Exploring art and design as a proactive force for preventative health and human flourishing

Design for Health

Design for Health

Designed by Marisa Morán Jahn, an artist and creative director who leads Parsons' Integrated Design program (IDP), ReCreation is a permanent installation of floor-to-ceiling wallpaper at Chicago's The National Public Housing Museum. The project emerged from a multi-year and ongoing collaboration led by Jahn and Dr. Sarah Szanton, Dean of Nursing at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing along with students from both universities. After first producing a longitudinal study supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that explored the material infrastructure that helps communities overcome obstacles and meet their basic needs, the team discovered an archive at the University of Baltimore. These photos captured the inspiring leadership and cultural efflorescence of low-income communities from the late 1960s through 1970s that shed light on the strong sense of mutualism and solidarity among older adults whom they had been interviewing. The permissioned photos were remixed with colorful backgrounds created by Jahn to celebrate these values. Working closely alongside Jahn as a research collaborator was NSSR undergraduate and MSSDM graduate Micah Campbell-Smith whose grandparents lived through this era in Baltimore. Additional Parsons undergraduates—together with graduate-level nursing students—were involved as studio assistants and researchers, each learning from the others' expertise.