In the context of the city and the marketplace, students and faculty work as active citizens fully engaged as designers in real world contexts.

At the School of Design Strategies, the primary objective is to foster experimentation. Opportunities to approach work in novel ways is of great value to the SDS community and we are always in the process of identifying and developing new domains of inquiry. Students and faculty are encouraged to work on projects that explore new forms of collaboration or combine methodological and theoretical frameworks in new and unusual ways.

Research Labs

Desis Lab

Parsons DESIS (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability) Lab is a research laboratory created in 2009 at The New School in New York City. DESIS Lab works at the intersection of strategic and service design, management, and social theory, applying interdisciplinary expertise in problem setting and problem solving to sustainable practices and social innovation.

For more info go to newschool.edu/desis

O.Studio

O.Studio is a research, advisory and project leadership unit that builds innovation opportunities in situations of economic and social change in local settings globally. Co-founded by SDS faculty Reina Arakji, Carlos Texeira and Christian Schneider O.Studio benefits from the school's leading intellectual community and industry connections in the design and organizational management fields.

Fashion Praxis

The Fashion Praxis lab at The New School is a platform where reflective practice meets public action. It is from this starting point, where we may begin to imagine radically different modes and narratives for the practice of fashion, from its perception and its integration into our everyday lives. The aim of the Fashion Praxis lab is to bring together scholars and practitioners who seek to examine and expand current notions of fashion, including its practices and modes of production, by affirming and prototyping more inclusive and cooperative ways of being in the world.

For more info go to fashionpraxis.wordpress.com

Publications

Design Dialogues

THE DESIGN DIALOGUES SITE HOUSES ALL ONLINE PUBLICATIONS FROM THE SCHOOL OF DESIGN STRATEGIES AT PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN

The collection of publications contained within Design Dialogues represent the cutting edge of research-driven design. Each exhibits the deep commitment to social impact, collaboration and strategic thinking that has become emblematic of the work done in The School of Design Strategies.

The publications include: The Journal of Design Strategies, Designing W/ and The Integral City, and include essays, photographs, projects, research articles and other creative works that reflect the interdisciplinary nature of The School of Design Strategies.

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The Journal of Design Strategies

The Journal of Design Strategies is published annually by the School of Design Strategies at Parsons School of Design. JDS is an international, peer reviewed journal committed to promoting cutting-edge research at the nexus of design, business, and social innovation. Both the Journal and the Stephan Weiss Lecture Series, with which the Journal is coordinated, are generously supported by the Karan-Weiss Foundation.

Read the Journal of Design Stategies - Volume 6: Designing for Billions

The current volume explores new opportunities for design in the context of emerging markets. Increasingly today, market and social actors including entrepreneurs, activists, investors and policy makers are coming together to envision and implement initiatives promoting broad-based prosperity and sustainable development in various locations throughout the developing world. And within emerging markets such as those of India, China, Mexico, and Brazil, designers are playing important roles: working with social activists to increase the efficacy of their missions; helping entrepreneurs develop new forms of socially inclusive enterprise; advising government agencies in the creation of incentive mechanisms that preserve the planet’s biodiversity; and leveraging the energy and enthusiasm of students to advance the aspirations of ordinary people in regions that today remain among the poorest on the planet.

Read our archived volumes:
Volume 5:Transdisciplinary Design, and Volume 4: Change Design

Designing W/

Designing w/ is a communication platform intended to document, present and reflect on courses at SDSS developed in collaboration with external partners and across The New School. Designing w/ is also about participatory design. Unlike the problem-solving approach that focuses on providing immediate answers to problems, our approach is inquiry-driven and collaborative. At SDS, we want to learn how to use participatory design methods to build a shared understanding of the complex challenges, identify new opportunities, and design multiple scenarios and solutions. Every year we develop and offer courses to study and intervene in the urban milieu by framing our work around human practices: urban recreation, education, reintegration, mobility, food systems, urban services, etc.

Read Designing W/

Integral City

The Integral City is one of the results of a collaborative project between The New School Urban Collaborative (Parsons School of Design and Milano Graduate Finance Lab) and Elsewhere, an experimental, living museum and artist residency program in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina. Over the last decade, downtown Greensboro has experienced community vitalization through grassroots and city-led planning, infrastructure, and urban programming initiatives. Despite a population of 300,000, the downtown has struggled to attract and retain live/work resources, economic diversity, business longevity, and a design sensibility that re-imagines the downtown’s character and strengthens the city’s identity. SDS Urban Design students traveled to Greensboro and used collaborative art and design tools to identify, strengthen, and connect Greensboro’s cultural assets and naturally-occurring community hubs.

Read Integral City

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