Fall 2012 Allied Studio and Cross-Disciplinary study within Parsons

Cross-Disciplinary design practice that considers an holistic approach to complex design relationships is essential to successful projects in the constructed world that we inhabit.  As part of our educational mission at SCE, we believe that forming curricula that teaches students the roots of unique disciplinary skills through a supportive, empathetic and collaborative design process that includes multiple cognate disciplines is critical to ensure that their future professional work embodies these traits.  This method of teaching disciplinary overlap takes place in several courses within the SCE but is epitomized in the Allied Studio. Here graduate students in Architecture, Interior Design and Lighting Design work collaboratively in their third semester to analyze complex design problems situated within actual sites within New York City and subsequently respond with unique interventions.  Through physical model making, computer simulations and empirical study, students evaluate the existing site conditions, programming and building systems performance in order to propose socially responsible interventions that offer unique aesthetic aspirations in conjunction with responsible material choices, reduction of energy consumption, enhanced experiential nuances and improved connections to the natural world and surrounding urban community.