The Daily Hub

Adam Friedman, director of the Pratt Center for Community Development, is included on City & State’s 2021 Community Engagement Power 50. The list highlights leaders who are connecting communities around New York to shape policy, drive social change, and determine the direction of public life. The feature cited Friedman’s leadership in the Pratt Center’s community engagement work, from working with residents on climate and sustainability plans to facilitating workshops on community issues.

Pratt’s RAs have been welcoming students for the new academic year move-in as the residence halls open again on campus. Follow @pratt_reslifeandhousing for more.

Architecture student Nina Martineck wrote “The Vibrance and Resilience of Higgins Hall” for the Prattler on the history of the Pratt Brooklyn campus building and how “it is a timeline with thousands of points that have yet to be added, both those that have been lost to time and those we haven’t created yet.”

Today kicks off the first day of orientation! Welcome to all the students arriving on campus and follow @prattinstitute for updates as an exciting new academic year begins.

Carl Zimring, professor of social science and cultural studies, joined It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders on NPR for a discussion about the online conversations on hygiene and how they relate to a history of linking cleanliness and race.

Did you know there was once an elevated railway stop in the middle of what is now Pratt’s Brooklyn campus? Read more about this throwback photograph of the Lexington Avenue Line on @myrtleavebklyn.

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.”