Archinect - News

Pratt Institute announces first 'Diverse Voices Creating Just Futures' cluster hire aimed at institutional change

2023-12-05T17:04:00-05:00

Today, the Pratt Institute has announced the launch of a new cluster hire initiative aimed at recruiting diverse faculty to each of the five degree-granting schools on its Brooklyn, New York campus.

Through “Diverse Voices Creating Just Futures,” Pratt believes it will create transformational learning experiences for all students as was outlined in the All-Institute Learning Goals from 2021.

Five new tenure-track assistant professors will be appointed to schools of Architecture, Art, Design, Information, and Liberal Arts and Sciences, respectively. There, they will focus on a broad range of special academic program areas, including Film/Video, Undergraduate Architecture, Interior Design, and the History of Art and Design. Pratt says the cohort will be brought together and provided with support for their scholarly and creative endeavors, in addition to being able to collaborate with each other on multidisciplinary research and other special projects.

Related on Archinect: Quilian Ri...

Applying to Pratt Institute's School of Architecture Graduate Programs? Check out upcoming open house and info sessions!

2023-10-17T12:50:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Pratt Institute School of Architecture, an Archinect Partner School

The M.ARCH, MLA, MSARCH, & MSUD programs at Pratt are dedicated to the pursuit of design inquiry across complex and evolving fields of study. Our goal is to cultivate our students’ ability to ask challenging questions that deepen their understanding of building and living environments. Together, we work across design practices, professions, and disciplines to meet the challenges and opportunities of our times.

Information Sessions

Pratt Institute Graduate Architecture and Urban Design (GAUD) Information Session

Date: Wednesday, October 18, 2023 | 6:00-7:30 pm ET (Zoom)
Details: This virtual information session hosted by Pratt GAUD will give prospective students interested in the Master of Architecture, Master of Landscape Architecture, MS Architecture, and MS Urban Design programs the opportunity to learn more about the programs and application requirements. Each session includes an ov...

This summer explore Pratt Institute's Architecture Immersion Studio

2023-05-18T09:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Pratt Institute, an Archinect School Partner

This summer, Pratt Institute's Immersion Studio welcomes students and professionals to explore a career in architecture! This architectural fundamentals course is taught by the Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design faculty and is geared toward professionals and students interested in attending graduate architecture school.

Through a series of virtual studio sessions and lectures, the course introduces students to a series of design approaches to conceptualize architectural investigations using the most current techniques, including visualization.

Images courtesy of Joelle Danant, Pratt SCPS.

Students typically receive one-to-one technical instruction, such as digital modeling, drawing representation, and rendering. The work will culminate in a virtual design exhibition with invited Pratt faculty and will be documented in an individually developed portfolio that prepares students to apply for grad...

Upcoming academic events and exhibitions from Archinect Partner Schools in NYC, LA, New Orleans, and virtual

2023-05-17T14:12:00-04:00

As architecture schools everywhere prepare for end-of-year reviews, final exhibitions, and commencement ceremonies, below is a selection of upcoming events from a few of our Archinect Partner Schools.

Pratt Institute School of Architecture hosts...

Image courtesy of A Rising Tide.

Celebrating Asian & Pacific Islander Design
Date: Thursday, May 18, 6–8 pm
Details: "Join A Rising Tide, and AAPI Design Alliance for an event during NYCxDESIGN to celebrate Asian and Pacific Islanders in design. Hosted by the Pratt Institute School of Architecture, this event, timed to coincide with Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, will feature short presentations by emerging API design firms and a networking hour for interior designers, architects, makers, and landscape architects. Reception will feature API-founded drink and snack companies." Pratt SOA is one of the event's sponsors. Read more here.

New York Institute of Technology School of Architecture and Design presents...

Image cour...

Get Lectured: Pratt Institute, Spring '23

2023-03-15T15:40:00-04:00

Our Archinect Get Lectured series continues today with a look at the remaining events taking place this spring at the Pratt School of Architecture.

The semester has already included presentations from Kenneth Frampton on February 1 and several symposiums such as the Black Live(s) and Black Space(s): Care, Community Housing event on February 23, the Investing in Black Brooklyn event on February 27, Branching the Civic event on March 9, and Community Planning and Progress toward Economic Democracy symposium on March 10.

