Design Students Create a Tool to Map Slums
Meagan Durlak and James Frankis, both students studying Transdisciplinary Design at Parsons New School for Design, have developed a mobile mapping tool to unveil the true dynamics of informal slum communities, as revealed by Metropolis Magazine.
The system, called Mark, is being tested in the Heliopolis favela of Sao Paulo, Brazil, after which the duo hope it will be “scalable and adaptable” enough to be applied to other informal settlements all over the world. The SMS-based tool is designed not only to provide information about the settlements to external organizations, but also to be a sharing platform for the residents who become cartographers of their own neighborhood.
Read about the motivation behind the Mark project after the break
Theories of Urban Practice Graduate Program at Parsons The New School for Design
Launching in fall 2012, Parsons The New School of Design is offering a new graduate program in urbanism in New York City, the MA Theories of Urban Practice. The 2-year, 36-credit research-oriented program is designed for those who want to transform cities through actionable research, strategic knowledge, and critical theories. In other words, knowledge can transform cities! The program will redefine urbanism and urban design as a field of transformative practice.
They are currently accepting applications on a rolling basis for the academic year, which begins in August. For more information, please visit here.
Amplifying Creative Communities: North Brooklyn
The DESIS Lab (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability) at Parsons The New School for Design presents Amplifying Creative Communities in NYC: North Brooklyn from November 7–20 at Arts@Renaissance. This exhibition and workshop series, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation’s New York City Cultural Innovation Fund, are part of a two-year, design-driven initiative aimed at helping neighborhoods and communities to support social innovations that create a more sustainable New York City. These activities range from healthy and local food initiatives, to environmental efforts, alternative modes of transportation, and sharing economies such as co-housing, food cooperatives, and bartering. For more information about this exhibition and workshop series, please visit here.
Parsons Launches New Urban Graduate Programs
Parsons The New School for Design has announced new graduate programs including a Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies and a Master of Arts in Theories of Urban Practice. What makes these programs unique is their focus on urban designers and planners as agents of social change: What kind of deep knowledge do urbanists need to be able to design cities in a much more effectively manner? And how do urbanists use their creative training and visionary skills to engage with the deeper structures of society?The programs represent a wider initiative at Parsons, one of the world’s leading schools of art and design, to offer graduate programs that define the next phase of global design. The programs will launch in Fall 2012. More information on the programs after the break.
