Next week, more than 80 of these undergraduate and graduate thesis and studio projects will be unveiled at two opening receptions. Thefirst reception is for the BFA Spring Thesis exhibition on Tuesday, May 21, 6 - 8 pm, followed by the MFA Thesis and MPS Studio Projects on Wednesday, May 22, which will show work from our two MFA Programs and our MPS in Healthcare Interior Design, Sustainable Interior Design, and Interior Lighting Design at NYSID’s Graduate Center, 401 Park Avenue at 28th Street, 3rd floor, NYC, from 6 - 8pm.

The diverse and thoughtful projects range from designs for intimate spaces such as the luxury of  an urban artists' loft, to the contemplative soft greys of a Benedictine Monastery library. For public spaces, the concepts range from a design for a 21st-century funeral home tothe gleaming and spacious Worldwide Headquarters of The Nature Conservancy, whose glass walls and inner forests create a vast space, seeming to exist as much outside as it defines interior spaces.

MFA/MPS Projects

The design for an artist couple’s urban, penthouse loft space was inspired by the residents’ works of art which explore and reveal social and environmental issues, as conceptualized by Oleksandra Novytska and Jenna Luvrey (MPS in Sustainable Interior Design.) The clients’ commitment to natural resource protection and sustainable awareness led to the usage of reclaimed and recycled materials and water and energy saving techniques.  

An inclusive world organized for worship, work and living is realized in the thesis project of Emily Lumpkin (MFA-1) for St. Mary’s Benedictine Monastery. The spaces are designed in tones of grey, balancing the soaring and spacious, as well as the private and intimate in its design, to support its purpose as home to more than 80 monks for a lifetime of study and contemplation.

Kazuki Daimo (MFA-2) creates a bold narrative for The Nature Conservancy’s Worldwide Headquarters as the “design responds to the site’s natural and built conditions in a harmonious integration, striving to inspire those who use the building to apply this sensitivity to their own lives.” The mixed-use design, serving cultural, educational and commercial uses, is facilitated by Daimo’s grand, open facilities, which include vistas of the surrounding environment and intimate interior oases of green and art as refreshing details.

A new look at issues of the experience and land-use of "Big Box" stores is presented in Erika Reuter’s (MFA 2) re-design for increasingly vacant post-offices in communities across the country. By turning them into concept retail stores called “Marche,” they become hypermarkets composed of local businesses.  The project offers community revitalization in both its overall practical design and its flow patterns to encourage interaction and slow discovery.

BFA Projects

The previous evening, May 21, graduating BFA students will present their final thesis projects: hypothetical designs based on the adaptive reuse of existing buildings.  Cultural spaces such as museums and theatres; civic and hospitality spaces such as community centers and hotels and even a state-of-the-art riding stable are among the interiors illustrated in detailed plans. The BFA Spring 2013 Thesis Projects exhibition opening reception takes place on Tuesday, May 21, from 6 - 8pm at the NYSID Gallery at 161 East 69th Street, NYC.  

Aurelia Garza (BFA) has designed a 21st-Century Funeral Home, with high, protective walls of living green plants surrounding an atrium and a dramatic angular chapel that opens to the stars.

A futuristic and playful mixed-use urban space combining dining, an aquarium, and green park in a compact “cube” space is envisioned in a Erick J. Espinoza (BFA)  in his Medusa project.

A state-of-the-art riding stable imagined by Kristen Toro (BFA) features technological advancements such as recycled footing for the arenas, stalls outfitted with self-refilling water buckets, and a natural flow of ventilation running through the entire stable. 

Both exhibitions will be on view through September 13, 2013. Gallery hours are from Monday through Thursday, 10am to 5pm. The Graduate Center gallery is by appointment only. For more information or to make an appointment to view the MFA Thesis exhibition, call 212-472-1500, ext. 405 or e-mail rsvp@nysid.edu.

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BFA Thesis Projects Exhibition
Opening Reception: Tuesday, May 21, 6 - 8pm

NYSID Gallery, 161 East 69th Street, NYC. Gallery Hours (Summer): Monday - Thursday, 10am – 5pm.The exhibition will be on view through September 13, 2013.

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MFA Thesis & MPS Studio Projects Exhibition
Opening Reception: Wednesday, May 22, 6 - 8pm

NYSID Graduate Center, 401 Park Avenue South at 28th Street, 3rd floor, NYC. By appointment only; the exhibition will be on view through September 13, 2013.