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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RISD Board of Trustees Names Landmark Building for
Roger Mandle, President, Rhode Island School of Design
Jaime Marland, spokesperson: 401 427-6954 jmarland@risd.edu
Liz O’Neil, Vice-President, Communications + Design: 401 413-0806 eoneil@risd.edu
October 29, 2007, Providence, RI
— Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) today announced that the
landmark 15 Westminster Street property, home to the award-winning
Fleet Library at RISD and residences for 500 students, will be named for Roger Mandle, the longest serving RISD president since the early 20th century. In a resolution passed on October 27, RISD’s Board of Trustees voted to name the former Rhode Island Hospital Trust Building
at 15 Westminster Street as The Roger Mandle Building: The Rhode Island School of Design Living and Learning Center.
Roger
Mandle’s extraordinary tenure as the president of Rhode Island School
of Design has been one of expansive growth and visionary achievement, a
period in which his accomplishments since 1994 have positioned the
school for continued success in the decades ahead. Mandle announced in
February that he would not seek renewal of his contract, which expires
in July 2008. A search for his successor is currently underway.
Within
the last five years, the Mandle Building has been redeveloped by RISD as
an innovative living and learning hub in the heart of downtown
Providence, contributing to the ongoing revitalization of the city. The
project represents a dynamic example of adaptive reuse: a contemporary
arts library housed within a classical, 1917 historic landmark and new
residential space for 500 of RISD’s 2,300 students, boosting the percentage of students
living on campus from 38 to 55 percent. This signature building along
the Providence waterfront has also played key role in creating a new
front door for the campus, establishing a connecting gateway between
the college’s East Side facilities and the wider Providence community.
On hearing of the Board of Trustees’ vote to bestow this honor, RISD President Roger Mandle was “overcome with gratitude to them and to the RISD community for the extraordinary opportunity to serve with them over the past 15 years. We have accomplished so much together. The living and learning center that now bears my name is physical testimony to our vision of a community of creative people, living and working within the framework of cultural knowledge, exploring together new horizons of creativity.”
Dedicated
in October 2006 at the successful conclusion of RISD’s Future by Design Capital Campaign, the Fleet Library at RISD occupies the first two
floors of the former bank and office building. Designed by the Boston
architecture firm Office dA, the new library has been recognized with
awards from the American Institute of Architects and American Library
Association, and from the Providence Preservation Society. The design
team, led by RISD alumnus Nader Tehrani (RISD BArch ’86) and Monica
Ponce de Leon, worked with great sensitivity to transform the historic
beaux arts banking hall into a welcoming full-service art and design
library serving the RISD community and the public at large.
Above
the two floors of the library, nine floors of living and work space
opened in September 2005 to address a pressing need for more student
housing and demonstrate RISD’s sensitivity to the different ways
artists use their living spaces. With so much of students’ work focused
on art-making, flexible living space that is located close to the
research hub of the library allows for an organic, continual process of
learning, experimentation, interaction and inspiration. Designed with
guidance from alumna Janet Stegman (RISD BArch ’78) of
Stegman+Associates, and with input from the student body, the
residential units incorporate an appreciation for the needs of various
art disciplines and work styles. Furnishings in the rooms were designed
by a team of RISD faculty members in the Department of Furniture
Design. This team, working as DEZCO furniture design llc, included John
Dunnigan (RISD MFA ’80), Rosanne Somerson (RISD BFA ’76) and Peter
Walker. Completing the facility’s mixed-use living and learning
concept, the first floor features a 110-seat cafÈ, Portfolio.
According
to Chairman of the Board Merrill W. Sherman, “Because of President
Mandle’s leadership and vision RISD is now firmly established among
internationally renowned academic institutions. President Mandle’s 2008
departure from RISD will mark the close of an historic chapter, and the
Board is very grateful for his passion and commitment.”
ABOUT THE ROGER MANDLE BUILDING:
THE RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN LIVING AND LEARNING CENTER
• Designed by York & Sawyer and built in 1917, 300,000 square feet, 12 stories high, signature H-shape with two towers.
• FleetBoston Financial Inc., the building’s prior owner, donated the
Italian High Renaissance-style bank hall on the ground level, and the
floor directly above it, to RISD in 2002.
• The upper 10 floors were purchased, renovated and sold to RISD by Gilbane Properties, Inc.
• The project created on-campus housing for 500 RISD students,
an almost 60% increase over the residences previously available for
2,300 students.
ABOUT RISD
Rhode Island School of Design has earned a worldwide reputation as the
preeminent art and design college in the country. Today, with more than
20,000 alumni, the college enrolls roughly 1,900 undergraduates and 400
graduate students from the United States and almost 50 countries,
offering degree programs in the fine arts, architecture, and design
disciplines, and art education. Academic programs include research and
design initiatives, the exploration of art criticism and contemporary
cultural concerns, as well as international exchange programs. Each
year, RISD hosts prominent and accomplished artists, critics, and
authors to its campus. Included within the college is The RISD Museum
of Art, which houses a world-class collection of art-objects from
Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome and art of all periods from Asia,
Europe, and the Americas, as well as the latest in contemporary art.
For more information, go to www.risd.edu.
IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
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