
Pictured: On Loop by Universal Design Studio
Photography by: Andres Sebastian for A/D/O by MINI
NYCxDESIGN's Breakout Grant for Independent Design
NYCxDESIGN is pleased to announce the recipients of its inaugural grant program. The Breakout Grant was conceived to help financially support NYC-based designers and design businesses in implementation or furthering the momentum of a product or project that is in pre-market, late-stage development. The Breakout Grant jury, composed of distinguished leaders throughout NYC’s design eco-system, evaluated proposals at length to award viable projects and candidates who demonstrated a foundational commitment to innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability - three integral pillars to designing a greater NYC.
2021 Recipients
With the Breakout Grant's resources and recognition, recipients Matt Tyson of Modos Furniture, Danielle Arps of Artisan Alliance, and Gisue and Mojgan Hariri of Hariri & Hariri Architecture D.P.C. will be able to pursue the next steps of their inspiring projects that give back in more ways than one. See below to learn more about the three 2021 Breakout Grant recipients and seven finalists.
Modos Furniture is a Brooklyn-based design studio focused on developing products with a positive societal and ecological impact. Its impressively simple tool-free furniture system uses connectors and boards to create custom design solutions. Modos Furniture sees infinite potential in this high value, low-cost furniture solution which has a range of applications and potential users, from those with limited resources to those impacted by natural disasters, or even micro-businesses in need of simple, adaptable furnishings. Aiming to make its design concept even more environmentally sound, the team would like to replace its connectors made of extruded aluminum with recycled ocean plastic. Click here to learn more.
Reclaimed Plastic Furniture Connector
By Matt Tyson
Modos Furniture
$15,000 Recipient
Launching this summer, Artisan Alliance is a new firm by designer and entrepreneur Danielle Arps, which aims to shake up the real estate and design industries. Bringing extensive interior design experience and relationships across the NYC real estate market, Arps saw a unique opportunity to offer brokerage, design, project management, and furniture all under one house to smaller companies (20,000-50,000 SF). In addition to these services, mentorship will be a key area of focus for the company. Click here to learn more.
Artisan Mentored
By Danielle Arps
Artisan Alliance
$5,000 Recipient
Believing that “home is a human right,” architects and sisters Gisue and Mojgan Hariri of Hariri & Hariri have developed an innovative alternative emergency shelter designed to save lives. The FOLDING POD can replace 18th century-tents currently used by armies for disaster relief due to climate-change devastations, wars, and other conflicts. Modest, modular, and prefabricated with recyclable materials, the FOLDING POD is inspired by origami and features a hinged frame and lightweight, sustainable panels. Click here to learn more.
DISASTER RELIEF - FOLDING POD
By Gisue Hariri and Mojgan Hariri
Hariri & Hariri Architecture D.P.C.
$5,000 Recipient
2021 Finalists

Susan Sellers
Executive Chief Director
2x4

Justin Garrett Moore
Program Officer
Humanities in Place, The Mellon Foundation

Kinjil Mathur
Chief Marketing Officer
Squarespace

John M. Nafziger
Co-Founder/Principal
Bigprototype

Emmanuel Plat
Director of Merchandising
The Museum of Modern Art

Cindy Allen
Editor in Chief
Interior Design Magazine

Coren Sharples
Principal
SHoP Architects

Ghislaine Viñas
Principal
Ghislaine Viñas

Gregory T. Switzer
Managing Principal,
Gregory Switzer Architecture
President, nycoba / NOMA
Board Member, AIANY

Claire Weisz
Principal, FAIA
WXY

Victoria Milne
Principal
6¢