RISD Interior Architecture

What an amazing way to start off Spring break! This past weekend some students from the Crossing the Pell: Access class, a continuation of 3 years of design studios, took their work from the past five weeks, which has built upon many previous RISD student’s work, to the National Bike Summit in Washington DC as well as installed a VR headset display in Senator Whitehouse’s office as part of ongoing advocacy for bike and pedestrian access for the Claiborne Pell Bridge in our own backyard of Newport RI.

We were so happy to have some of the original designers join us to experience their work like never before, after 3 years of software and design iterations, it was wonderful to share this moment with them!

Congratulations to everyone who has been involved in this project on another milestone in Crossing the Pell.

Special thanks to for their help in assisting our students to fabricate the gorgeous aluminum display stand in Senator Whitehouse’s office.

We are looking forward to the future of this project and what it could be mean for pedestrians and cyclists everywhere.

Elective course | Department of Interior Architecture | Wintersession 2023 | Instructor: Michael Grugl

This course seeks to introduce the students to Spatial Computing. It is an umbrella term for technologies allowing us to survey, describe and visualize spaces and spatial components. We can survey buildings and objects alike with the assistance of artificial intelligence. We can project creative works in our spaces. We can immerse people in spatial ideas using virtual reality, breaking down barriers originating from a lack of knowledge related to conventions applied in design representation.

The final project for this course was sited in the Grand Gallery of RISD Museum. Students created interactive site- specific VR experiences for the grand gallery that immersed the audience from a bench in the Grand Gallery into a digital VR twin of the space of their vision.

In case you missed our last post, we are so excited to announce two IntAr graduate students are awardees of the graduate commons grant this year! The second awardee, Kate Ross (MDes ENE ‘22), was awarded to continue her thesis research in wildlife exhibition!

For the past year I’ve been working on my graduate thesis project, an investigation into—and reimaging of—wildlife exhibition. What I’ve found is that captivity is not only an ethical issue, but also a design problem. Amidst unprecedented rates of extinction, it is critical that designers and storytellers help foster connection, care, and concern for animals while acknowledging our entanglements with them. In order to reach audiences in meaningful ways, we must first understand the motivations, behaviors, and expectations of potential visitors. Research into the effectiveness of conservation messaging in exhibit design; the qualities of memorable wildlife encounters; and correlations between captive, representational, and in-situ wildlife interpretation is lacking. Being awarded the Graduate Commons Grant will enable me to enact and hone research methodologies toward a holistic and ethical future for wildlife exhibition.

The United States ranks sixth among countries with the most endangered species, with the majority of these species living on, and in the waters surrounding, the Hawaiian islands. In traveling to Hawaii I will have the opportunity to compare the experience of captive versus wild animal encounters while surveying participants across a range of wildlife-viewing sites and activities—zoos and aquaria, national parks and sanctuaries, guided dives and wildlife excursions. I will employ qualitative research strategies such as photo documentation, reflective writing and sketching, informal interviews, and user surveys. By following-up with participants in the months after these experiences, I will investigate the effectiveness of each approach in provoking conservation engagement and behavioral change. These data will be used to develop a framework for best practices in wildlife exhibition and interpretation.

In case you missed our last post, we are excited to announce two IntAr students are awardees if the graduate commons grant this year! The second awardee, Kate Ross (MDes ENE ‘22), will also be continuing her thesis research in wildlife exhibition!

For the past year I’ve been working on my graduate thesis project, an investigation into—and reimaging of—wildlife exhibition. What I’ve found is that captivity is not only an ethical issue, but also a design problem. Amidst unprecedented rates of extinction, it is critical that designers and storytellers help foster connection, care, and concern for animals while acknowledging our entanglements with them. In order to reach audiences in meaningful ways, we must first understand the motivations, behaviors, and expectations of potential visitors. Research into the effectiveness of conservation messaging in exhibit design; the qualities of memorable wildlife encounters; and correlations between captive, representational, and in-situ wildlife interpretation is lacking. Being awarded the Graduate Commons Grant will enable me to enact and hone research methodologies toward a holistic and ethical future for wildlife exhibition.

