Design Industry Professionals Rank Pratt Design Programs in Country’s Top 10

Rankings Show Industrial Design, Interior Design, and Architecture Programs Among Nation's Best

L-R: A student at work in the Department of Industrial Design; a student presenting designs in the Department of Interior Design; a student at work in Pratt's School of Architecture The monthly architecture and design journal DesignIntelligence has ranked Pratt's undergraduate and graduate programs in interior design third in the country. Additionally, Pratt's graduate industrial design program ranked seventh, undergraduate industrial design program ranked ninth, and undergraduate architecture program ranked 10th in the nation. The rankings are based on surveys completed by professionals in architecture and design firms.

For the last six years, Pratt's design programs have consistently been ranked among the top 10 in the nation. Participants in the Deans' Survey conducted by DesignIntelligence found that Pratt's graduate interior design program is among the most admired in the country, and ranked the program first for its "design quality, professional student work, and creative thinking."
 

"Pratt excels at preparing students for the professional art and design world, which is something that the DesignIntelligence rankings consistently reflect," says Concetta M. Stewart, Ph.D., dean of the School of Art and Design. "Graduates of our design programs approach the world in a very hands on, practical way that is constantly informed by critical thinking and problem solving."

DesignIntelligence also included two Pratt alumni in their 2012 Leadership Index, which is a sampling of industry leaders in award-winning firms. The alumni include Leland D. Cott (B. Arch. ’63), founding principal of Bruner/Cott & Associates, and Malcolm Holzman (B. Arch. '66), partner at Holzman Moss Bottino Architecture.

"It's no surprise that DesignIntelligence has included Pratt alumni on its list of industry leaders because our graduates continually make great strides at some of the top architecture firms in the world," says Thomas Hanrahan, dean of Pratt's School of Architecture.

The rankings are part of the publication’s 2012 "America's Best Architecture and Design Schools" issue, which has been published annually since 2000. 

Text: Amy Aronoff
Photos: Bob Handelman  

Architectural Digest Names Pratt Designers Among World's Best

Several Pratt architects and designers have earned much-coveted spots on Architectural Digest’s "AD 100" list of the most influential designers and architects in the world. 

On the list are three alumni: graduates David Easton (B.A. Interior Design ’63), Peter Shelton (B. Arch. ’75), and Annabelle Selldorf (B. Arch. ’85), and former faculty member, architect Richard Meier (Hon. ’99). Also on the list are several individuals who have received the prestigious Pratt Legends award, including Meier, architect and designer David Rockwell, and interior designer Juan Montoya, also a former Pratt trustee.

Interior designer David Easton is considered one of the world's most sought-after interior designers. Says Architectural Digest: “Where his firm truly excels is in delivering what he calls ‘an envelope for a lifestyle’ that consists of well-scripted rooms informed by classical order and symmetry.”

The publication also praises architect Peter Shelton, whose firm Shelton, Mindel & Associates counts Sting among its clients, for achieving “a tightly controlled signature look of hushed modernism, carried out in a warm, neutral palette and a carefully curated lineup of 20th-century, often Scandinavian, furnishings.”

Architect Annabelle Selldorf’s firm, Selldorf Architects, is praised for practicing "quiet architecture," instilling buildings with a luminous and pragmatic modernism that is always context sensitive. Among other projects, Selldorf is well-known for her work on the “Sky Garage” building in Manhattan that lifts residents up to their floors in their cars. That building was developed by Pratt Trustee Young S. Woo (B. Arch. ’80).

To see the full list, click here.

Text: Abigail Beshkin

Students Win Big at Prestigious National Design Competition

Clockwise from left: Silvia Terhedebrugge's first-prize cape design; Elisa Boell's second-prize travel bundle design; Jeannie Wu's first runner-up comfort accessory Three students from Pratt Industrial Design Professor Katrin Mueller-Russo's Senior Product Design Studio "From Technique to Product" won prizes at the 2011 Collab Student Design Competition, an annual design competition held in conjunction with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Pratt's German exchange students Silvia Terhedebrugge and Elisa Boell took home first and second prize respectively, and Jeannie Wu (Class of 2012) received first honorable mention, all for their innovative overnight bag designs. The winners, accompanied by Mueller-Russo, received their awards at an event attended by famed architect Zaha Hadid.

There were 115 projects submitted from seven different design schools, the largest number in the competition's 18-year history. This year's theme, based on the museum's exhibition “Zaha Hadid: Form In Motion,” required students to design an overnight bag that inspired fun and functional travel. A jury composed of design-industry leaders from around the world chose the winning designs.  

First-prize winner Terhedebrugge of Germany was recognized for her fashion-forward piece of luggage, titled UnderCover OverNight, which is designed as a cape with visible pockets on the outside and secret pockets on the inside.

Second-prize winner Boell of Germany was recognized for Urban Bundle, a modern version of the travel bundle. The design features a tube with three separate containers for personal belongings; it can be rolled up with the user’s clothing and closed with an elastic band. The design (sans tube) can also be transformed into a pillow.

First runner-up Wu of San Francisco was recognized for a crocheted comfort accessory for traveling, titled Amethyst, which is embedded with a neck and back support system for holding hot and cold packs for pain relief. A shawl that functions as both a garment and a blanket accompanies the design.

The Collab Student Design Competition is sponsored by a collaboration of design professionals and enthusiasts supporting the Modern and Contemporary Design Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Text: Amy Aronoff
Photos from left: Courtesy of Silvia Terhedebrugge, Elisa Boell, and Jeannie Wu