While living in this chaotic city New School students can often only find true peace and quiet in their shoe- box-sized dorm rooms. In this series we will look in- side the rooms of students to see how they’ve made it a place of their own. For our first edition, we’ve looked at three students living in the university’s Stuyvesant Park Residence, home to about 635 students, most of whom are freshmen. Despite limited space at Stuy, residents never cease to showcase their individual artistic visions.
Ginger Caranto, 18, Venice Beach, Calif.
A Parsons freshman studying interior design and pho- tography
How would you describe this space in two words?
Urban hippy.
How does your room reflect you as a person?
Well since my roommate Ty and I are both from the beach, definitely in that way. It really reflects where we both come from. I guess in that way we like to do artsy stuff and we made this homemade tapestry to remind us of home. We like very right colors and green life and we have our succulents over there which are dead but that’s O.K.
Pick an object in your room and tell me the story be- hind it.
I collected all the shells on this dream catcher at home. One of my really good friends in Venice has her own jewelry and welding shop and she made the dream catcher for me as a going away gift.
Yu Ling Wu, 19, San Francisco, Calif.
A BAFA freshman at Parsons and Eugene Lang study- ing integrated design, theatre and psychology
How would you describe this space in two words?
Homey and happy.
How does your room reflect you as a person?
It’s pretty colorful and I love the colors orange and neon green so there’s a lot of that. I also love photogra- phy so I have a Polaroid wall with a bunch of random pictures of my time in New York. I’m from San Fran- cisco and I love going to the beach so I have this huge beach poster to remind me of home. I guess you could say that I’m an organized, colorful person so I like com- ing back to a happy space that reflects that.
Pick an object in your room and tell me the story be- hind it.
I’m not tall enough to get up on my bed so if I had to get up on my bed I would probably have to sprint and jump from the opposite side of the room. I got a stool the very first day I moved to New York and I literally use it for everything.
Griffin Overbye, 18, Minneapolis, Minn.
A Parsons freshman studying interior design
How would you describe this space in two words?
Indie cool.
How does your room reflect you as a person?
I would say the main focus of my room is my picture wall. I strategically chose each of the photos on my wall to be a mix of friends and fun and quirky pop culture images. Oh, and I’m obsessed with palm trees and liter- ally have 20 pictures of them on my wall.
Pick an object in your room and tell me the story be- hind it.
My boyfriend shipped me this handmade plaque for Valentine’s Day. That little heart represents where we’re from in Minneapolis.
If you think your dorm room is unique and would like to be featured please email Sydney Oberfeld at obers292@newschool.edu
Sydney is a current Junior studying Journalism & Design at Eugene Lang and the Co-Editor-In-Chief of The New School Free Press. She spends a questionable amount of time responding to emails, remembering coffee orders for her various internships, producing films & frolicking around the Lower East Side where she’s living her New York dream of occupying a bedroom with a brick wall.
