Award Winners

The College awarded the students whose thesis projects are featured on these pages the Chairman’s Award for their overall performance at NYSID. These award winners graduated last August, because NYSID’s Master of Professional Studies programs are three terms (fall, spring, and summer) for students who attend full time. Their work is a look at what designers can do when they achieve the highest levels of education and specialized expertise within their fields.

“At NYSID, I had the opportunity to broaden my 15+ years of lighting experience into architectural lighting design with the hope of further developing my relationship with light.”

—JON RETSKY

“There’s so much ‘greenwashing’ in design. ‘Green’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ are not regulated terms, and many companies make claims about products being ‘green’ without proof. This program gave me the tools to critically evaluate the claims manufacturers make.”

—TAYLOR RENAUD

TOP: JOHN RETSKY’S “CYCLORAMA” CEILING LIGHTING CONCEPT; BOTTOM: AXONOMETRIC VIEW OF RENAUD AND DRAVES’ FENTY BRANDS PROJECT; OPPOSITE: IMAGES FROM RETSKY’S “UPSTAGE CENTER”

Jon Retsky

Project: Upstage Center

Instructors: Melanie Taylor & Marty Salzberg

Jon Retsky started his career in the theater, so when it came time to select the subject of his thesis for the MPSL, he jumped at the opportunity to create an architectural lighting design for the Theater School at DePaul University in Chicago. Retsky has owned an events lighting business called Got Light for more than a decade, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, his business retracted. He decided to use the temporary downturn in his business as a time to educate himself in the architectural lighting of interiors at NYSID. He studied entirely remotely.

His concept for the Theater School of DePaul University was “Upstage Center,” a term that refers to the “centermost point of the stage at the furthest point back.” His goal was to tell the story of what happens behind the “fourth wall” of a theater, for example, the work of costume designers, choreographers, playwrights, and set designers, in order to celebrate the collective work that goes into an audience experience. Almost every space he created in this vast education and performance facility is “a nod to the experiences that happen behind the scenes of a theater.” The lighting fixtures in the costume shop he created are a play on oversized buttons, for example. He transformed the foyer lobby into The Ghost Light Lounge (a ghost light is a traditional light on a stick that the crew places on a stage at night to prevent injuries in the absence of other forms of light). In a reference to the work set designers do, Retsky took an image of a cyclorama and put it on a progression of video panels on the ceiling of the main lobby, to stunning effect. The theater lighting is an homage to playwrights: Retsky created a lighting effect that evokes typography by finding a Corian material that can be custom carved and backlit with dramatic results. The visual experience of typography comes from light cast on these carvings. Retsky’s business is booming again, and he hopes to build an architectural lighting division soon.

NYSID’s Master of Professional Studies in Lighting (MPSL), directed by Shaun Fillion, LC Educator IALD, is known in the industry for producing versatile lighting designers who have deep knowledge of the way lighting can contribute to sustainability and well-being. In the program, students master the technologies necessary to execute their visions in a field that is rapidly evolving. One hundred percent of its graduates find employment in the lighting design industry. The degree can be pursued in person or entirely online (nysid.edu/mps-l).

Master of Professional Studies in Interior Lighting Design (MPSL)

Taylor Renaud (with project partner Lindsey Draves)

Project: Fenty Brands Retail Design

Instructors: Luca Baraldo & Bethany Borel

Master of Professional Studies in Sustainable Interior Environments (MPSS)

Taylor Renaud , the 2021 Chairman’s Award winner for the MPSS, collaborated with fellow student Lindsey Draves on this flagship retail store for Fenty Brands in an existing three-story, 6,800-SF footprint in SoHo. The challenge from NYSID was to create a sustainable project that promoted social justice and diversity. Renaud and Draves chose to create a space for pop star Rihanna’s three Fenty Brands—Fenty (luxury clothing), Fenty Beauty & Skin, and Savage X Fenty (affordable lingerie)—because each brand is about the empowerment of people of diverse races, skin tones, and sizes. The overarching concept for the space became “a journey” of movement from the morning to the night, with each floor encompassing a different brand: The makeup brand on the main floor represented the preparation for the day, the clothing brand on the third floor represented the heart of the day, and the lingerie brand in the basement represented life at night. Natural light was a pivotal part of the design, both because of the concept and because optimizing natural daylight is a strategy to conserve energy. The existing structure only had windows in the front of the building, so they made

the most of the natural light by removing about one-third of the third floor, allowing the daylight to spill down into the main floor, so people could experience the true shades of makeup on their skin. The third floor became a more intimate nook for the luxury clothing brand. They situated the lingerie brand in the basement, with little light. The duo made this darkness part of the design, creating an aura of lush mystery and daring (even adding a pole dancing studio in the back!).

Part of the sustainability strategy of the design was sourcing the most sustainable materials from the fewest manufacturers possible. Renaud explained that when you source from fewer manufacturers, you cut down on transportation and reduce the carbon footprint of the interior. They used the Material Bank database to search out and evaluate the certifications of every product, going with recycled Cambria quartz, no-VOC paints from Clare (a minority-and-woman-owned business), and Madera wood floors, with a FSC certification that ensures they were sustainably harvested.

