The Daily Hub

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) awarded Pratt Institute funding for a project to determine the feasibility of using geothermal wells to heat and cool multiple buildings on campus to reduce Pratt’s carbon footprint. The project is part of the Community Heat Pump Systems Pilot program to advance community thermal networks that harness geothermal and waste energy to heat and cool buildings.

Ellen Zhengyi Ren, BID ’21, was interviewed by @artsthread about her senior project BIRDER Birder, a collection of birdwatching gear designed to bridge the gap between older adults and youth: “My project takes birdwatching as a medium to offer a counter-stereotypical intervention and invites [users] to participate in mutually beneficial intergenerational activities.”

From the iconic 1909 tarot deck illustrated by alumna Pamela Colman Smith to contemporary pop-culture-inspired iterations, tarot can be used as a tool for reflection, discovery, and creative thinking. Read about how Pratt artists are using tarot in the latest issue of Prattfolio.

Devin B. Johnson, MFA ’19, was interviewed by Teeth magazine about his practice and creative process of painting, including for his upcoming show at Nicodim Gallery in Los Angeles: “I’m looking for a balance out of confusion.”

Peter Kayafas, adjunct associate professor of photography, was interviewed for a New York Times story on the Picture Collection of the New York Public Library and why he shares it with his Pratt students: “There is no substitute for that excitement of discovery around the physicality of something in a room that you hold in your hands.”

Incoming first-year student Morrah Burton-Edwards completed a mural in New Orleans as part of the Adult Swim Mural Project in collaboration with the nonprofit Living Walls. The mural honors the resilience of her hometown’s residents. Burton-Edwards is one of the first awardees of the Balenciaga and The Black Alumni of Pratt (BAP) Full Scholarship and plans to study painting. See more @PrattInstitute.

A team including School of Architecture faculty members David Burney, Caitlin Cahill, Jerrod Delaine, and Deborah Gans was selected to present their proposal “Reclaiming the Commons Through Play” in the early 2022 exhibition Reset: Towards a New Commons at the Center for Architecture in New York. The show is considering architecture’s role in envisioning new dynamics of living and community.

Adrian Koenigsberg, BFA Communications Design ’16, was featured in a New York Times story on skateboarding in New York and its rise during the pandemic. Koenigsberg is the founder of the media outlet Quell Skateboarding which focuses on nontraditional skaters: “The landscape is changing. I think that companies started to see the financial value of women-owned businesses, and the skateboarding industry kind of had to get on board—no pun intended—with figuring that out themselves.”