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

Announcing the 2023 Collab Student Design Competition

Announcing the annual Collab Student Design Competition, inspired by Stephen Burks   Dear Colleagues, What does the next generation imagine for the future of design? Every year, university-level design students respond to a unique challenge that affects daily life with the best designs, which are showcased by Collab and the Philadelphia Museum of …

The Global Design Graduate Show 2023 in collaboration with Gucci & Google Arts & Culture has launched and the deadline is August 31st.

Call out! @artsthread’s @globaldesigngraduateshow 2023 in collaboration with @gucci is now accepting submissions from all art and design BA & MA art & design students graduating between September 2022 – August 2023 (Southern hemisphere graduating after September 2022), across any related creative discipline, from anywhere in the world!  Visit http://globaldesigngraduateshow.com …



  Faculty News

Hana Kassem Elevated to the 2024 AIA College of Fellows

SCE faculty member and KPF Principal, Hana Kassem, was one of the 10 architects elevated from AIA’s New York City chapter to Fellowship, and one of only two in the Design category. The 2024 Jury of Fellows for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) elevated 96 new members to its …

SCE Faculty Andrew Bernheimer featured in the New York Times

We are so proud to see Andrew Bernheimer leading an exemplary firm in affordable housing in New York. “There are other developers and designers of affordable housing whose work has also raised the bar around the country, among them the architects David Baker in San Francisco, Andrew Bernheimer in Brooklyn …



  School News

MFA Lighting Design Graduate, Lydia Simpson ’23, Wins IESNYC Thesis Award

Congratulations to 2023 Thesis Award Recipient, Lydia Simpson ’23!   Lydia Simpson is a recent graduate of the Parsons School of Design MFA Lighting Design program. She received a BFA in Design and Technology for Theater from the University of North Georgia and worked as a Lighting Designer in Atlanta …

Announcing the 2023 Collab Student Design Competition

Announcing the annual Collab Student Design Competition, inspired by Stephen Burks   Dear Colleagues, What does the next generation imagine for the future of design? Every year, university-level design students respond to a unique challenge that affects daily life with the best designs, which are showcased by Collab and the Philadelphia Museum of …



  Special Projects

Disaster Preparedness and Creative Design

Parsons School of Constructed Environments (SCE) collaborates with a leading expert on disaster preparedness education, Mr. Hirokazu Nagata, to conduct workshops and design intensive that will culminate in the first North America iteration of the collaboration exhibition, Earth Manual Project, which will be held at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center in Fall 2018. Earth Manual Project is an accumulation of knowledge and ideas gleaned from the experience of living through disasters. It will showcase thoughtful works by designers, artists, and architects from Japan, Southeast Asia, and U.S.

The project started in Spring 2017 with This Could Save Your Life: Creative Design & Disaster Preparedness lecture, where Mr. Nagata introduced his body of work which included preparing children through games and survival camps, and creating easy-to-use pocket survival manuals, multi-functional emergency shelters, and other imaginatively designed products.

In Fall 2017, students in Parsons SCE engaged in a week-long intensive as they developed design solutions in architecture, interior design, lighting design, and product design for surviving natural disasters. Students examined precedent case studies on natural and man-made disasters provided by the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility at the New School.

This page provides disaster preparedness resources and highlights students’ works during the intensive.



  Publications

SCE Student Council Launches Podcast “Table Talks”

SCE Student Council has launched a new podcast series called Table Talks. The podcast hosts discussions with faculty, industry professionals, and students of different disciplines.  Table Talks was created and inspired by the ethos of conversations that naturally accrue in studio spaces of collaboration. We wanted to create a space to capture those discussions …

Parsons Interior Design Alum Featured in two articles in New York Times

Parsons SCE Alumna Sheila Bridges has been featured in two articles in New York Times for her work. The Wallpaper That Is Also a ‘Reminder That My Ancestors Had My Back’ Hay House: How Designer Sheila Bridges Made Space for Herself



  Events



  •   SCE Shared Facilities