Skip to main content

Marty Spiegel student work

 Collection
Identifier: KA-0126

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection is comprised of Marty Spiegel's student work for Parsons' Environmental Design Department, which he attended from 1973 to 1976. Consists of course materials, correspondence, drawings and sketches, and printed materials, as well as digital reproductions of 35mm slides of Spiegel's work.

Dates

  • 1973 - 1977

Creator

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (1 folder, 1 CD)

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use. Please contact archivist@newschool.edu for appointment.

Use Restrictions

To publish images of material from this collection, permission must be obtained in writing from the New School Archives. Please contact: archivist@newschool.edu.

Biographical Note

Born in Chicago in 1948, Marty Spiegel traveled throughout the U.S., South America, and Europe as a child. He studied Forestry, Education and Design at Marlboro College in 1966, and during the Vietnam War was granted Conscientious Objector status, performing alternate service from 1969-72 as a teacher for Project Learn's Parkway program in Philadelphia. In 1973, Spiegel moved to New York City to study Environmental Design at Parsons. He earned his BFA in 1976.

At Parsons, Spiegel formed a web of friendships, connections and partnerships that would sustain his creative and professional life for more than a decade after he graduated. Parsons professor Jean McClintock connected him with projects around New York City, including Betsy Barlow's Central Park Conservancy and a traffic-flow project with Fred Kent, who later founded Project for Public Spaces. In 1980, after four years at Solar-En Corporation designing and installing solar energy systems, he joined his former Parsons instructor, Archie Kaplan, at Environment Planning, Inc.

From 1984-1986, Spiegel ran a consulting business and worked on a wide variety of projects, including the design of a N.A.S.A. space station with Michael Kalil, who he'd first met through his Parsons network. From 1986-93, Spiegel and fellow-Parsons graduate Joey Horton were partners in a design firm. In 1993, Spiegel moved to Seattle and opened a hardware business that he has been running since then, while sustaining an engagement with community planning and maintaining an abiding interest in design education and practice.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Martin Spiegel to the New School Archives, 2011.

Existence and Location of Copies

The New School Archives holds photographic documentation of Spiegel's student work that is not part of the collection, predominantly drawings and a scale model of a Girl Scout campsite and a helmet. The donor created the JPEG image files from 35 mm slides that remain in the donor's possession. These image files are accessible upon request.

Related Materials

The New School Archives conducted two oral history interviews with Spiegel, one individually as part of the Radical Shifts: Reshaping the Interior at Parsons (1955-1985) oral history project (PC.07.01.04) and one as part of a group interview for the Michael Kalil papers as part of the Michael Kalil oral history project (PC.07.01.05).

Spiegel was an associate of designer Michael Kalil, whose papers are available in the New School Archives (KA.0119).

Title
Guide to the Marty Spiegel student work
Status
Completed
Author
New School Archives and Special Collections Staff
Date
May 31, 2016
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin