MSDUE Class of 2015–

Co-founder of the Red Hook Check-in Project – New York City, NY, USA.

Aran worked as a graphic designer and art director for 10 years before coming to MSDUE at Parsons. Following her interests in environmental design, green building and public health, Aran developed her thesis project “The Red Hook Check-in Project,” a voluntary check-in system between community volunteers, isolated and medically fragile residents and advanced medical care/support in times of crisis. She partnered with Matthew Kraushar, a doctor, who during Super Storm Sandy was tasked with organizing a voluntary medical relief effort in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The area flooded badly and many residents were stranded in their homes while waiting for needed medical attention.

Aran has enjoyed thinking about and defining her practice as urban practitioner and design strategist: “In the MSDUE program, we learned to see the city as a set of ongoing processes, continually evolving and take a very human-centered approach to urbanism. We learned how to work effectively with community partners and become, in a sense, an intermediary, moving in and between different stakeholders.” Her thesis grew into a professional, consulting project where she employs a co-design methodology in order to bring together multiple stakeholders, including Red Hook residents, volunteers and medical experts, through events and design-mediated workshops, in order to prototype the check-in system and test the ideas. The project—which has been situated at the critical juncture of climate, equity and access to care—has gained political support from a local City Council member and many residents.