Project Gallery

Made by Julia Kwon 

This project explores sustainable building through computational design and bio-based materials, focusing on wood-mycelium composites. It responds to ecological challenges in architecture by reimagining material systems for modular, self-supporting structures with acoustic and insulative performance. Emphasizing circularity, compostability, and DIY adaptability, the project integrates glue-free fabrication and sensor-monitored mycelium growth within a controlled incubator to assess carbon sequestration potential.

This project was created in the Design Center using the mycelium-grown hemp substrate and our dehydrator.

Made by GG Gourgel 

The reconstruction of paper waste material opens new material possibilities. Within this exploration, I imagine alternative uses of waste material. I used waste paper and substrates in differing quantities to produce renewed materials with the intention of finding new applications, diverting paper waste streams from landfills. This project rethinks waste as a material and its inter-scale potential. 

This project was created in the Design Center using the laser cutter, sewing tools, dehydrator, natural dyes, silicon molds, and more.

Made by Ava Lyon-Sereno

An embroidery of a scene from the Enuma Elish, an ancient Mesopotamian creation myth. This piece explores the killing of Tiamat by Marduk, and how he turns her body into the world (her tears become the Tigris and Euphrates; her foot dissipates into the night sky). The most powerful female figure in the story is violently turned into pieces of an unrecognizable body, ready and malleable for reshaping. In my embroidery, I wanted to quite literally reframe the narrative onto Tiamat (with only Marduk’s legs and arm in view), and portray my own visual interpretation of the complex messages of the Enuma Elish. 

This piece was hand embroidered in the Design Center.

Made by Mary Clare Greenlees

Pedagogy and Making: Using College Makerspaces as a Tool for Earth and Planetary Science Education is the culmination of the Design Center Post-Baccalaureate Fellow's year-long research project on using college makerspaces to teach Earth and Planetary Science. This book is both a tactile sculptural object and an interactive learning tool. 

This book was lasercut and hand bound in the Design Center using the laser cutter, bookbinding tools, and 3D printers.

Made by Jess Saldaña

Mycelia over a 1 and 2 week period on black and white photo print. These sculptural photographic works are interested in the degradation of image and text, as well as the way nature spreads and overtakes the human-made world. Mycelium is used for soil remediation in land areas with a high concentration of heavy metals. These sculptures are in a liminal state of ‘stasis’, between life and death- holding the potential to be reawakened.

These pieces were created using the mycelium fabrication and mold making supplies.

Made by Khepera Lyons-Clark

My hands have always been one of my biggest insecurities. I never liked how wrinkled and weathered my finger looked until I realized that the weatherness is a product of my history; my ancestors using their hands to connect with the earth and their own craft. I made the collage by taking photos take photos of Black femme hands to depict the beauty in their lines and wrinkles. I collaged in photoshop and then printed out and cut and paste the collage on top of it, along with a poem I wrote dedicated to Black femme beauty. The college was then heat transferred onto t-shirts and tote bags. Making this was a wonderful experience and showcasing Black beauty made me love and appreciate my hands as a part of my history.

This t-shirt was created using the Design Center's dye sublimation printer and heat press

Made by Ryan Newberger

Cuisine Village is a building design proposal for a 100 sq ft plot of land adjacent to the Apollo Theater on 126th St. The building is itself a celebration of Harlem’s socio-cultural history through a culinary lens. Archive, “inverted stoop” civic-centre and culinary education centre among other program types, Cuisine village explores architectural design as a means by which to celebrate local and broader global histories of a predominately African American neighborhood. The brick facade design is an homage to African textile patterns as well as situates the building in its context among varying historical brownstone typologies. The central glass core and split level provide an opportunity for shared social experiences as they relate to notions of publicness and connectedness throughout the building. The building is situated on a cement base—the “inverted stoop”—a civic centre that both sinks and rises extending and reimagining the performative space of the sidewalk as it moves into the building.

This architectural model was created using Design Center tools including the laser cutter and 3D Printer

Made by Kevin Li

The Lightbox is a public mixed-use building that is connected to the renowned Apollo Theater. The box-shaped building is distinctive for its central conical void that serves as a lightwell and promotes openness. The heavy concrete exterior contrasts the hollow core to emphasize the lightness of the interior space that is defined by cylindrical pods. The building, like its name, functions as a box of light. In the day, natural light enters through the void to shape the interior space. In the night, the building serves as a lamp; artificial light travels out of the building through the perforated walls toilluminate the Harlem streets.

This model was made in the Design Center using the laser cutter, 3D printer and woodworking tools 

Made by Caitlyn Stachura

Hand-sewn quilt featuring cyanotype fabric squares printed with family photographs taken in 2016. Was created in the Design Center using the sewing machine.