A book talk on the topic of water politics in Francoist Spain featuring author Ana Amado will take place on March 20 followed by the Condensations: Designing in Water Conference from March 23 thru March 25.

Events continue with the GCEP Spring Lectures series, which takes place thru March and April. Speakers like Nando Rodriguez of the New York-based nonprofit Brotherhood SisterSol, writer Mike Lydon of Street Plans, and Leslie Davol, the co-founder and Executive Direct...

Pratt School of Architecture announces Harriet Harriss will be stepping down as Dean

2022-07-26T15:40:00-04:00

Pratt Institute Provost Donna Heiland has announced the departure of Harriet Harriss as the School of Architecture's dean in an email sent to the Pratt community. Harriss was the second female dean to lead the school after Frances Halsband, who served from 1991–94.

While a response from Harriss hasn't been provided to the public, Provost Heiland commented: "I write to share the news that, after three years leading the School of Architecture, Dean Harriet Harriss will — prior to the fall semester — transition into a leave to pursue research and will subsequently join the faculty," adding, "This transition will allow her [Harriss] to focus on advancing her expertise in the intersection of climate justice pedagogy, practice, and policy in service to the School's strategic agenda and strength in this area."

At the beginning of her tenure as dean in 2019, I had the chance to chat with Harriss for Archinect's Deans List series. We discussed her pedagogical stance on architectural educatio...

Pratt School of Architecture announces Quilian Riano as its new Assistant Dean

2021-07-07T19:12:00-04:00

Pratt Institute has announced the appointment of its new Assistant Dean Quilian Riano. As an architect, urban designer, researcher, and writer, his work explores architecture's relationship to design justice, anti-racist pedagogy, and urban design strategies that address socio-political issues. Riano’s decade in academia as a teacher in graduate and undergraduate studies in architecture, urban design, and interdisciplinary design has aided in the development of leading studios and design collectives that interrogate architecture and its current pedagogy.

Architecture Lobby members Quilian Riano and Peggy Deamer stage a performance of the organization’s 10-point manifesto at the 2014 AIA National Convention. Courtesy Quilian Riano 2016.

As the Assistant Dean, Riano will be working closely with Pratt School of Architecture Dean Dr. Harriet Harriss. His focus will be on "all four of the school's departments to help develop and amplify the research-driven, spatial outcomes with real-wor...

Pratt School of Architecture launches Kathryn and Kenneth Chenault Scholarship to support student diversity

2020-08-04T16:45:00-04:00

Pratt Institute School of Architecture announced in late July the launch of the Kathryn and Kenneth Chenault Scholarship, an initiative started by Pratt Board of Trustee member Kathryn Chenault and her husband Kenneth to "support diversity in the School of Architecture."

The school has selected three incoming undergraduate students to receive funding from the initiative, which has been launched with an initial $1 million endowment.

The three students are:

Fatoumata Diallo from Columbus, OH
Ariana Dillon from Pembroke Pines, FL
Rylee Ferguson from Coppell, TX

Pratt School of Architecture Dean Harriet Harris shares in a statement, "A Pratt education empowers students to use their creativity and talent to make positive change in the world with a curriculum focused on key real-world issues from climate change to growing inequality and a goal of graduating a new generation of socially-engaged, inclusive architects and designers.”

With talk of diversifying student and faculty representat...

Pratt School of Architecture to offer free “continuing education” courses online

2020-04-24T18:14:00-04:00

In response to COVID-19, the Pratt Institute School of Architecture is partnering with AIA Brooklyn to offer four free AIA-accredited continuing education courses. The course offerings are due to launch on April 29th and will offer "dialogue on current topics like affordable housing during a pandemic as well as in-demand technical training."

"Our intention is to show our solidarity with our extended architecture community by offering free classes to professionals that can be accessed remotely," said Harriet Harriss, dean of the School of Architecture, in a statement. "Thanks to our partnership with AIA Brooklyn, architects can earn the vital credits they need to complete the CPD requirements necessary to maintain registration."

