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Students who took part in Metaproject 13 will have their designs showcased as part of the 2023 New York City Design Week courtesy of their client, Lazzoni. In the fall, students spent the semester working to design seating solutions for the alumnus-owned international furniture company. All of the designs presented will be prototyped by Lazzoni, a first in Metaproject’s history.

Students in RIT’s Metaproject course will design and create seating solutions for international furniture company Lazzoni. Metaproject pairs RIT student designers with a client partner in what has become a seminal experience for the College of Art and Design’s nationally ranked industrial design bachelor’s program.

After a three-year pause because of the pandemic, students, faculty, staff, and alumni from the College of Art and Design will descend on Manhattan this week for NYCxDesign—New York City’s annual celebration of design that attracts hundreds of thousands from around the globe—which is marking its 10th year.

Architect Michael Maltzan, whose firm is the design architect behind RIT’s performing arts complex, will be the next featured speaker for the Vignelli Center for Design Studies' Design Conversations Lecture Series.

Metaproject 12 promises to be the cat’s meow this academic year. Students in RIT’s industrial design program will spend the semester designing products for Modkat, the award-winning maker of cat litter boxes. Metaproject pairs students with a different industry partner each year.

Tiree Walker '21 (Industrial Design) created a pedestal that collects suggestions from the community that drive informed discussion and decisions on monument construction. His process work will be preserved and studied by future generations.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 48: Design must play a critical role as society faces difficult discussions and works to create a new balance in a troubled world. Josh Owen, director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies, and Seth Eshelman '06, founder of sustainable design firm Staach, discuss their Metaproject collaboration.

Eric Avar ’90 (industrial design), Nike’s vice president and creative guide of innovation design, has been selected as a 2021 commencement speaker on May 14 and 15. Avar, who was honored with the College of Art and Design Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016, joins Andrea Ghez—a 2020 Nobel Prize winner in physics—as the university’s first-ever dual commencement speakers during a two-day celebration of the Class of 2021.

Beginning with next week’s inaugural lecture on Sept. 16, the Vignelli Center’s Design Conversations Lecture Series presented by Design Milk will feature a wide variety of diverse designers whose compelling work has made important impacts on the design world.

For Metaproject 11, senior industrial design students will spend the semester designing products for Staach, which focuses on functional sustainable design. Founded by Seth Eshelman '06 (industrial design/graphic design), the company designs and domestically manufactures sustainable products including furniture, interiors, and built structures.

Josh Owen, an internationally renowned designer, author and faculty-researcher who has led RIT’s industrial design program to national prominence since coming to the university a decade ago, has been named the new director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies and the Massimo and Lella Vignelli Distinguished Professor of Design.

Massimo Vignelli and Josh Owen share a look at a student's design in this archived photo.