The United States ranks sixth among countries with the most endangered species, with the majority of these species living on, and in the waters surrounding, the Hawaiian islands. In traveling to Hawaii I will have the opportunity to compare the experience of captive versus wild animal encounters while surveying participants across a range of wildlife-viewing sites and activities—zoos and aquaria, national parks and sanctuaries, guided dives and wildlife excursions. I will employ qualitative research strategies such as photo documentation, reflective writing and sketching, informal interviews, and user surveys. By following-up with participants in the months after these experiences, I will investigate the effectiveness of each approach in provoking conservation engagement and behavioral change. These data will be used to develop a framework for best practices in wildlife exhibition and interpretation.

We are beyond thrilled to announce that two IntAr graduate students are awardees of the graduate commons grant, a competitive annual grant program that supports creative open-ended explorations and goal-oriented projects! One of the students, Grace Caiazza (MDes ENE '22), was awarded to further support her thesis research!

We are surrounded by architecture that denies, prevents, or delays mortality, but almost no architecture that addresses the specific experience of confronting and understanding death for those imminently facing terminal illness. This dire lack was most evident to me during the long process of my mother’s death in 2015. Throughout her illness my family, like so many others in this country, moved between the institutional chaos of the hospital and the fraught, hazy, emotional environment of our home which was burdened with memories of normalcy. With funding from the Graduate Commons Grant I will be travelling to London to research palliative architectures, specifically Maggie's Cancer Care Centers — hospital-adjacent, architecturally significant buildings the sole purpose of which is to provide a space of community and reflection for people with cancer. These centers meet a programmatic and aesthetic need; however, there is no equivalent in the United States, where instead much of our infrastructure for the terminally ill is siphoned into sterile zones of hospice, home care, or hospitals.

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Slide 6: Philip Vile, Snohetta

Meet Gregory Mathieu, representative of the ENE Graduate Class of 2023! Swipe through to see more!

Why did you choose Interior Architecture at RISD?

It is a unique opportunity to dive into the creative side of architectural design. The curriculum allows for significant exploration of individual areas of interest across many departments. Furthermore, the RISD student community is full of talented, motivated students who are an inspiration to one another.

What is something you're looking forward to?

I'm looking forward to continue to refine my specific design interests and pursue specific courses that will enhance my skill set. There are so many exciting courses and really cool projects across the campus that I'm having tons of fun with!

Thank you, Gregory!

Representing the Adaptive Reuse concentration of the graduate Interior Architecture program is Jonathan Bell! Swipe through to see more!

Why did you choose Interior Architecture at RISD?

I did a deep LinkedIn dive before landing on a program and was impressed by the careers INTAR graduates had carved out for themselves. I saw what they were doing and thought to myself, "I want to do that."

What is something you're looking forward to?

I'm learning about product and furniture fabrication in a class called Design for Production. Right now I'm designing a chair that will largely be built by a production partner and can't wait to see it, feel it, and sit in it.

Representing the graduating senior class of 2022 is Shreya Khanna! Swipe through to see more!

What are you currently working on?

My current studio is a collaboration with a university in Spain where we’re building an immersive experience for our client Formica, to showcase what their materials can do! Our design is scheduled to be built for the design week in Barcelona.

What is something about the INTAR program that surprised you?

The collaboration between all the students was something new coming in from Freshman year as we had individual projects at the time. The class size surprised me and I was quite happy that we all got one-on-one time with our professors.

Student work “High as Hope” by Yuting Sun (MDes AR ‘23) as completed for advanced design studio Design Beyond Crisis with instructor Justin W. Cook.

