Slide 1
Entrance into The New Room. As the student passes through the narrowing hallway, the space becomes compressed. Suddenly, the student is exhaled into the open.
Slide 2
The floor, an object so often taken for granted, becomes a focal point. It is unexpectedly angled and unfolds in the space.
Slide 3
The student is presented with two inclining slopes at two angles, each facing windows that overlook the city, East and West. The slants provide a new perspective.
Slide 4
Brightly coloured pads are housed under an almost unnoticeable lid that traces the floorboards. The student is free to sit anywhere.
Slide 5
Tarps hang from the columns and can be secured to tiny hooks on the slopes, creating a place that feels secure but not cut-off from the outside environment.
Slide 6
Books by renowned designers are available in steeply slanted bookshelves. When a book is removed, light pours from the slot.
Slide 7
Sitting in this outwardly empty space, the student's mind can wander to unexpected places…the idea arrives.

BodyObjectSpace: A Creative Environment for Design Students

Parsons The New School for Design was founded upon ideas about challenging existing social conventions, anticipating design trends, and improving the world by encouraging its students to express themselves and be socially innovative. However, the SCE design studio building, located at 25 East 13th Street, provides studio spaces that are very prescriptive in the way students must physically and programmatically engage in them. This type of space is designed for maximum functionality but is not necessarily conducive to the social or aesthetic ideals the school seeks to inspire.

This thesis proposes The New Room as an addition to the building. The top floor of the SCE will be reconsidered as an environment for encouraging the introspective aspects of the creative process, a place where space, light and material interact with the body and inspire creativity. The New Room is a space designed especially for SCE students. It is a place for thinking; a place for inspiring inspiration. The interior and architecture are used to help students become more conscious of their surroundings, and as a result to make more innovative designs.

Thesis Advisor: Alexa Griffith Winton