Moreover, Marshal Shuster, director of continuing education at AIA Brooklyn expressed the organization's commitment to advancing the profession through this pandemic and beyond. The course offerings have been dubbed the "Executive Education Series" and focus ...

"Mistresses of Pratt" honors the legacy of female educators at Pratt Institute's School of Architecture

2020-03-14T14:00:00-04:00

Pratt Institute in New York City has launched a new initiative honoring and celebrating the institution's historic legacy of female design leadership. Organized by the School of Architecture, the Mistresses of Pratt program presents "a multifaceted project focused on the contributions to architecture and planning education by female-identifying faculty and alumnae."

Kicking off the initiative at a Dinner Party on March 9th, Dean Harriet Harris shared, "To be mistresses is to reclaim your right to public life—to leadership, to expertise, to autonomy, and to simple equality. Pratt is a school strongly associated with many such women both historically and among us today, and we are here to launch the beginning of what will become an institute-wide Mistresses Archive—an initiative determined to restore Pratt women to their respective disciplinary canons, one school at a time."

Image courtesy of Mistresses of Pratt/Prat Institute School of Architecture

Included among the list of honorees...

Pratt's School of Architecture awarded IDC foundation grant

2019-08-24T15:00:00-04:00

The IDC (Institute of Design and Construction) Foundation has awarded Pratt Institute's School of Architecture with a $130,000 grant. This will be second year that the IDC Foundation has awarded the department with funding. According to a Pratt press release, the IDC's gift "continues to support enhancing education in architectural design, engineering, and building construction through scholarships and fellowships, and student experiences such as study abroad programs for undergraduate and graduate students. Twenty-four Pratt students have already benefited from their first year of funding."

The Institute is the one of five organizations in New York City to receive the grant from the IDC Foundation this year. Schools that have received grants this year include: Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation; New York Institute of Technology School of Architecture and Design; New York University Tandon School of Engineering; and the Cooper Union for...

Pratt Institute Names Dr. Harriet Harriss as the new School of Architecture Dean

2019-06-07T14:17:00-04:00

New York's Pratt Institute has announced Dr. Harriet Harriss as the new School of Architecture Dean. Dr. Harriss currently leads the Post-Graduate Research Program in Architecture and Interior Design at the Royal College of Art in London. Before working at the Royal College, Dr. Harriss led the MArchD at Oxford Brookes University and has previously taught in the U.S at Columbia University, New York Institute of Technology, University of Detroit, Mercy, and Parsons The New School.

Dr. Harriss has made her mark on within the profession by pushing the boundaries of design education, research, and writing. Her focus on diversity and inclusivity within architecture led her to co-founding Design Heroine Architecture in 2004. The organization focuses on co-designing innovative and collaborative public and private sector projects ranging from schools to corporate learning spaces.

Pratt Institute Provost Kirk E. Pillow shares, "It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of D...

Pratt Institute's Immersion Studio teaches professionals and students to explore the fundamentals of architecture

2019-05-01T13:32:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Pratt Institute

This architectural fundamentals course is taught by the Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design faculty and is geared toward professionals and students interested in attending graduate architecture school. Through a series of studio sessions, lectures, and technical workshops, the studio introduces students to a series of design approaches to conceptualize architectural investigations using the most current techniques in visualization and methods of fabrication.

Image courtesy of Pratt Institute

Students receive one-to-one technical instruction on digital modeling, drawing representation, rendering, CNC milling, 3D printing, laser cutting, and robotics.

The work will culminate in a design exhibition with invited Pratt faculty and documented in an individually developed portfolio that prepares students to apply for graduate architecture school. Note: Completion of...

Frances Bronet named Pratt Institute's new President

2017-10-12T15:29:00-04:00

Frances Bronet, senior vice president and provost at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and a distinguished educator at the forefront of interdisciplinary curricula and collaboration, has been selected as the 12th president of Pratt Institute, announced Bruce Gitlin, Chair of the Institute’s Board of Trustees and Co-Chair of the Presidential Search Committee [...]. She will be the first woman president to lead Pratt Institute, one of the world’s most renowned art and design colleges.

