School of Architecture and Design Faculty and Student Work Displayed at NYCxDESIGN
For the third consecutive year, the School of Architecture and Design participated in the NYCxDESIGN Festival. Held annually in May, NYCxDESIGN is one of New York City’s most influential design events, drawing global audiences to hundreds of exhibitions, trade shows, talks, and tours across the five boroughs.
New York Tech plays an active role in the coordination and vision for the festival, with Dean Maria Perbellini, M.Arch., and IDC Foundation Endowed Chair Alessandro Melis, Ph.D., acting as New York Tech’s representatives on the festival’s steering committee.
Under the leadership of Perbellini, Melis, and Professor Giovanni Santamaria, Ph.D., the school contributed to three events under the theme of Worlds Un/Designed. The events put a spotlight on New York Tech students’ work, highlighting the school’s commitment to advancing technology, innovation, and sustainability in design education. Here is a recap of New York Tech’s participation:
Worlds Un/Designed: Thesis Presentations and Exhibition Opening
The centerpiece of the School of Architecture and Design’s participation was the architecture thesis showcase, which featured the culmination of two semesters of work by undergraduate architecture students.
Curated by Perbellini and co-curated by Chairs of Architecture Gertrudis Brens, M.Arch., and Dongsei Kim, M.Des., M.S.AUD., along with thesis co-coordinators Associate Professor Farzana Gandhi, M.Arch., and Teaching Assistant Professor Evan Shieh, M.AUD., the exhibition featured thesis projects exploring the range of architecture’s diverse applications in research and design. This year’s theme challenged inherited conventions in planning, infrastructure, architecture, interiors, materials, and spatial design, questioning how they have shaped built environments and often limited more inclusive, resilient, and regenerative futures. Through rigorous research and experimental design across scales and worldwide locations, students tested alternative paradigms for healthier, more adaptive, and collectively responsive forms of inhabitation. The exhibition also featured a backdrop installation previously presented at Salone del Mobile di Milano, an annual furniture fair held in Milan, Italy, coordinated by Perbellini, Santamaria, Director of Urban and Regional Design Marcella Del Signore, M.Arch., and the Fabrications Labs team.
Exhibition Tour: Student-Led Exploration
The guided tour of the School of Architecture and Design studio spaces and Fabrication Labs invited visitors to explore student work across disciplines, emphasizing how site-specific design approaches and proactive experimentations—from the scale of materials to the scale of buildings and territories—can also provoke broader cultural reflections involving local and global communities. Associate Dean Anthony Caradonna coordinated the tour.
Selected Student Presentations at FIT
Coordinated by Chair of Interior Design Florencia Vetcher and Del Signore, selected students presented their thesis projects at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Interior design student Sasha Burshteyn’s thesis project, “Learning to Work Again,” explored how interior design can respond to contemporary workplace burnout by reimagining the office as a hybrid environment that integrates work, social connection, and personal wellbeing, fostering more meaningful and human-centered experiences within contemporary work culture.
Thesis work by Master of Architecture students Rayhaan Albuquerque, Matan Lobel, and Mert Osar examined the intersecting social, ecological, and infrastructural forces that shape a city, envisioning resilient spatial futures for Rio de Janeiro through architecture and urban inter-scalar design interventions. This inter-institutional dialogue offered public insight into how emerging designers in both interior design and architecture are addressing global challenges through spatial and material innovation across several dimensional scales.
“It is important for the School of Architecture and Design to contribute to platforms that shape contemporary conversations about design, technology, culture, and innovative professional practices,” says Perbellini. “NYCxDESIGN provides an exceptional opportunity to showcase the creativity and intellectual rigor of our students while engaging with an international community of designers, educators, and industry leaders. Through events such as these, we strengthen the visibility of our programs, celebrate student achievement, and demonstrate how design education can generate new ideas, be a catalyst for positive change, challenge conventions, and inspire more resilient and inclusive futures.”
This article was contributed by the School of Architecture and Design.
More News
Restoring the City
Anita Konfederak (B.Arch. ’85) has spent her career protecting New York City’s skyline.
A Solid Foundation for Success
For Elizabeth Pacheco, AIA (B.S. ’86), a passion for drawing led to a longstanding career as an architect.
Congratulations, Class of 2026!
On May 17, graduates, family members, and friends joined faculty, staff, and administration at New York Institute of Technology’s Long Island campus to celebrate its 65th annual commencement.
Fellow’s Field Notes: Rajeshri Nadar
Edward Guiliano Global Fellowship recipient Rajeshri Nadar traveled to Florida to evaluate how effectively her neuro-audit tool can assess an environment’s sustainability for individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
A SOURCE for Impressive Student Research
New York Tech’s 23rd Annual Symposium of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE) featured hundreds of students’ research and scholarly work.
2026 Honorary Degree Recipients
Kevin S. Law, executive vice president and partner at TRITEC Development Group, and Krishan Kumar, M.D., an NYITCOM clinical professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine, will receive honorary degrees at New York Tech’s 65th commencement.