The Hillier College of Architecture and Design (HCAD) is marking two very important milestones this year ­— the 50th anniversary of the New Jersey School of Architecture and the 15th anniversary of the School of Art + Design. A kickoff celebration was part of the recent 2023 Design Showcase, a gala that highlighted student and alumni accomplishments in architecture, interior design, industrial design and digital design.

The celebration of the anniversaries marks not only a milestone for the college, but also for NJIT. When the New Jersey School of Architecture opened in 1973, it enabled the Newark College of Engineering to become New Jersey Institute of Technology. The celebration will continue this fall when HCAD welcomes alumni and students to a series of events, including a colloquium dedicated to the future of design education and an alumni reunion on Oct. 26 in Weston Hall.

“For 50 years, the college has produced innovative leaders, thinkers and makers who not only engage the most difficult challenges of our time, but also envision, design and build the most just and sustainable futures,”said President Teik C. Lim at the Design Showcase in April.

The showcase, the college’s flagship fundraising and networking event, provides a chance for members of the HCAD community to connect personally and professionally. This year’s event took place in The Jewel Box of One Gateway Center in downtown Newark, made possible by Onyx Equities.

“As a scholar of New Jersey’s distinctive landscapes, it’s fair to say that another great pleasure of serving as interim dean is traveling across the Garden State to meet with so many of you where you live and work,” said Gabrielle Esperdy, interim dean and professor of architecture at HCAD. “That’s what this evening is all about. It’s an opportunity to say thank you, and to strengthen our bonds with each other.”

The Design Showcase also serves as an important philanthropic event, providing benefactors with a rare opportunity to discover how students, faculty and the college are taking advantage of enhancements in curriculums and facilities. Previous showcases have raised funds to support improvements of the fabrication facilities, including animation and 3D print labs, a motion capture studio, a digital fabrication lab with a robotic arm and VR technology that enriches interactive design.

This year’s four alumni award honorees were Pamela Ospina ’18, who received the Emerging Designer Award; Ken Colao ’77, who received the Friend of the Hillier College Award; Robert Cozzarelli ’79, who received the Distinguished Alumni in Leadership Award and Jak Inglese ’79, M.S.’95, who received the Distinguished Alumni Impact Award.

“As we celebrate this special time in the college’s history, it seems fitting to present these inaugural awards, which recognizes an outstanding group of alumni and dedicated volunteers for their talent, their vision, their professional achievements and exemplary service to NJIT and the greater community in Newark and globally,” said Lim. “I want to emphasize globally because we educate global professionals.”

Best In Show

A major component of the design showcase is the student competition, which awards projects in the different undergraduate disciplines within HCAD: architecture, interior design, industrial design and digital design. One of the winners, Nairi Arslan, won Best in Show for architecture with her “Four Freedoms Museum” design on Roosevelt Island in New York. The museum design reflected the context of significant historic landmarks such as the Small Pox Memorial and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial. The Cafesjian Center for the Arts, located in Yerevan, Armenia, was used as a formal and conceptual precedent. In the interior, four galleries represent the “four essential human freedoms” in Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union Address: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.”

 

Header Image: Gabrielle Esperdy, interim dean and professor of architecture, with J. Robert Hillier, longtime friend and benefactor of the university, at HCAD’s Design Showcase.

Pictured Right: Robert Cozzarelli ’79, who received the Distinguished Alumni in Leadership Award with Pamela Ospina ’18, who received the Emerging Designer Award.

Pictured Left: The Design Showcase at The Jewel Box in Newark.