Sustainable Design from Pratt Students

After a few minutes at one of the two Pratt Institute booths, I notice a box of chocolates. Designed by Linda Hsiao, the chocolates resemble bodily organs (nose, ear, heart, lungs, brain) and are dyed disturbingly organic colors. They’re somewhat eerie but indisputably inventive, like much of the material shown in this student collection. Emily […]

After a few minutes at one of the two Pratt Institute booths, I notice a box of chocolates. Designed by Linda Hsiao, the chocolates resemble bodily organs (nose, ear, heart, lungs, brain) and are dyed disturbingly organic colors. They’re somewhat eerie but indisputably inventive, like much of the material shown in this student collection.

Emily Leibin’s Vermeer chandelier is, in the words of Pratt alumnus Bruce Hannah, a “tour de force of simplicity.” Inspired by Johannes Vermeer’s “The Art of Painting,” Leibin’s chandelier consists of simple acrylic tubing threaded with tiny, white holiday lights. Erika Hanson’s pressed, paper-pulp panels, meanwhile, push, pull, and perforate the wall surface, allowing light and air into a space.

If you are an apartment-dweller who spends the winter with your window open, compensating for your radiator’s excessive heat, you’ll appreciate Melissa Jones’s Hot Seat. For her project, Jones packed paraffin wax into a plastic “blanket” framed with plywood. Set upright against a radiator, the framed paraffin will absorb and store heat for later use: flip the frame from a standing position into a reclining position to lounge on its warm bed or take the quilt off its frame to warm your sheets before retiring for the evening. Ladies, it also comes in a rainbow of pastel colors.

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