The collection consists of student work and records created or received by Joseph Marcella while studying in the Design Correlations Department (now Product Design) of Parsons School of Design from 1968 to 1970. In addition to project files for portable structures, underwater and outer space habitations, and a one-piece plastic chair, the collection includes materials documenting the first Earth Day observances at Parsons.

The Parsons School of Design Centenary Oral History Project consists of recorded sound interviews with twelve individuals as well as two audio monologues by the project's manager, Martica Sawin. The interviews, recorded in 1994, cover the history of different academic departments and design disciplines over the course of the twentieth century as experienced by former and then-current instructors and administrators. Recordings are all in English.