NJIT Unifies City Engagement Efforts in Newark Design Collaborative

Faculty from Hillier College of Architecture and Design are formalizing their previously ad hoc collaborations with multiple NJIT departments, the City of Newark, local neighborhood groups and private developers into a new entity called the Newark Design Collaborative.

Doing so will transition students from theoretical studio instruction to practical real-world projects, explained Hillier's Tony Schuman, professor of architecture and one of the organizers of the collaboration. A supporting endeavor will be the creation of a downtown Newark facility containing studios, an exhibit gallery, and possibly event space or meeting rooms.

"These are real students that create real projects," added Newark City Planner Christopher Watson, who's also studying at NJIT for a doctorate in urban systems. "It's now more formal. We are talking more openly with each other, more collaboratively with each other."

There will be plenty of work in the coming years, Watson noted, as the department ramps up for the city's next master plan due in 2023, he noted. It will include better public spaces such as wider sidewalks, improvements to parkland and increased transparency of ground floors.

Newark-themed student projects in recent semesters produced a massive handmade model of the entire city, a 3-D printed model of downtown, a preservation plan for parts of the abandoned Essex County Jail and a design called Music Village in the historic Lincoln Park neighborhood. There have also been many research papers and studio designs for other city landmarks, including Newark Liberty International Airport and Branch Brook Park.

Schuman said faculty and students from other NJIT departments are welcome to participate. One collaborator is Senior University Lecturer Jonathan Curley, of the humanities department, who taught a seminar called Newark Narratives. There are also several people associated with NJIT in Watson's office. One of them is Pallavi Shinde, a senior planner who received her Masters of Infrastructure Planning degree from the university in 2011.

Other external stakeholders in the collaboration include Samer Hanini, who is a managing partner of real estate firm Hanini Group and a member of the Hillier College advisory board. His NJIT degrees include a B.S. in Architecture and Masters of Infrastructure Planning. Another is Anthony Smith, executive director of Lincoln Park/Coast Cultural District, whose members aim to improve the downtown neighborhood. That organization is responsible for an annual music festival and other efforts to position the area as an arts and entertainment hub.

Schuman is on a sabbatical for the upcoming academic year but will maintain his involvement in the project. His enthusiasm is palpable. "The essence of the Newark Design Collaborative is community engagement, which poses two essential questions: How does the community benefit and what do the students learn? The work we do at Hillier College helps the city strive toward a more equitable and sustainable future and provides our students with a rich learning experience that provides insight and encourages empathy,” he said.

One student participant will be Mateo Aristizabal, who received a Bachelor of Architecture here and is now studying for his master's in infrastructure planning. He will be a teaching assistant this fall in the collaborative studios.

"Newark for me is my second home ever since I started going to school in 2015. I had a passion for the city … I spent more time in Newark than I did in my own home," said Aristizabal, who emigrated from Colombia and now lives in nearby Linden.

Aristizabal said one example of a Newark neighborhood that he'd like to help is the northeast tip of the historic Ironbound district, located just one mile from the Covanta Essex incinerator. There is research suggesting that pediatric illnesses there are related to the air residents  breathe, he said. He's also concerned about gentrification throughout Newark, where the opinions of long-time residents may be ignored by those who prioritize profits. A fitness enthusiast, another of his goals is to incorporate health and recreation info future designs, he said.

Such perspectives resonate with the city planner Watson. "What the community needs to know is, when you collaborate like this, you really link the theoretical with the practical," Watson observed. "It's a great way for students to really get hands-on experience while in school and hands-on experience at places where they're going to be employed."