Mission of SCE
Encompassing a unique confluence of design disciplines, the School of Constructed Environments nurtures and guides tomorrow’s leaders in socially and environmentally sustainable, technologically innovative buildings, interiors, lighting, and products. In a time of unprecedented change, we foster the skills, values, and vision vital to creative thinking and the realization of a more integrated, equitable and delightful world.
Student and Alumni News
By Foraging Biomaterials, Shreya Dwivedi Envisions Modern Interiors as Living Ecosystem
For Earthing Interiority, Shreya Dwivedi Parsons MFA Interior Design ’24 draws on her cultural background, a traditional Indian philosophy of using regional, naturally occurring ingredients in building materials to connect with the land. These include seaweed, oyster shells, moss, and driftwood. This approach not only transforms interiors into living ecosystems, …
Design Milk features School of Constructed Environments at Parsons End of Year Exhibition
“School of Constructed Environments at Parsons Shares Its 2024 End-of-Year Exhibition” Head to their website for a more in-depth look at some of the amazing MFA Industrial Design projects from the School of Constructed Environments End of Year Exhibition. Journalist Kelly Beall writes “Nothing tops the dedication and intensity poured …
Faculty News
Faculty Nishan Kazazian Featured
The School of Constructed Environments is proud to share that Faculty Nishan Kazazian was featured in The Armenian Spectator, detailing his Armenian heritage, and how his upbringing in Beirut, Lebanon shaped his artistic practices in the wake of The Armenian Genocide. Nishan Kazazian is a licensed American architect …
Faculty Member Andrew Bernheimer Makes History in Brooklyn
Andrew Bernheimer, an Associate Professor of Architecture is the founding Principal of Bernheimer Architecture based in Brooklyn, NY. “History was made in Brooklyn today when the union at Bernheimer Architecture ratified the first-ever collective bargaining agreement (CBA) at a private sector architecture firm. The milestone contract has language about the …
School News
Design Milk features School of Constructed Environments at Parsons End of Year Exhibition
“School of Constructed Environments at Parsons Shares Its 2024 End-of-Year Exhibition” Head to their website for a more in-depth look at some of the amazing MFA Industrial Design projects from the School of Constructed Environments End of Year Exhibition. Journalist Kelly Beall writes “Nothing tops the dedication and intensity poured …
Nishan Kazazian Presents Forthcoming Book at Material Eco-systems: Digital, Physical, and Cultural Assemblies Symposium in Venice, November ’23
SCE would like to recognize and celebrate the achievements of one of our own faculty members, Nishan Kazazian, who was invited to present his forthcoming book, OSMOTIC BONDING: Art & Architecture, in Venice at an esteemed symposium on material eco-systems. Read about the experience written in his own words below: …
Special Projects
Street Seats
In spring 2016, undergraduate students from The New School’s Parsons School of Design, Eugene Lang College, and Schools of Public Engagement collaborated with the NYC DOT on the City’s Street Seats initiative as part of the “Design Build” course.
Design Workshop
The Design Workshop is an innovative studio that provides pro bono architectural and construction services to nonprofit organizations while giving graduate architecture, interior design and lighting design students the rare opportunity to both design and build a community facility.
Publications
Announcing the Class of 2023 Metropolis Future100 Honorees
Each year, Metropolis sets out to designate the top graduating architecture and interior design students in the United States and Canada. The program, sponsored by Armstrong, Daltile, Formica, Interface, Kawneer, Keilhauer, Sherwin-Williams, and Yabu Pushelberg, invited the most talented students from the class of 2023 to apply. “Supporting the next …
David Gissen: The Architecture of Disability
David Gissen is a professor of Architecture and Urban History at Parsons School of Design. He is a New York based author, designer, and educator working in the fields of architecture, landscape, and urban design. This year, David taught the Masters of Architecture option studio, “The One-Story City,” and …
Events
SCE Shared Facilities
Light + Energy Lab
makingcenter.parsons.edu/labs/light-lab
The Light + Energy Lab is a space designed for light manipulation to simulate sunlight effects on architectural models. This can be done using our two primary tools – the Diffuse Sky Simulator and the Heliodon. The DSS is a large chamber that can be used to analyze diffuse light …
The Donghia Healthier Materials Library
healthymaterialslab.org/donghia
The Donghia Healthier Materials Library at Parsons School of Design is a resource center dedicated to helping designers make responsible materials decisions. With curated product collections and frameworks for evaluating materials, we offer guiding strategies and hands- on examples of products making positive impacts on human health, environmental justice, and …
Parsons Making Center
makingcenter.parsons.edu
The Making Center, a spacious studio bringing together creative tools from around the university, offers students unprecedented opportunities to acquire industry-ready skills, transform how products are made, and upend conventional notions of supply chains, local production, mass customization, and craft. Sharing this 26,000 square-foot space, students from all Parsons programs …