Rhode Island has become the first state in the United States to control overdose deaths by establishing legal drug injection sites since the passage of the relevant bill in 2022. Design Beyond Crisis looks at the social crisis caused by overdose and intends to provide a set of interdisciplinary solutions for it. The project focuses on the design of harm reduction centers that meet the common interests of the community, and is committed to using the power of religion and spatial psychology to help substance users actively return to social life. At the same time, there are a series of historical problems where the site is located, which has led to the loss of vitality of the area, and the project is also seeking the possibility of re-invigorating the vitality of the community.

Student work “Last Sunset: Design to alleviate social isolation for Chinese elderly” by Linghui Li (MDes AR ‘22) as completed for her graduate thesis project!

Design intervention addresses how to promote internal interaction and encourage spontaneous socializing among senior adults to prevent and alleviate potential loneliness.

The design approach mainly focuses on the needs of the elderly. Spatial characteristics are defined by understanding elderly activities and their typology. This design strategy will resolve the existing problematic factors and reuse the original structure to create a convenient and functional public space that fosters the connection between people. Despite its focus on elders, the space is embedded within the community and welcomes participants from outside.

Exciting exhibition and panel discussion events for those interested in sustainable fashion, textile waste, and more! Hidden Threads is an immersive walkthrough exhibition inviting you to confront the problems within the textile world and to explore the behavioral changes and innovative solutions we can utilize to build a more sustainable future. This project has been designed by a RISD/Brown Design For America undergraduate group led by Mary Bibbey and brought to life in partnership with the NGO Around the World in 80 Fabrics and with the help of RISD Professors Markus Berger and Francesca Liuni, and two RISD graduate students!

Exhibition: 11 - 4 PM on May 1-3 @ Repair Atelier- 16 Church St, Providence RI
Secure a ticket here:
https://hiddenthreads.eventbrite.com

If you are curious to learn more, consider attending the Hidden Threads panel discussion!
Our natural ecosystems & human societies have suffered in the wake of fast fashion's large footprint. Plastics and other pollutants have pervaded our food webs on land, in the sea, and working conditions for many in the textile industry remain dangerous, undervalued, and unhealthy. We need to radically rethink what we wear and waste, acknowledge makers, and better understand the raw materials that comprise our modern wardrobes.
Following presentations from the panelist highlighting the urgent issue of fast fashion’s environmental footprint, Brown '22 undergraduate Mary Bibbey will moderate a lively panel discussion and Q&A exploring all manner of technological, cultural, and ecological solutions.

Panelists include:
Cofounders of the nonprofit Around the World in 80 Fabrics Marine Biologist and National Geographic Explorer, Dr. Tierney Thys and Anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer Carroll Dunham; Internationally recognized designer, textile artist, and RISD Professor Charlotte McCurdy, and; Acumen Fellow, Natalie F. Grillon, the Executive Director of Open Apparel Registry (OAR), a platform established to facilitate collaboration and transparency in the apparel industry.

Panel Discussion: 6:30 - 8 PM on May 1st @ LIST 120
Secure a ticket here: https://hiddenthreads-paneldiscussion.eventbrite.com

Intar Advanced Studio RECALL visit Jenks Park, home of Cogswell Tower in Central Falls, Rhode Island with instructor Jonathan Bell! In this advanced studio, students examine memorials and leverage spaces between forgetting and remembering by focusing on sites of commemoration that embody specific stories. Over the course of three projects, students have firsthand opportunities to propose adaptations and interventions that confront objects, spaces, interiority, memory, and perception. For the intervention of this project, students seek to answer the question: How might this site reidentify itself for Central Falls today?

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Representing the Adaptive Reuse concentration of the IntAr MDes Class of 2023 is Grace Barrett! Swipe through to see more!

What’re you currently working on?

In my advanced studio this semester we are working on Espai Col·lectiu, a collaborative project between RISD and Elisava School of Design and Engineering led by the Musing-Selles design practice. Our intervention, sponsored by Formica, will create a de-capitalized, inclusive public space focused on the idea of collective living. We will transform the existing site through a series of spatial, audio, and visual installations, creating both gathering spaces and moments of introspection. It will be built and open to the public during Barcelona Design Week 2022!