NYSID’s Master of Professional Studies in Sustainable Interior Environments (MPSS), led by David Bergman , RA, LEED AP, is a post-professional program structured to prepare designers to assume leadership roles in developing sustainable interior spaces. The guiding principles of the program are designing resilience to climate change disruption, giving students the tools to evaluate the carbon footprint of the spaces they create, and designing for well-being. The degree can be pursued in person or entirely online from anywhere in the country. For info visit: nysid.edu/mps-s.

OPPOSITE AND ABOVE: EACH FLOOR HOUSES

A DIFFERENT

FENTY BRAND IN THIS THESIS BY TAYLOR RENAUD AND LINDSEY DRAVES.

IN MEMORIAM

The NYSID community remembers Anne Korman and Ruth Lynford.

ANNE KORMAN

The NYSID community celebrates the life of Anne Korman ‘67, interior designer and NYSID alumna, faculty member, and member of the Board of Trustees (for more than 30 years). NYSID learned of her passing from her nephew Jason Greenberg in December 2021. He said, “She was always discussing how design changed her life and how excited she was to share her experiences with the ever-changing dynamic of new student classes. She was proud to continue assisting her school into her 80s!” Says NYSID President David Sprouls, “Anne was such an enduring member of our institution and passionate advocate for NYSID that she helped shape our DNA. It’s almost impossible to calculate the number of lives and careers she had a positive impact on. She will be missed.” Korman first pursued a career in modern dance, studying under Martha Graham and other prominent choreographers. Before enrolling at NYSID, Korman worked in the offices of architect Marcel Breuer. She graduated from NYSID in 1967, first working for the firm of J.P. Maggio Design Associates and later establishing both partnership and independent design practices. Her notable projects included the apartment of gallery owner Marian Goodman, interiors of the Central Condominiums of the Upper West Side, and the Congregation Or Zarau synagogue. As a NYSID faculty member, she was a revered instructor of Color for Interiors. In an oral history with Korman conducted by Sophie Swanson, she mused, “A lot of people have the talent [to be a designer], but it never comes out. And that’s what school and good teachers who are inspirational can bring out.” We are grateful to Anne Korman for being that inspiration.

RUTH LYNFORD

Interior design has lost a fierce champion in Ruth Lynford , who passed away on December 3, 2021. In 1946, Lynford graduated with a degree in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis. She set out for Manhattan, where she joined a leading architectural firm, but quickly encountered prejudice as a woman in a male-dominated profession. Lynford took it upon herself to start breaking the barriers put in front of female architects, and also expanded her focus to include interior design. She was engaged in the political process necessary to achieve recognition of interior design as a legitimate profession. Her efforts led to the successful passage of legislation recognizing interior design as the 33rd profession in New York State. Another one of Lynford’s significant achievements was the 1997 founding of New York 11, an exhibition of work from six New York metropolitan area interior design institutions. Now known as New York 11 Plus (NY11+), the 501(c)(3) corporation is dedicated to promoting the interior design profession by providing a platform to showcase student work from New York State institutions offering four-year or more programs in interior design. Among Lynford’s many accolades and accomplishments are induction into the Interior Design Hall of Fame, selection as a “Design Icon” by Interior Design magazine, and the founding of Interior Designers for Legislation in New York (IDLNY). “Ruth Lynford was a role model for me and others professionally in her drive, vision, intellect, and incredibly effective leadership. She knew how to bring people together to convince those in power to enact change,” says Ellen Fisher, NYSID vice president for academic affairs and dean.

LEADERSHIP / Moving the College Forward

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Ellen Kravet, Chairman David Sprouls, NYSID President Chesie Breen

Jill H. Dienst

James P. Druckman

Cheryl S. Durst Ingrid Edelman

Susan Zises Green Alexa Hampton

David Kleinberg Courtney R. McLeod Dennis Miller Betsey Ruprecht Brad Schneller

David Scott Maria Spears Newell Turner

Kelly M. Williams

Eric J. Gering, Faculty Trustee

Joanna L. Silver, Esq., General Counsel

Elaine Wingate Conway, Trustee Emerita Inge Heckel, Trustee Emerita

Patricia M. Sovern, Chairman Emeritus

ADVISORY BOARD

Robin Klehr Avia Michael Bruno Kathleen M. Doyle Anne Eisenhower Ross J. Francis Mariette Himes Gomez Gerald A. Holbrook Thomas Jayne Wolfram Koeppe Charlotte Moss Barbara Ostrom Sylvia Owen Ann Pyne Peter Sallick Calvin Tsao Bunny Williams Vicente Wolf

ALUMNI COUNCIL

Marie Aiello ’04 AAS, President Court Whisman ’05 AAS, Vice President Michelle Jacobson ’17 MPS, Secretary Ruth Burt ’88 AAS

Lawrence Chabra ’09 BFA

Krista Gurevich ’16 MFA1

Michael Harold ’10 BFA

Don Kossar ’95 BFA

Maisie Lee ’00 BFA

Lawrence Levy ’05 BFA

George Peters ’08 BFA Erin Wells ’04 BFA

INTERIOR DESIGN: LAURA HODGES STUDIO

PHOTO: JENNIFER HUGHES