Overview:
In 2003, o2NYC hosted Assignment: Green, an exhibit and symposium on green design education in New York City, at the Municipal Art Society. The curated exhibit, held from March 13 - April 29, 2003, covered New York area college level student work and spanned several design fields including architecture, planning, interior design, product/industrial design, fashion, and graphics/communication design as well as related business and policy fields.
The purpose of the event was to both illustrate the current state of green design education and to promote a more aggressive greening of design education. Design schools are beginning to realize that ecological design innovation is an essential ingredient in useful, desirable and responsible design; one that is soon to become intrinsic to all design curricula and corporate design strategies.
As New York area design schools continue to focus more closely on sustainability and methods for eco-design, they will produce a pool of ecologically oriented graduates, and in turn, make the city a world leader for eco-design research, manufacturing and education. When these graduates begin working in NYC companies, they will influence and strengthen those companies’ green aspects, creating a green design business “hotbed.” So the larger purpose of Assignment: Green is to sharpen the focus of design
programs that can, in turn, make the city a world center for ecodesign research, manufacturing and education.
On April 2, 2003, o2NYC hosted the Assignment: Green roundtable forum, facilitated by Metropolis Magazine editor-in-chief, Susan Szenasy, to convene students, educators and department heads from New York's design schools along with local business leaders to debate and envision the future of green design education.
Exhibit Design:
Assignment: Green's exhibit was constructed largely of sustainable and re-used materials. Used cardboard tubes were salvaged from Mecho Shade. Xorel fabric panels from Carnegie were re-utilized from another exhibit, and illuminated with energy fluorescent tubes. Homasote boards were locally produced from 100% recycled newspapers. Other materials included hemp fabric, hemp twine and white glue.
Participating Schools:
CCNY -- Graduate Program in Urban Design
Columbia University -- School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Cooper Union -- Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Art
Fashion Institute of Technology -- Fashion Design, Home Products, Development and Marketing
Fordham University -- Environmental Studies
Parsons School of Design -- School of Architecture, Interior Design and Lighting, Department of Product Design, Department of Fashion Design, Center for New Design
Pratt Institute -- Industrial Design, Undergraduate Architecture, Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment, Fashion Design
FIT/Parsons/Pratt Fashion Apprenticeships
o2NYC gratefully acknowledges the support of: Municipal Art Society, Keyspan, Herman Miller, Knoll Materials and services by: Hixon Design Consultants Red Rooster Group, J Ottman Consulting, Inc., Modern World Design, Square Indigo, National MicroRentals, Hewlett-Packard Company
The Municipal Art Society gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of: The H. Van Ameringen Foundation, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.
Exhibit Committee: David Bergman, Erika Doering, Eva Hanhardt, Martha Kellerhals, John Napolitano, and Lisa Smith.