Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Parsons School of Design: The New School's Making Center

  • 06/01/17
Parsons School of Design 

BOTTOM LEFT AND BOTTOM MIDDLE PHOTOS © MARTIN SECK, PHOTOS © MICHAEL MORAN

The Making Center at Parsons School of Design — a 28,000-square-foot facility located in the heart of The New School’s Greenwich Village campus — is a space where students can explore innovative manufacturing methods, collaborate with their peers across a range of disciplines and employ state-of-the-art tools to address pressing social needs related to sustainability, human well-being and reviving urban making.

Open to all university students and faculty members regardless of their field of study, the Making Center is a place where everyone — from designers, technologists and activists, to managers, policy analysts and entrepreneurs — can work together in flexible, ad hoc teams to design innovative projects, methods and supply chains.

“This new space allows education and practice to shift from 20th-century siloed industrial model, which separates disciplines and thus limits interaction and collaboration, to a cross-platform model, which allows different designers to work together and learn from one another to design the future,” says Joel Towers, executive dean of Parsons School of Design.

The Making Center is a striking example of how art and design schools are using the built environment to shape the way students learn and interact. Designed by New York City-based Rice+Lipka Architects (R+L), the space features an open floor plan, including modular walls and tables that encourage students and faculty members to work with and learn from each other. More than half of the 14,000-square-foot main level is “dedicated to not being dedicated,” according to Lyn Rice of Rice+Lipka Architects.

“R+L conceived of the Center as a desiloed making place where design students from Parsons’ broad range of creative disciplines can work side-by-side,” Rice adds.

Underscoring Parsons’ commitment to making as a way of problem solving, students use the Parsons Making Center to design products and strategies that address pressing social needs.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Arizona District Breaks Ground on Community Training, Learning Center

    The Tolleson Union High School District (TUHSD) in Tolleson, Ariz., recently broke ground on a new Training & Learning Center (TLC) for both district professionals and the community at large, according to a news release. The 90,000-square-foot facility has an estimated completion date of spring 2027.

  • Miami University Approves New $242M Multipurpose Arena

    Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, recently announced that its Board of Trustees has approved construction of a new multipurpose arena at Cook Field, according to university news. The $242-million project will serve as a new centralized hub for student life and create space for economic development on campus.

  • LAN, Inc. Opens Office in College Station, Texas

    Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN) recently announced the opening of a new office in College Station, Texas, to support its regional client base, according to a news release. The organization provides engineering, design, and program management services for water, wastewater, transportation, stormwater, and education clients in the Brazos Valley.

  • Spaces4Learning Trends & Predictions for Educational Facilities in 2026: Part II

    As education leaders look toward 2026, the design of K–12 and higher education facilities is being reshaped by powerful, converging forces. Survey respondents point to the rapid growth of Career and Technical Education, deeper alignment with workforce and industry needs, and the accelerating influence of AI and emerging technologies.