December 2008
Harrington College of Design announces the opening of a collection of work entitled "Prospect and Refuge," created by the students in its inaugural Immersion Program.
The public is invited to view the 20 pieces on display. It will be located in the first-floor gallery.
The Immersion Program is a prototype laboratory for 20 of the past fall’s most promising new design students.
A two-teacher team will guide its students on a year-long, design-learning adventure.
Students will take all the required courses for freshman year, but they’ll tie these courses together in ways that make sense to designers and the markets they serve.
Math, English and Critical Thinking courses will directly inform and be informed by design problems.
Guest lecturers, field trips, special semester-long projects and student-created gallery shows are just a few of the special opportunities being offered to these 20 students.
This first year Immersion Program focuses on students studying, learning, making, succeeding and living in an environment of their own design.
This “school within a school” will challenge students and teachers to redefine their roles and methods while not only meeting the current standards of the freshman year, but also exceeding them in the areas of overall design knowledge, engagement and collaborative experimentation.
Harrington dedicated about 5,000 square feet of space, including 11 rooms, for this environment.
In the summer of 2008, 20 upper-level students in the DSN426 Experimental Design class put their design skills and knowledge to the ultimate test.
They researched, planned, designed and built the area, as well as systems for communication, social engagement, health and well-being programs and whatever else they deemed valuable to the empowerment of fresh design minds.
Materials were repurposed, donated or scavenged to create the space.
A budget of no more than $600 dollars was allotted to buying new materials. Functionality was of utmost importance, although aesthetics were certainly stressed.
The students also designed the teachers’ offices based on interviews and task analysis.
“This exhibition is the culmination of what our students have learned this year,” said David Dunworth, instructor of the Harrington Immersion Program.
“People will see monolithic objects, structural artwork that demonstrates what happens when geometry and art collide."
"It has been gratifying to participate in the process as the students have explored and taken intellectual risks.”
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