Notes from the Studio: Spring 2024

The studio is humming, as our Class of 2024 polishes up their thesis portfolios and prepares to tell you all about their revelatory research in presentations at our Graduate Symposium on May 14th in the SVA Theatre. (You’re invited!)

Happy Spring! The studio is humming, as our Class of 2024 polishes up their thesis portfolios and prepares to tell you all about their revelatory research in presentations at our Graduate Symposium on May 14th in the SVA Theatre. (You’re invited!)

Here’s a brief snapshot of the goings-on in the studio this semester:

• Class of 2024 began the semester with the first Applied Media Workshop: Podcasting Reporting and Production, taught by Leital Molad, Head of Podcasts at WaitWhat. The students created brief pieces of audio journalism based on their thesis research.
• New York Review of Architecture has begun a weekly publication workshop led by NYRA publisher Nicolas Kemper, working with our students to develop their graduate publication.
• The Class of 2024 is preparing for Chaos Agents: MA Design Research, Writing and Criticism Graduate Thesis Symposium on May 14 in the SVA Theatre. Save the date to celebrate our MA candidates as they present independent thesis research and launch their upcoming publication, Chaos Agents.
• Last fall we hosted several Studio Sessions, featuring a collection of thinkers, writers, and designers transforming design discourse. We have many vibrant conversations about design to come in this spring — stay tuned to our email list and social media for more updates!
• We are currently in rolling admissions for Class of 2025! If you or someone in your network is ready for an MA at the frontiers of design, share this newsletter and apply!
• The priority deadline is coming up for our two-week Writing & Research Summer Intensive on site in NYC June 3–14. Read more about it below and send in your resume + writing sample to save your spot.

Across creative industries, D-Crit alumni are at the forefront of conversations about the contexts and consequences of design. Scroll to catch up with our global D-Crit community, and we hope to see you May 14th!

Molly Heintz, Program Chair
MA Design Research, Writing & Criticism

Our alumni and faculty include some of the brightest minds in design, ranging from authors to curators, designers to practitioners, innovators to critical voices. There is a wealth of information below–see a few things they’re up to!

• D-Crit faculty and students were featured in a piece for The Architect’s Newspaper, examining how the program has expanded critical discourse around design.
• Roshita Thomas (Class of 2022) explored the nuances of airline branding in “A Window of Opportunity: The Lack of Cultural Nuance in Air India’s Rebrand” for PRINT Magazine.
• Laura Scofield (Class of 2019) was interviewed by The Brand Identity for “Brazilian at heart, global in spirit: Aprender Design lets us in on the online school’s jump to the US,” regarding her work with Aprender Design.
• Jon Key’s (Class of 2021) first book inspired by his thesis research, Black, Queer, and Untold, is now available for pre-order!
• Michelle Duncan (Class of 2021) went “Inside a ’70s-Style River Island Home Outside Portland, Oregon,” for Architectural Digest.
• Emily Kwok (Class of 2023) co-curated VANISHING POINT, an exhibition in Brooklyn exploring memory, landscapes, and the places we’ve left behind.
• Tiffany Lambert (Class of 2013) curated Out of Bounds: Japanese Women Artists in Fluxus, as Curator and Interim Director of the Japan Society.
• Jon Key (Class of 2021) created the Google Doodle featured on February 1st, Celebrating James Baldwin.
• Karrie Jacobs (faculty) wrote about her gorgeous home in the Catskills for Dwell, first envisioned 20 years ago as she was founding the publication as its first Editor-in-Chief.
• Matt Shaw’s (Class of 2011) upcoming book, American Modern: Architecture, Community, Columbus, Indiana, is now available for pre-order from Phaidon.
• Lila Allen (Class of 2016) went “Inside Vincent Van Duysen’s Brutalist Foray Into Stone Furniture” for Architectural Digest as the senior editor of AD PRO.
• Angela Riechers (Class of 2010) has officially published her first book, The Elements of Visual Grammar: A Designer’s Guide for Writers, Scholars, and Professionals, with Princeton University Press.
• Adam Harrison Levy (faculty) received a wonderful nod in “‘An enigma, an artist who walked to his own beat’: the everyday sublime of photographer Saul Leiter,” for an essay he wrote for the recently published Saul Leiter: The Centennial Retrospective.
• Lynda Decker (Class of 2014) wrote “Strategizing Brand Presence in User Interfaces,” published in her LinkedIn Newsletter, Marketing without Jargon, and in PRINT Magazine.
• Matt Shaw (Class of 2011) explored “What is the future of Aalto’s landmark Paimio Sanatorium?” for The Architect’s Newspaper.
• Frederico Duarte (Class of 2010) and Vera Sacchetti (Class of 2011) celebrated the launch of their new publication, Fazer, with an exhibition at Culturgest, Porto.

Are you an alum with recently published work, or a new project to share? We’d love to hear from you! Send your clips to us at designresearch@sva.edu.

Ready to gain new skills this summer? Applications are almost due for our renowned two-week Design Writing and Research Summer Intensive, June 3–14, 2024!

Geared toward those looking to refine their skills as reporters, storytellers, and critical thinkers, participants can look forward to seven faculty-led workshops along with visits to NYC design studios, notable guest speakers, and desk space in our studio in the heart of New York City.

We also have a new quick and easy way to apply–through our department Google form! Learn more here, and submit your application by our April 1 priority deadline.

SAVE THE DATE to celebrate our newly-minted MAs as they present independent thesis research on a broad range of timely topics — Russian identity, AI design tools, museum protests, abortion access, synagogue security, Indonesian cultural exports, and queer domesticity. In addition to student presentations, this evening’s festivities will include the launch of the Class of 2024’s publication Chaos Agents, with contributions from D-Crit alumni and produced in collaboration with our publication-in-residence, New York Review of Architecture.

Featuring the work of:

• Elmaz Abdurashytova
• Allison Hewitt Ward
• AJ Kushner
• Lindsay Ning
• Maxwell Lent
• Olivia Traybash
• Saprila Putri Anindita

Know someone who would love D-Crit? Forward this newsletter along!