Why did you choose Interior Architecture at RISD?

I chose Interior Architecture at RISD because it provided the academic path I was interested in, specifically the study of adaptive reuse, but further than that I was drawn to the community in the IntAr department!

Thank you, Grace!

Representing the Exhibition and Narrative Environments concentration of the IntAr MDes Class of 2022 is Kate Ross! Swipe through to see more!

What’re you currently working on?

Thesis! For my thesis project I am rethinking wildlife exhibition and questioning where and how wildlife are "exhibited" as well as which animals we pay attention to. In light of accelerated rates of extinction, it's important that more people have more meaningful encounters with wildlife so that we might develop interspecies empathy and exercise care and concern for the environment we share. I'm proposing a non-captive, cohabitated experience for viewing urban wildlife.

Why did you choose Interior Architecture at RISD?

Exhibition design is so multifaceted that there are numerous programs and frameworks for studying it, each with their own emphasis such as curatorial, interaction, graphics, etc. The Exhibition and Narrative Environments program at RISD stood out because I saw an opportunity to specialize in the interdisciplinary field of ENE while being rooted in the established discipline and department that is IntAr.

Thank you, Kate!

We are very proud to share that a team of RISD IntAr and Arch students won first place in the 38th Edition “culturEart” 24H Competition with their project “Cultural Center of the Future”! Congratulations, Yijun Yan (BFA IntAr 23’), Yuchen Liu (MArch 2’‘), and July (Ruyue) Qi (BArch 24’)!

“In a landscape where nothing of value officially exists (otherwise it would not be called a desert), absolutely anything becomes thinkable and may consequently happen.” – Reyner Banham
We aim to design a multidisciplinary space that should welcome all forms of art, not forgetting the importance and weight that the new digital age already has on society. Boundless, fluid, and unpredictable. The everchanging desert can perhaps be seen as a pristine form of thoughts, identities, and locales. To see the world in a grain of sand, like desert humanity’s cultures change incessantly. At the northern route of the ancient Silk Road, we introspect, we reflect upon the very essence of each one of our cultures. The low-lying, organic shape resembles a rise in the landscape, and will use local materials and regional construction techniques. A careful balance between accessibility and privacy is achieved through intimate proximity between the three volumes.

Jury’s Comments:
"The ability of a form to assert itself and be able to multiply itself is the enabler of its value. Faced with a consumerist society, sustainability in the economy of means is commendable." Mário Chaves, arch.

“A more traditional approach to a multidisciplinary space. The project is intemporal and gives us a place of gathering.” Ana Lagoa, arch.

Intar Advanced Computing: Digital Fabrication class visit HYPARBOLE at the Fine Arts Center of Rhode Island College with instructor Bob Pavlik! In this course, students engage in desktop making tools to foster familiarity with digital fabrication and generate new tectonic forms through abstract geometrical principles. HYPARBOLE, a multifaceted aluminum hyperbolic surface with three paraboloid edges by is a great example of structural experimentation with computational design.

Pictures 2-5 by !

You’re invited to an INTAR lecture coming upon Tuesday, April 19th, at noon!

Margaret Zyro is an exhibition designer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Her work at the Met includes Shapes from Out of Nowhere: Ceramics from the Rober A. Ellison Jr. Collection, Surrealism Beyond Borders, and Louise
Bourgeois-Paintings, which is now on view at the Met.

Margaret has a multidisciplinary background in fine art, design, architecture, set production, and digital fabrication, and she worked at multiple design and architecture studios in New York prior to the Met.

During the lecture, Margaret will focus on Surrealism Beyond Borders, the most recent and her largest show at the Met. There will be a Q&A session following her presentation.

This is a Zoom lecture, and it will be broadcast from CIT 103. Everyone is welcome to join in CIT room 103 or via Zoom: https://risd.zoom.us/j/92775951073?pwd=WG8zVE1MeTFLWGdxNjFBYmRUbnZnUT09.

