At NYSID, 2020 started with wonderful public events, ambitious curricular innovation, and accolades for faculty and students. When the world changed, NYSID adapted.

NYSID’s Response to COVID-19

Students were on Spring Break the week the CDC recommended social distancing as a way to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic to save lives. This, and the fact that the College already had a robust online learning infrastructure in place (especially for its popular MPS in Sustainable Interior Environments) became blessings as the Office of Academic Affairs, technology staff, and faculty pivoted to bring most courses online so students could take them from a distance. NYSID buildings closed to the public the week of March 16. All faculty completed a training in online design education. Distance learning for all graduate and undergraduate students began on March 23. “Let me express my extraordinary gratitude to our faculty and staff who have sprung into action, moving numerous on-site courses to an online format and preparing for remote work,” said NYSID President David Sprouls in a letter to the community on March 18, “I know this isn’t easy, but I can see how hard each of you is working to make this change a success for our students. . . For our students, this is an extraordinarily challenging time academically, socially, and emotionally. . .In some ways, we’re all in the same boat: Things are unsettled and confusing for us all. We ask for your patience while we work through the details, and ask you to be as nimble as we are trying to be so that we may continue to deliver the best classroom experience of any interior design program in the country.” President David Sprouls addressed the graduates with the words, “The last few months have posed unbelievable challenges, and you overcame them with flying colors.” Ellen Kravet, the chairman of NYSID’s Board of Trustees, added, “If there was ever a time that the design industry needed you, it’s now. . . .We will look to you to lead the way.”

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

New Trustee Brad Schneller

Brad Schneller, the president of Schneller Inc., a custom upholstery and drapery workroom based in NewYork City since 1881, was appointed to NYSID’s Board of Trustees inNovember 2019. “My family’s 140-year connection to the New York design community and NYSID’s almost equally long tradition endows us both with opportunities and challenges,” said Schneller. “In this time of seismic change in the design industry, I’m excited to join a leadership team that’s committed to helping students understand both where we’ve come from and where we’re headed.”

Take a Class with Susan Nagle

Award-winning restaurant and hotel designer Susan Nagle, a College trustee, taught the undergraduate Residential Design I studio last spring and will teach it again this fall. Nagle is an alumna of the BFA program who learned much from her mentor and instructor Anne Korman, so she values the opportunity to teach a new generation of designers.

FACULTY & CURRICULUM

Faculty Development Day: Seeing Green

On January 25, the Office of Academic Affairs hosted a faculty development day on sustainability in interior design education. Faculty member Seema Pandya presented an overview of primary areas of sustainability that pertain to interior design. Michelle Jacobson ’18 (MPS-S) of ML Jacobson Design gave an overview of her sustainable design practice. Faculty members David Burdett and Stefanie Werner, principals in DAS Studio, explained the principles of a “passive house,” and how these might be applied to apartment interiors and freestanding buildings, using two of their projects as examples. The day was organized by Barbara Weinreich, director of undergraduate programs, and David Bergman, director of the MPS in Sustainable Interior Environments. Says Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean Ellen Fisher, “We are making it a focus of 2020 to put sustainability at the center of all our graduate and undergraduate teaching at NYSID. People and communities need structures that conserve energy and natural resources, that are resilient, and that promote human health and wellness, which is why sustainability must be integral to the practice of interior design.”

Jack Travis Wins the IIDA Educator Diversity Award

On March 7, at the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) Annual Conference, the IIDA awarded NYSID instructor Jack Travis, FAIA, this year’s IIDA Educator Diversity Award. Travis is a South Bronx-based author, architect, and interior designer who has been involved in over 100 projects for clients such as Giorgio Armani, SpikeLee, and Wesley Snipes. “Jack is both a prolific designer with a wide scope of projects in his portfolio and an inspiring educator committed to investigating Black culture and heritage in tandem with architectural history,” said IIDA executive vice president and CEO Cheryl S. Durst, who is also a trustee of NYSID.

New Course: Introduction to Environmental Graphic Design

Last fall, NYSID introduced a new elective, Introduction to Environmental Graphic Design, taught by instructor Francisco de León, an architect, graphic designer, and founder of FADesign. Environmental Graphic Design (EGD) is a field that combines architecture, interior design, lighting, and graphic design in order to create signage and graphics that communicate brand and identity, connect people to place, disseminate information, and/or help with wayfinding. Students in the inaugural class created signage and graphics for NYSID, some of which may ultimately be used on campus. Says De León, “We studied how important it is to create a signage package that integrates the brand with good design. By looking at three case studies to determine if the signage was good, bad, or just plain ugly, we learned about the different types of signage and what makes for good design. Each student created a signage package for the school that included placemaking, wayfinding, and interpretive signage.” The course will be offered again in Fall 2020, and De León is considering Grand Central Terminal as the focus of the class project.

