HOW DOES RISD’S PROGRAM DIFFER FROM OTHER ARCHITECTURE PROGRAMS?
All accredited schools of architecture in the US (and Canada) must offer their graduates a degree that is compatible with professional licensing requirements. This is as true of a university-based program as it is of an arts based program. In other words, the March degree carries the same value and licensing opportunities whether you attend RISD or one of the other university-based schools of architecture.

The primary differences, if one sets aside such vital items as pedagogic intent and philosophy, are in the spectrum of course offerings and the size of the schools. RISD offers a relatively small program with a high proportion of full-time to part-time faculty, neither of which holds true of some of the university-based programs. While the university-based programs offer a broad range of research based and liberal arts course offerings, RISD offers a very strong array of fine arts, design and studio based (i.e. fabrication based) courses. This includes such obvious things as painting or graphic design, and also metal working, glass fabrication, etc.

If you wish to broaden your access to liberal arts courses, RISD also has a Division of Liberal Arts, a Division of Graduate Studies and a reciprocal relationship with Brown University, allowing you to take any and all of the (non-capped) courses there. The schedules of the two institutions are not always easily compatible, and the workloads are also quite a lot to juggle, but for a motivated student there is support to ensure success with these courses.

The students at RISD are highly diverse, drawn from throughout the world and visually and culturally literate. They are open minded, with few of the pretensions or unfounded demands sometimes found at other schools. It is important to understand that the Department of Architecture fully integrates graduate and undergraduate students in studio courses, allowing the visual literacy, energy and hunger for experimentation common to the undergraduates to commingle with the discipline and maturity of the graduate students.

The result is quite powerful for both sets of students. The full- and part-time faculty in the Department of Architecture openly discusses issues of pedagogy and values. The consensus on what students should learn at RISD can be described as the:
• linking of form and content,
• linking of hand, eye and mind,
• necessity of the skill to abstract and analyze,
• expansion of the definition of architectural practice,
• engagement with a broader public,
• nurturing of inclusiveness in our pedagogy and our life as an institution

IS GREEN DESIGN PART OF THE PROGRAM?
The definition of “green” design is evolving in the same way that the term “modernism” gained meaning as the work that defined it was being generated. The Department of Architecture is committed to work that understands architecture as part of a volatile system in constant homeostasis, and not as an act of resistance to the forces of nature.

This approach is evident by analogy in the way design is approached on an organic, iterative model and equally evident in the curricular inclusion of such initiatives as the Solar Decathlon, studios on wood and bamboo as sustainable resources, and a series of projects now under development in Mexico, Costa Rica and Africa.

New course offerings, such as the Integrated Building Systems sequence and electives on High Performance Structures, High Performance Criteria and Innovative Building Systems, address student and faculty interest in and commitment to environmentally cautious, architecturally stunning work.

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN AN APPLICANT PORTFOLIO?
We look for signs of potential for architectural studies over prior experience or knowledge. Architectural potential can be defined through faculties of spatial cognition, material reasoning, imagination, sensibility, critical thinking, analytical thinking and abstraction. These can be made evident through any combination of the following: freehand drawing from life, prior design work, fabrication, photography, other studio artwork and even creative writing. We do not discourage students who have no background in architectural studies from applying.

WHAT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS AVAILABLE TO ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE STUDENTS?
A limited number of fellowships are offered to accepted candidates on a merit basis. There is no need to apply; accepted applicants will be notified upon admission if they are being offered a fellowship. These are given annually as long as a 3.0 average is maintained. A number of assistant ships are offered each year at the beginning of fall semester. Assistantships are given for projects defined by the department and by individual faculty members. The projects may be research related, technical monitoring of shops or other facilities, administrative, teaching assistantships, or work in producing a publication, for example. A very limited number of Presidential Scholarships are given to outstanding applicants who are African American, Asian American Hispanic and from other under represented communities.