Gotham Library Redesign: Co-Designing a Flexible Creative Space
2023 | 4 months | Collaborative Studio Project | SOD-605 Co-Design Studio | Professor Irina Schneid
This project highlights my experience contributing to a full co-design process for a real community partner, from project scoping and stakeholder research to youth ideation and the translation of student visions into a modular furniture system supporting creativity and community.
Context
A collaborative design project between the Pratt Institute Co-Design Studio course and Gotham Professional Arts Academy in Brooklyn, New York, focused on reimagining the school’s library as a multi-functional space for students, faculty, and staff.
The existing library had limited student engagement and was not well equipped to support the range of activities students and faculty wanted to bring into the space, including exhibitions, gatherings, performances, independent work, and everyday student use. Because the library served students across different grades and arts disciplines, the design challenge was not only to improve the physical environment, but to create a flexible space that could adapt to changing needs.
Approach
Stakeholder mapping; stakeholder conversations; student interviews and co-design workshops; collaborative ideation; precedent research; spatial planning; concept development and prototyping; modular furniture and display system exploration; presentation to stakeholders
Outcomes
Our team presented two design directions to students, staff, and faculty. The selected direction proposed a flexible, modular furniture system that could support multiple modes of use, including art display, performance, gathering, and independent work.
Design concepts included modular stage elements and adaptable partitions that could be rearranged into different layouts for different activities and community needs.
Team
Irina Schneid (Professor); Kexin Chen (MFA in Communications Design); Xianjie Du (MFA in Interior Design); Yeswanth Loganathan (MFA in Interior Design); Barbara Dweck (MFA in Interior Design); Xin Lu (MFA in Interior Design); Bing Li (MFA in Interior Design); Joanne Wu (BFA in Industrial Design); Nina Wolf (Roles in co-design workshop facilitation, stakeholder engagement, insight synthesis, concept catalog design, visual communication design, partition fabrication support)
A rendering of the stage modules and partitions arranged in the space for a performance
A rendering envisioning a layout of the stage modules and partitions appropriate for more casual, everyday use of the space as a community hub
A rendering of the space being used for an exhibition of student work
Want to see more?
Explore some of the project documentation materials below,
or feel free to reach out for a chat!
or feel free to reach out for a chat!