*This lecture is organized as part of [INTAR 23ST-06: Museum Like Nature], taught by INTAR Critic Youngjin Song.

Student work “Regenerative Residences: Shrinking Stress Levels in the Sky” by Peter de Lande Long (MDes AR ‘22) as completed for Design Thesis midterm with Thesis Advisor Eduardo Benamor Duarte.

Issues of overcrowding and overstimulation plague urban environments, which exacerbate social isolation and, in turn, heighten city dwellers’ levels of stress and anxiety. How can architecture mediate stimuli to be positively conducive to mood, behavior, and overall health? Given that social isolation is an intrinsically spatial issue that design can address, this thesis proposes a small-scale community living model with the intent of improving mental health and clarity for a user group of young, mentally-vulnerable professionals in New York City.

16 E 16th Street becomes the architectural framework for addressing these issues. Considering the building’s current context within Manhattan and how the idea of building congestion is synergistic with the idea of temporal density (or cultural congestion), this thesis strives to create an architectural pause by subtracting void spaces and detaching the new program from the existing facade, which will be utilized as a divisive ‘privacy screen.’ To allow the residents to feel protected from outside overstimulation, the derivation of stimuli rule sheet (or stimuli gradient) is the central guiding principle to which architectural moves and spatial planning decisions will adhere. By moving away from the capitalistic narrative of attempting to squeeze as many units as possible into a building, this thesis strives to create a collection of organized oases within a concrete jungle.

Student work “Deconstructed Memory of Annmary Brown Memorial” by Millie Yang (MDes ENE ‘23) as completed for advanced design studio RECALL with Instructor Jonathan Bell.

The original collection that General Rush Hawkins assembled during his lifetime— and for which he commissioned the design of the Annmary Brown Memorial— has by now been partially expropriated. The project proposes a new building program and series of interventions and reimagines the Annmary Brown Memorial’s life for the next 40 years.
The memorial intervention is an evocative space that transforms the interior and exterior spatial relationship. It will lead visitors to a calm reflection of life and death. Carlo Scarpa noted “I wanted to show some ways in which you could approach death in a social and civic way; and further what meaning there was in death, in the ephemerality of life – other than these shoe-boxes.”

In continuation of our IntAr student rep features, we are happy to introduce Liberty Chapman, representing the BFA Class of 2023! Swipe through to see more!


What are you currently working on?

Currently in RECALL advanced studio Monuments and Memorials

Why did you choose Interior Architecture at RISD?

I am interested in exhibition design and experiential design, also enjoy set design

Another exciting lecture, tomorrow at 2pm- Hope you can join!

"The lecture is part of the INTAR Advanced Design Design Studio Progress Report taught by Francesca Liuni in collaboration with Brown University's professor Steven Lubar and his course in the Public Humanities Program. The class is developing design proposals for the upcoming exhibition Reimagining New England Histories: Historical Injustice, Sovereignty and Freedom, a community exhibit led by Senior curator Akeia de Barros Gomes at Mystic Seaport Museum (CT). As articulated by Gomes ''the exhibit aims to use the sea as one lens to grapple with intertwined histories of Indigenous, African, and African-American experiences in the Northeast, and the closely related impacts of colonization and enslavement that have so deeply affected multiple communities. Equally important, the project aims to foreground the continuous work Black communities and Native nations and tribes have undertaken to maintain sovereignty, freedom, self-determination, and cultural thriving in this region".
The project is funded through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's Just Future grant program and co-organized by the Center for the study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University, Williams College, and Mystic Seaport Museum.

The class will host another lecture in May: Nancy Bercaw, curator of Political History and Deputy Director at the Center of Restorative History of the NMAH, who will talk about her work at NMAAHC, and her present work at NMAH.