YW of New York Brings High Schoolers to NYSID

On February 20, a diverse group of young women from public high schools around NYC visited the New York School of Interior Design to learn about the profession from Barbara Weinreich, NYSID’s director of undergraduate programs, Brett Cione, NYSID’s director of admissions and recruitment, and Francisco de León, a NYSID instructor. The high school students came to NYSID through the YW of NYC’s “College Knowledge” winter break camp, one of the organization’s “Girls’ Initiatives,” designed to eliminate racism and empower girls by exposing them to information about academic and career opportunities. “The impetus for this workshop was the chance to expose students to interior design asa career,” said Weinreich. The students experienced a presentation on what interior design is and where it can take you, a tour of the school, and a hands-on collage and mood board workshop. De León says of the day, “The students asked great questions. I think they enjoyed learning about our profession and the many opportunities available to graduates of our school.”

STUDENTS

NYSID Students Rise to the Iron Design Challenge

On November 13, Director of Undergraduate Programs Barbara Weinreich accompanied a group of NYSID students, Evelin Tracz, Anna Laura Everhart, Lynn Chang, and Monica Seroiczkowski, to a retail design competition called the Iron Design Challenge, a benefit for PAVE, a nonprofit that works to end the silence around sexual violence. The event, sponsored by the Retail Design Institute, mixed students from different schools, paired them with a mentor.

Cielo Cortes Wins Gensler Brinkmann Scholarship

Cielo Cortes ’20 (BFA) bested applicants from design schools around the country to win the Gensler Brinkmann Scholarship for her project, “The Lindt Hotel.” Cortes’ submission was the design of a branded hotel and retail outlet for a well-known chocolatier, which she composed of shapes based on historical chocolate molds.

Hanna Propst Wins ASID’s David Barrett Memorial Scholarship

Hanna Propst ’21 (MFA-1) was the 2020 winner of the American Society of Interior Designers’ (ASID’s) prestigious David Barrett Memorial Scholarship for “an outstanding undergraduate or graduate student who demonstrates an interest and ability in utilizing classical design elements and traditional materials in their work.”

Mona Nahm Wins the ASID Student Portfolio Competition

Mona Nahm ’20 (MFA-1) was one of three students to win the 2020 ASID Student Portfolio Competition. Winning portfolios were selected based on “conceptual thought, content of work submitted, and the student’s record of achievement.”

DIFFA Delayed, But Installation Is a Wonder  

NYSID has been sending teams of students to design and raise funds for DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) for thirteen years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this showcase of dining environments to raise funds for people living withAIDS was delayed for the first time in its history. However, under the leadership of faculty member Ian Gordon, this year’s NYSID team—Ajayi Durodola (MFA-1), Sara Herrera-Garcia (BFA), Atique Rahman (BFA), and Jonathan Ting (MFA-1)—produced an installation that Associate Dean Barbara Lowenthal considers “one of the best, ever.”

EVENTS

Sally Henderson Lecture on Green Design: Bill Browning

Biophillia refers to humankind’s affinity for natural ecosystems. On February 26, Bill Browning, AIA,LEED AP, MSRED MIT, gave a presentation on this subject called “Nature Inside, The Magic of Biophilic Interior Design,” based on case studies from the forthcoming Royal Institute of British Architects’ book of the same name.

Mario Buatta Panel: Under the Influence of Colefax & Fowler

On March 9, more than a hundred design aficionados came out to hear about the influence of Colefax & Fowler and the English CountryHouse style on American design legend Mario Buatta. Colin Stair, founder of Stair Galleries, moderated a spirited discussion between Roger Jones, director of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler; Emily Evans Eerdmans, design historian; Marian McEvoy, contributor to Elle Decor, House Beautiful, The New York Times, and French Vogue; and Angus Wilkie, author and antiques dealer.

Making Connections: Harvey Probber Furniture

On February 20, NYSID hosted the opening of “Making Connections: Harvey Probber Furniture, 1945 – 1985,” an exhibit that brought furniture, narrative and photographs together to tell the story of an important artisan and designer. Exhibition curator Judith Gura and associate curator Evan Lobel intended this exhibition to paint a broader picture of a man whose influence on design, and on the furniture industry, has never been fully appreciated. This maybe in part because he was better known as a prominent manufacturer, but there are other reasons: his furniture was made in relatively limited quantities, he was self-taught as a designer, and he was considerably younger than his contemporaries and competitors. The exhibition was designed by Darling Green and sponsored by the Harvey Probber Design Archive, M2L, Lobel Modern, and Chairish. The paint was generously donated by Farrow & Ball. The opening reception was sponsored by New York Design Center, Inc. Among the more than 200 attendees at the opening were members of the Harvey Probber family, including Harvey’s children, Jory, and Jamian Probber, and Harvey’s grandson,Samuel Probber. NYSID is grateful to Lobel Modern for refurbishing and loaning vintage Probber pieces; and to M2L, the company that currently produces Probber furniture, for also providing furniture for the show.