NJIT Parklet

In Spring 2024, NJIT and the Newark Artist Collaboration launched a curriculum bridging art and design to transform urban spaces. The ARCH 296: Design and Build Studio introduced Newark students to hands-on urban design, partnering them with local artists to conceptualize and construct innovative "parklets."

Throughout the semester, I collaborated with students and professors Aurora Bonimi and Joe Berlinghieri to guide the artistic concept development. We refined visual direction, materials, and spatial strategies, creating a parklet for installation at Five Points in Newark's East Ward.

Recognizing the community's diverse cultures, we identified common visual threads. I investigated textile patterns shared across cultures represented in the East Ward, using them as design foundations. We explored how these patterns could become a spatial experience, resulting in bold, playful forms intended to welcome children and families from the nearby school.

Students explored color, visibility, and legibility for both day and night. The patterns were translated onto acrylic panels: sunlight would cast dynamic shadows through cutout motifs as panels opened and closed during the day; at night, internal lighting illuminated the patterns, creating a vibrant, glowing community beacon.