Welcome back to campus, all! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Black Biennial, currently on view in the Gelman Gallery until April 10th. IntAr graduate student Esther Akintoye’s (MDes 22, AR) photography project, “My Black Hair,” is featured in the exhibition. Don’t miss it!

My Black Hair is an ongoing photo series that began in 2018 prior to legislation surrounding the CROWN Act. This project documents Black hair with a goal of normalizing Black hairstyles. Black hair is often misinterpreted as “untamed,” “wild” or “unprofessional” when left in its natural state or styled in protective styles such as braids, twists, locs, etc. Unfortunately, at other times it is culturally appropriated which takes ownership away from a group of people who have deep ancestral roots to this part of their identity. Because of a lack of understanding and awareness many people of color have faced discrimination due to their hair. This photo series aims to challenge preconceived notions while celebrating Black hair and hairstyles.

Spring break is just around the corner! As we approach the thick of midterm season, students on the third floor of CIT are preparing models, drawings, and presentations for midterm critique the following week. We wish you all a healthy and restful break!

The advanced design studio Museum Like Nature, led by instructor Youngjin Song, recently went on a field trip to the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History where they consulted with the Biomimicry New England Foundation and gathered inspiration for their biomimicry exhibition design systems, structures, and materials!

This studio addresses questions such as: Can this exhibition design itself be an example of biomimicry? Can this exhibition extend its narrative to larger conversations around climate change and function as a call for action? Can this exhibition engage with and support the local community of Cape Cod and bring lasting impacts on environmental awareness and education? In the face of climate change and mass extinction, we look to biomimicry as both a new way of looking at nature and a way to save ourselves from losing the very grounds we stand.

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Being in their final semester, the MDes students are busy working on their design theses! In IntAr, there are two MDes concentrations: Adaptive Reuse and Exhibition and Narrative Environments. Each student chooses their own thesis topic and site and spends multiple semesters exploring theoretical and creative frameworks based around their research and design philosophies. They began investigating ideas of interiority in their first year, prepared their design proposals and research in the Fall, and are now working with IntAr faculty, practitioners, stakeholders, and academics to complete their thesis in the Spring.

We are excited to introduce our IntAr student reps! Representing the BFA Class of 2024 is Tiantong Alice Zhang from Tianjin, China. Swipe through to see more!

What are you currently working on?

The sophomore studio is currently working with collage and gesture models from a local site as well as an international site to practice scaling skills and the ability to capture spatial depth in both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional formats.

What is something about the INTAR program that surprised you?

Intar is really like being a family where everyone is actively helping each other; Sometimes it takes a little push from others to get where you wanted.
Therefore being able to work on the same project and having feedback between peers is very inspiring.

Thank you, Tiantong!

Another exciting lecture happening today! The lecture is part of the INTAR Advanced Design Design Studio Progress Report taught by Francesca Liuni in collaboration with Brown University's professor Steven Lubar and his course in the Public Humanities Program. The class is developing design proposals for the upcoming exhibition “Reimagining New England Histories: Historical Injustice, Sovereignty and Freedom,” a community exhibit led by Senior curator Akeia de Barros Gomes at Mystic Seaport Museum (CT). As articulated by Gomes, “the exhibit aims to use the sea as one lens to grapple with intertwined histories of Indigenous, African, and African-American experiences in the Northeast, and the closely related impacts of colonization and enslavement that have so deeply affected multiple communities. Equally important, the project aims to foreground the continuous work Black communities and Native nations and tribes have undertaken to maintain sovereignty, freedom, self-determination, and cultural thriving in this region."

The project is funded through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's Just Future grant program and co-organized by the Center for the study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University, Williams College, and Mystic Seaport Museum.

The class will host two other lectures in April and May: L'Rai Arthur Mensah, Senior Project Manager at Local Projects, who will talk about the Greenwood Rising Museum in Tulsa (OK), and Nancy Bercaw, curator of Political History and Deputy Director at the Center of Restorative History of the NMAH, who will talk about her work at NMAAHC, and her present work at NMAH.

We hope you can join us!