The Office of Academic Affairs awarded Nivedhitha Ravi '23 (MFA2), whose thesis project is featured on this page, the Chairman’s Award for her overall performance at NYSID. At NYSID, thesis projects are long journeys that challenge students to brainstorm, conduct research, and synthesize all they have learned. The journey ends with a presentation to a jury of faculty and industry professionals. Our students work closely with faculty to create hypothetical designs that offer solutions to real-world problems.

Student: Nivedhitha Ravi
Project: Wagner Senior Community Center
Program: Master of of Fine Arts (Post-Professional)
Instructor: Stefanie Werner / Mentor: David Burdett

For her thesis, Nivedhitha Ravi was determined to “translate the needs of seniors into spatial solutions” in an innovative community for elders. Her intended client was the National Council on Aging. She researched the specific needs of current New York City seniors, because context and culture make design stronger. She found that, “Seniors need to be able to move around, but existing nursing homes restrict movement in an effort to reduce falls.” In New York City, seniors have comparatively little access to outdoor activities, such as gardening and walking up hills, which help maintain functional mobility and cardiovascular health. There’s also a great need for socialization, such as peer and intergenerational interaction. She sought to give elders a sense of purpose by creating opportunities to contribute to the community.  The backbone of her idea was “a green path that wraps itself around the building and delivers users to various activity and interaction spaces.” She adds, “The metaphor here is taking a walk in the park. You stop when you see something you like.” New York City’s Central Park was one of her case studies, and the huge, jagged stones she spied there became a randomized triangle motif that repeated in the wallpaper, ceiling tiles, rooftops, and layout of the space. The green path is an activity in and of itself, inviting seniors to participate in tending a garden of plants that can grow indoors. The pathway leads seniors to a plethora of opportunities, a green rooftop for gardening and socializing in the sunshine, an exhibition space, communal living rooms, a restaurant, a library, and a screening room. Every floor is color coded to make navigation easier. There are options for those who are less mobile to take elevators or ramps. The center is called the “Wagner Senior Community Center” because it’s located in the footprint of what is, in actuality, the Wagner Middle School. Ravi envisions a smaller school within the senior community because she wants to infuse the lives of elders with opportunities to volunteer.  “Stefanie Werner and David Burdett were key to this project,” says Ravi. “They helped me revise 56 iterations of the green path. They helped me group spaces differently. It was amazing to bounce ideas off them.”