In the spring of 2018 Teaching Specialist Bill Moran (Graphic Design) asked his students to design fabric wraps for the concrete pillars lining the basement of McNeal Hall. The project was a success, and it prompted Moran to ask himself, “Why not try this in the McNeal Hall Atrium?” The idea stuck with him and finally came to fruition in June 2022 when Moran solicited help from alumni, students, staff of the Goldstein Museum of Design, and received funding from the college’s Kusske Design Initiative to make his idea a reality.
From tackling the user experience design of the Metaverse to developing customized pediatric respiratory masks, our faculty are conducting research across the design fields and beyond. This spring, 12 faculty members received grants from the University’s Imagine Fund, which supports innovative research in the arts, humanities, and design fields.
Biophilic design focuses on increasing the connection between humans and the natural environment through the design of spaces. This fall, the Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR) will host an exhibition on biophilic design featuring images submitted through Instagram.
On May 5 and 6, 2022, the Department of Landscape Architecture will host capstone presentations for the Master of Landscape Architecture Class of 2022. Members of the public are invited to attend. View the presentation schedule and learn about the capstones that will be presented below.
Help celebrate our students’ hard work by joining the College of Design community for final reviews, exhibitions, and showcases featuring work from across our design disciplines.
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a physical heart defect that begins in the womb, impacting around 40,000 children born in the U.S. each year. Seeking to improve education for diagnosed children and their families, Drs. Amr El-Bokl and Gurumurthy Hiremath (Department of Pediatrics, UMN medical school), partnered with the Product Design program, where they collaborated with undergraduate student Levi Skelton (Product Design) and Dr. Carlye Lauff (Assistant Professor, Product Design) to create a product for teaching children about CHD and easing parental stress.
Every year faculty, instructors, researchers, and students from across the College of Design present their research during the annual Research and Creative Scholarship Showcase. You can learn more about the 2022 presenters and their work in this year’s round-up.
The College of Design’s School of Architecture is pleased to announce its 2022 Spring Lecture Series. Featuring practitioners from across the world, this spring’s series is curated by Assistant Professor-in-Practice Gabriel Cuéllar and its theme is “Existing to Remain.”
In honor of the late Professor Emeritus Roger Martin, the landscape architecture community has created the Roger B. Martin Travel Prize through the College of Design. This annual award will allow early career professionals to pursue foreign or domestic travel as a means to further their professional development.
Keeping goods in a circle of reuse is one of the easiest ways consumers can help reduce waste and save money. But understanding product life cycles and the positive impact of reuse can be daunting for consumers who want to get started. Retail merchandising students in RM 3124: Consumers of Design joined forces with the Hennepin County Choose to Reuse team to research solutions for helping consumers prioritize reuse over purchasing new.
Over the past two years, students, faculty, and staff have risen to the ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic by embracing new technology and finding innovative ways to create valuable classroom experiences remotely. Yet, virtual learning and prioritizing safety for students have limited opportunities to work in-person with traditional tools such as the letterpress.
You can’t break something that is already broken. Understanding this piece of wisdom is the first step in the process of repair and part of the foundation for a new freshman seminar in the College of Design, DES 1408: Dare to Repair.
Launched in fall 2020, the College of Design’s Design Justice Initiative was founded to create space, policies, and practices within the college that support the inclusion and retention of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and other historically underinvested communities. A year after its founding, the initiative has launched a number of events and programs to help forward its work.
Students, alumni, and retail leaders from across Minnesota and beyond gathered virtually on Tuesday, October 26 for Retail Connect 2021. The annual event brings industry and academic communities together to address the challenges and innovations shaping the retail landscape.
In 1972, Clinton Navarro Hewitt was hired at the University of Minnesota and quickly promoted to Associate VP of Planning. For the next 37 years, Hewitt would shape the U of M’s campuses across the state through dozens of landmark building projects—including Scholar’s Walk, David M. Lilly Plaza, and the Weisman Art Museum—and impact the lives of countless students and colleagues. To celebrate his career of building community and expanding the field of landscape architecture, the Department of Landscape Architecture has worked with the UMN Archives to create the Clinton N. Hewitt archive.
The University of Minnesota’s College of Design is pleased to announce that internationally acclaimed architect, Frank Owen Gehry, CC, FAIA, will be the inaugural speaker for the new Kusske Lecture & Dialogue Series on Tuesday, November 16.
The College of Design’s Center for Retail Design and Innovation (CRDI) has entered into the biggest partnership in its history with omnichannel retailer Kohl’s. Based outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Kohl’s financial commitment over a three-year period will support CRDI’s work to enrich the student experience in retail merchandising.
Laura Sanden Cabo (M.Arch ‘83), AIA, creates Disney magic on the seas. As a portfolio creative executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, Cabo is entrusted with leading the teams that envision and execute the creative development of almost everything under the Disney Cruise Line umbrella. In our latest alumni interview, Cabo talks about applying her architecture skills to a non-traditional career and what designers can bring to the table at any company.
The College of Design is pleased to announce the opening of the Eicher Dress and Fashion Library, which honors Regents Professor Emerita Joanne B. Eicher.
The concept that science can and should be accessible to all is the grounding principle behind the Science Communication Lab at the University of Minnesota. Founded to provide interdisciplinary internship opportunities, the lab has consistently attracted College of Design undergraduate students interested in creating stories or media that make complex research and scientific topics accessible to the general public.
A collaboration between student-group AIAS Freedom by Design and the non-profit Settled has led to a brand new storage shed for the future Settled community at Mosaic Christian Community Church.
The College of Design is thrilled to have three award recipients featured in the 2021 Alumni Award Affair presented by the University and the University of Minnesota Alumni Association (UMAA). All three recipients will be recognized during the UMAA Alumni Awards Affair on Thursday, September 23.
When the COVID-19 pandemic set in and drove more social interaction online, virtual reality (VR) platforms, like VRchat or SecondLife, exploded in popularity. These virtual environments allow users to make friends, play games, and participate in a virtual economy. For Claire Lumen (BS ‘20, Apparel Design), this technology provides more than just a social outlet.
Innovation starts with new challenges and fresh perspectives, a concept well known to both the Product Design program and Andersen Corporation. This notion formed the basis of their spring 2021 collaboration when graduating product design seniors worked directly with Andersen Windows and Doors products and professionals to develop solutions for “bringing the outdoors in” as part of their capstone projects.
As the summer winds down so does the typical growing season for Minnesotan gardeners and growers. But not for the five Deep Winter Greenhouses designed by Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR) Research Fellow Daniel Handeen.
What started as a part-time job for Juan Andrés Rujana (BS ‘20, Product Design) turned into an opportunity to grow, experiment, and make an impact supporting refugees as Epimonía’s design director. Juan Rujana talks about his work with Epimonía, a refugee-founded fashion label, and how his experiences in the Product Design program have impacted his career thus far in our latest alumni spotlight.
Professor Tasoulla Hadjiyanni (Interior Design) has been selected as the Imagine Fund 2021–2023 Arts, Design, and Humanities (ADH) Chair.
Every year faculty, instructors, researchers, and students within the College of Design present their work during the annual Research and Creative Scholarship Showcase. While the 2021 showcase happened virtually, the research was as impressive as ever!
