Projects

14

Goal

The Outdoor Hands-on Museum at RIT will represent much more than just the newest addition on the RIT campus. The goal of this project is to uniquely co-design this Museum. President Munson, Josh Owen (Vignelli Distinguished Professor of Design and Director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT), Reza Aliabadi (Architect and Vignelli Center Designer in Residence), and a team of 14 RIT students generated a collection of permanent installations embodying themes that make us think and inspire positive and meaningful change toward the better world we all seek. Visitors will be engaged at each installation in an exploration of a scientific, technological, artistic, cultural, or imaginative principle, all with an embedded element of play, experiencing both the history of the region and the intersection of technology, the arts, and design.

View Metaproject 14

Winners

All students’ projects are considered for construction.

13

Goal

Lazzoni aims to bring comfort to people who live in the world's metropolises with the distinctive flavor of the Lazzoni brand. Students collaborated with Lazzoni to develop a unique seating solution based on its brand, the Vignelli ethos, and their own relationship with seating.

View Metaproject 13

Winners

First Place
Dylan Malone

Second Place
Rebecca Harris

Third Place
Ruth Shin

11

Goal

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that while we humans are adaptable, our societies and systems have major flaws. By acknowledging this issue, Staach challenged the students to design objects which in their own unique ways, deploy educational content through their function, demanding justice, empathy, sustainability, equity, and inclusion. 

View Metaproject 11

Winners

Embodiment
Hunter McCluer

Inspirational
Julia Hawley

Provocative
Jacob DiCicco

City Art Space Selection
Tiree Walker

10

Goal

In the fall of 2019, the Vignelli Center for Design Studies challenged our students to follow Vignelli design principles to create a product that incorporates their own definition of timelessness. The partnership celebrated the 10th anniversary of both the course and the Vignelli Center.

View Metaproject 10

Winners

Vignelli Ethos Award
Nate Verso

Archival Award
Yuke Liu

09

Goal

In the fall of 2018, Theresa Fitzgerald, RIT graphic design alumna and Vice President of Creative Services at Sesame Workshop challenged our students to design products addressing the 'Urgency of Play' in contemporary life. In this experiment, 15 students created new, modern Sesame products by defining opportunities with physical objects intended to make kids' lives better.

View Metaproject 09

Winners

First Place
Daniel Shapiro

Second Place
Justin Dorland

Third Place
Hannah Kim

Brand Award
Sumin-Petal Oh

08

Goal

In the fall of 2017, Chuck Cerankosky, RIT industrial design alumnus and owner of Good Luck restaurant in Rochester, NY, challenged our students to design a pop-up restaurant within a restaurant. In this experiment, 17 students acted as a singular voice to reimagine how dinner out can be interpreted through the lens of industrial design.

View Metaproject 08

Winners

All students acted as a single team and were all winners.

07

Goal

In the fall of 2016, Umbra - a Toronto-based designer and manufacturer of housewares selling more than 2,000 home products through 25,000 retailers in 75 countries - challenged the students of Metaproject to create a design for small spaces.

View Metaproject 07

Winners

First Place
Tadhg Duffy

Second Place
Vincent Lin

Third Place
Mick Bartholomew

04

Goal

In the fall of 2013, student designers, in partnership with award-winning, century old furniture manufacturer Herman Miller, tackled the challenges associated with building and enhancing relationships in the workplace. Focusing on the Living Office vision and Herman Miller’s recent history, students debated the evolution of work and the current definition of "relationship."

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03

Goal

In the fall of 2012, world-renowned, avant-garde accessories manufacturer Areaware challenged the third generation of Metaproject to explore the properties of wood as a primary material in object construction. Students researched culturally specific historical and contemporary toys in pursuit of defining a universal toy.

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Winners

02

Goal

In the fall of 2011, a partnership was forged between the world-renowned Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) and Rochester Institute of Technology. Moving the nature of the Metaproject to a new level, industrial design students worked with RIT's glass program students to explore design concepts that capitalized on glass as the primary material.

View Metaproject 02