Mini Sets, Big Ideas: 2025 Design Challenge Week

We kicked off this year’s Design Challenge Week with creativity and collaboration on full display. This beloved Hudson Lab School tradition marked the start of the school year by reintroducing students to the principles of design thinking, the design process, and teamwork.

This year, we were especially excited to partner with the North East Educational Committee of the Set Decorators Society of America (SDSA). The collaboration deepened students’ understanding of design thinking while opening their eyes to set decoration as a creative career path.

Each class explored one of four distinct time periods—the Jurassic era, medieval times, the 1970s, and the 1980s—researching, designing, and building scaled sets that brought original scripts to life. The results were nothing short of inspiring. Here are the innovative projects our students created.

MIDDLE SCHOOL: The Middle School was shining bright with their 70’s-inspired roller rink, complete with lights, music, and plenty of disco vibes! Students designed a vibrant scene filled with color, sparkle, and movement—capturing the energy and style of the era

TEAL ROOM: The Teal Room lords and ladies transported us back to a grand Medieval castle! Students imagined what life might have been like in a great hall filled with a long banquet table, glowing torches, and towering stone walls.

BLUE ROOM: Blue Room students had us feelin’ nostalgic for our childhood with their 80’s era basement complete with green shag carpet and wood paneling. Their attention to detail was phenomenal.

GREEN ROOM: Our Green Room friends traveled back in time to the Jurassic period! They learned all about volcanoes, dinosaurs, and what the world looked like millions of years ago. Then, they used their creativity to build a mini prehistoric world—complete with a rumbling volcano, bright red lava, dinosaur bones, and even tiny eggs waiting to hatch.