Frances Bronet will officially commence her presidency on January 2, 2018, succeeding President Thomas F. Schutte who — after more than two decades at the helm — stepped down on June 30 this year. Pratt Institute Provost Kirk E. Pillow has served as the school's interim President since then.

Thom Mayne to serve as Critic-at-Large at Pratt Graduate School

2017-04-04T17:45:00-04:00

According to a newly released press statement, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne has been named the first “Critic at Large” at Pratt Institute’s Graduate Architecture and Urban Design program (GAUD). The position was created “to expand discourse across the GAUD curriculum and build connections between the pedagogical and professional aspects of the program.”

Mayne is expected to work directly with students from each year and each program on projects on “several key days”. The press release states that these days will manifest as both intimate, one-on-one discussions and public events.

In honor of the appointment, Mayne will deliver a lecture on Thursday, April 13 at 6 PM, reflecting on his work as a pedagogue and architect.

David Erdman appointed as the Chair of Graduate Architecture and Urban Design at Pratt

2016-09-29T16:59:00-04:00

Pratt Institute has named David Erdman, co-founding director of the award-winning design firm davidclovers*, as the Chair of Graduate Architecture and Urban Design. Erdman succeeds William MacDonald, who will now serve as a full-time professor.

Erdman previously taught at the University of Hong Kong as an assistant professor as well as at the University of California, Los Angeles, among other schools. Erdman is also a co-founder of servo, a design studio whose work has been exhibited at MoMA and the Centre Pompidou.

“I am honored and excited to serve as the newly appointed GAUD chairperson and to join such a highly esteemed institution located in one of the most culturally vibrant neighborhoods of the city,” Erdman states in the press release.

For more news from Pratt, follow these links:

Get a peek inside Pratt's new Film/Video Department building by WASA/Studio A

2015-07-10T19:58:00-04:00

After occupying a lower-level space in one of Pratt Institute's athletic buildings, prospects are looking bright and shiny for Pratt's Film/Video Department as it settles into its new home on 550 Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn. The 15,000 square-foot facility was fully gutted and redesigned by WASA/Studio A, whose project team happens to include Pratt alumni like Jack Esterson as lead architect; senior associate Sebastian Touzet as partner-in-charge for design; and project architect Brian Dobrolsky. The $4.5 million renovation began last July.

Built using free-span trusses, the new space has 23-foot ceiling heights and no internal columns. Pratt Architecture Professor and artist Haresh Lalvani created a series of perforated metal panels that wrap around the entrance lobby and cover the walls of the first and second floors. The customized panels display Lalvani's signature eye-popping patterns that are typically seen in his sculptural works.

Formerly known as the Prattstore building, the ne...

Pratt Institute to offer masters in "Placemaking and Management"

2015-04-06T14:42:00-04:00

The 40-credit, four-semester master of science degree program — which purports to be the first of its kind in the United States focused on creating successful public spaces based on community planning [...] “Rather than allowing these spaces to be formed as an afterthought of building design, placemaking sees the creation of successful public spaces as the starting point, which in turn dictates the siting and design of other components of the urban fabric.”

The "Urban Placemaking and Management" masters program will be led by David Burney FAIA, who was also recently appointed interim Executive Director of AIANY and the Center for Architecture. The program will be part of Pratt's Programs for Sustainable Planning and Development.

Pratt's full description of the program is available here.

"Sculpting the Architectural Mind" conference examines neuroscience's effects on architecture education

2015-03-04T21:19:00-05:00

Last August, on the Apollonian campus of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, neuroscientists and architects came together to flush the architecture profession with a bit more cerebral rigor. Under the guidance of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA), that 2014 conference hoped to provide architects with salient neuroscientific data to use in practice. While still considered somewhat of a niche agenda, advances in brain science and brain-computer interfaces have already been adopted by architectural research; if not for scientific experimentations, then design ones. And that research is happening thanks to the experimental frontiers only possible in academia. But aside from experimental novelty, neuroscience stands to help architects better understand not just their process, but subsequently, how the discipline is taught.

A new conference hosted by the Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture, “Sculpting the Architectural Mind: Neuroscience and the E...