The Material Lab Prize is awarded annually by the Material Lab at Pratt Institute’s School of Design to a student designer whose work incorporates repurposed waste and material exploration. The prize celebrates and exhibits interdisciplinary work excellence and ingenuity in material-driven design, with a focus on material innovation and craft. It showcases experimental approaches to design and making through elevating reclaimed materials, developing new material languages, or re-contextualizing existing approaches to craft and fabrication.
The 2024 exhibition welcomed Chen Chen, Emily Gordin, Sean Kim, Nifemi Ogunro, and Ellen Pong to the jury, awarding Cameron Brentlinger for the grand prize for her project Community Gravestone and recognizing Ben Thanat Somwong with an honorable mention for BioShell
Material Lab Prize Exhibition, Juliana Curran Terian Design Center Gallery, Sept. 26 - Oct. 4, 2024
During my two years serving as the liason, I sought to grow the program and expand the reach and impact of the prize. I brought a curatorial lens to the role of the liaison, soliciting, organizing, and selecting submissions for the exhibition. I introduced an exhibition catalog to provide a lasting record of the selected projects, to reinforce the significance of the Material Lab Prize both within and beyond the institute. The Fall exhibition was kicked off with an opening reception, facilitating conversations and fostering community around the prize and bringing together faculty, students, and industry professionals in celebrating all the amazing work being done at Pratt.
2024 Opening Reception, September 26, 2024
Community Gravestone, Cameron Brentlinger
BioShell, Ben Thanat Somwong
2024 Jury and MLP Team