The New School News

Parsons Installations Featured at Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global Pop-Up Shop

Parsons School of Design is partnering with none other than Arianna Huffington to raise awareness on the profound and transformative effects of meditation, mindfulness, unplugging, and giving to our culture, thinking, workplace, and lives.

Students and faculty members from the leading art and design school designed two installations to be featured in Huffington’s Thrive Global store, a pop-up retail incarnation of Thrive Global, the author and entrepreneur’s groundbreaking venture that aims to revolutionize the way we work and live by offering companies and individuals science-based solutions to lower stress and burnout, and enhance well-being and productivity.

Under the leadership of Kay Unger, Chair of the Parsons Board of Governors, Parsons presents Room to Daydream, a space to nap and recharge created by Parsons’ Healthy Materials Lab, and Resonance, a lighting design installation created by students and faculty from Parsons School of Constructed Environments. Reflecting Thrive’s emphasis on well-being, Room to Daydream is outfitted with 100 percent wool curtains and flokati carpet that moderate body temperature and resist bacteria, mites, and mold; zero VOC house paint; and an LED light strip programmed to induce sleep by gradually dimming after the visitor enters. It features contributions from Coco Mat, Donghia, DWR, and RomaBio. Designers of the project are Jennifer June, MFA Interior & Lighting Design ‘16; Marina Lodi, MFA Interior & Lighting Design ‘15; Lena Kouvela, MFA Interior Design ‘17; Thanos Stathopoulos, MS Strategic Design & Management; Jack Dinning, MA Architecture ‘16; Alison Mears, Director, Healthy Materials Lab; and Jonsara Ruth, Design Director of Healthy Materials Lab.

The second installation, Resonance, uses light to spread the image of participants infinitely in two directions — into the past and future — as they move within the work. The designers of the project are Jonathan Beilin, MFA Design and Technology; Sudtida Benchahiransak, MFA Lighting Design ‘17; Paola Bernal Arguelles, MFA Lighting Design ‘17; Magnus Pind Bjerre, MFA Design and Technology; Tanner Chee, MFA Lighting Design & Interior Design ‘18; Chen Chen, MFA Lighting Design & Interior Design ‘18; Youn Hee Choi, MFA Lighting Design & Interior Design ‘18; Minyu Dong, MFA Lighting Design & M Architecture ‘17; Jimmie Drummond, MFA Lighting Design & MA Architecture ‘17; Joanna Filter, MFA Lighting Design & Interior Design ‘18; Stephanie Foster, MFA Lighting Design & Interior Design ‘17; Haniyeh Mirdamadi, MFA Lighting Design ‘17; Sunmin Park, MFA Lighting Design & Interior Design ‘18; Xena Petkanas, MFA Lighting Design & Interior Design ‘18; Brandon Pietras, MFA Lighting Design & M Architecture ‘17; Khwanrudee Samranvedhya, MFA Lighting Design ‘17; Benjamin Schuetz, MFA Lighting Design & M Architecture ’17; and Derek Porter, Associate Professor of Lighting Design.

In addition to the installations, Parsons alumni Christian Swafford and Lauren Larson, founders of Material Lust, will showcase their Crepuscule Floor Lamp and Lancia Floor Lamp.

The Thrive Global store, located in a 5,000 square-foot SoHo loft at 419 Broome Street, will offer live demonstrations, education, and trials of the latest products and technologies across the categories of mind, body, sleep, productivity, recharging, creativity, and giving. The pop-up will be open daily, December 1 through January 15, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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