Sustainability

Pratt Center

Pratt and Partners Awarded $1.9M in Federal Funds for Affordable Small Home Sustainability

The Pratt Center for Community Development and community partners Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, IMPACCT Brooklyn, and Kinetic Communities Consulting have been selected to receive $1,942,500 for an Affordable Small Home Sustainability (ASHS) Initiative as part of the federal government…

Graduate Industrial Design

Industrial Design Duo’s Material Research Project Is a 2022 Lexus Design Award Finalist

Charlotte Böhning, MID ‘23 and Mary Lempres, BFA Fine Arts (Painting) ’18; MID ’23, have been named finalists in the 2022 Lexus Design Award global competition. The award invites young creative talent from around the globe to develop original…

School of Architecture

New Diamonstein-Spielvogel Fellowship Program Will Bolster the Study of Climate Change in Architecture and Design

Pratt Institute is launching a new fellowship program in design and architecture thanks to the generosity of the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Foundation, chaired by Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel. It will be awarded to two first-year graduate students, one in the School of Architecture and…

School of Art

Growing Leather in a Lab to Promote Material Sustainability

The photographs of lab-grown leather recently on view in the Pratt Photography Gallery ranged from delicate brown gradients to deep tawny tones, some with richly textural surfaces reminiscent of buffalo hide, others with the smoothness of cow skin. Each documented…

Architecture

Inflatable Structures Visualize the Plastic Waste Crisis

The world is overwhelmed with plastic waste, a material that has the potential and need for reuse. In an undergraduate architecture studio, Pratt Institute students created large-scale inflatable structures from recycled plastic to both visualize this environmental issue and present…

Fashion

A Campus Garden Flourishes with Flowers for Natural Dyes

Cultivating beds of indigo, marigolds, dahlias, hibiscus, and goldenrod, Pratt Institute students are exploring how to make natural dyes from seed to harvest. The Textile Dye Garden was planted in Cannoneer Court on the Brooklyn campus this year, and…

Working with Care

When Prattfolio was planning the Summer 2021 issue on the theme of Care, we asked Pratt students and faculty in an email survey how care was influencing their work. Who and what needed particular care in this moment? How were…

Graduate Industrial Design

Diverting Waste from Food, Textiles, and Packaging into New Designs

In the worldwide crisis of waste, there is a need to rethink what we are casting off into the landfills that could have a second life. Pratt Institute students are exploring how the excess materials and one-use items from food,…

Graduate Architecture and Urban Design

Architecture Students Explore How Aquaculture Could Transform Industrial Brooklyn with Oysters and Algae

As New York City rebuilds in the aftermath of a long pandemic year, Pratt students are partnering in the local Brooklyn community and beyond to support a better, more equitable future with innovative solutions. In the Making a Difference series,…