R+L designed the new 26,000 sf multi-disciplinary Making Center for Parsons School of Design, situated in the heart of New York City, to support the most advanced practices in digital technology and physical craft in a raw, unprecious working environment. Stitching together spaces in two existing buildings, R+L conceived of the Center as a de-siloed making place where design students from Parson’s broad range of creative disciplines can work side-by-side. For the first time, the exploratory making & prototyping facilities of Parsons' diverse programs, including art, communication, media, printmaking, ceramics and fashion design along with architecture, lighting and interiors, are brought together in a single space accessible to the entire New School community.
At a time when universities increasingly focus on maximizing assigned pedagogical space, the Making Center subverts this norm with a physical and programmatic openness that informally brings thinker-creators together - and more than half of its 14,000 sf main level is dedicated to not being dedicated.
Taylor McNally-Anderson, senior designer
Alexander Crean, Lindsay Harkema, Ahmad Khan, Rachel Kim, Marisa Musing, Igsung So, Wayne Yan, Guanyi Zhang, design team