The Office of Academic Affairs awarded Vincenza Lampon ’23 (BFA), 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: Vincenza Lampon
Project: Reclaim, a New Model for Homeless Assistance
Program: Bachelor of Fine Arts
Instructor: Jack Travis

Chairman’s Award Winner Vincenza Lampon began working at a luxury residential design firm in New York City while embarking on her thesis ideation. She says, “I began seeing the homeless on my commute, and observing the way people are programmed to walk past them without acknowledging them.” Lampon resolved to use her thesis to radically rethink the way shelter design serves the unhoused. She collected empirical data, learning that “shelters rarely have design practices built into them.” She also gathered testimonials from unhoused women. Two big ideas emerged. The first was that traditional shelters create stress that puts people in a brain state that perpetuates homelessness, a concept she took from Brandi Tuck’s TED Talk on trauma-informed design. Her second, more controversial idea, was that “the homeless deserve and need luxury.” She envisioned her client as Jon Bon Jovi, because the rock star is the founder of the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, through which he has created JBJ Soul Kitchen, a restaurant that serves high-end meals to those in need at no cost. She located her shelter and non-profit in the Ford Foundation Building, because its huge open atrium gave her the opportunity to create stunning social spaces to draw people into communal interaction. She adds, “I wanted to take this iconic building and lend it, send it to the homeless. I hoped this might help destigmatize needing shelter.” When the end-user enters the building, she is met by a hearth in the community flex space, which signals coming home. Trauma disorganizes the mind, so one important guideline of trauma-informed design is to build in organization. Lampon specified wood-milled cabinetry that makes the environment feel orderly and function flexibly. All the art is by unhoused artists. The point was to create “special places that empower people,” she says.