Design Fuels Recovery: Furniture in a More Sustainable, Equitable, and Healthy NYC

As NYC begins to re-emerge, what is the role of design in a new future? How do we fully incorporate sustainability, health and equity?

Highlighting furniture design, this session will explore initiatives that are reimagining how we approach material and human resources. Bringing together a designer/educator, a nonprofit changemaker, an artist/furniture maker, and a reclaimed/circular furniture campaign, we’ll explore sustainable solutions right in our NYC backyard. These initiatives—from creative reuse of materials to combining craft with rethinking criminal justice—seek to reinvent the way we design and produce.

Speakers:
Jonsara Ruth, Co-Founder/Design Director, Parsons Healthy Materials Lab; designer/artist/founder, Salty Labs (moderator)
Mona Chun, Chief Operating and Sustainability Officer, mebl | Transforming Furniture
Sabrina Merayo Nunez, Visual Artist/Furniture-Maker, Lunfarda Studio
Tommy Safian, Co-Founder, Refoundry