Interior Architecture is essentially a spatial art that differs from both architecture and interior design in its full commitment to rethinking the life of existing buildings — through design alterations, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse. At RISD, the program requires that you consider all relevant issues, including structure, building services and questions of environmental stewardship.

As an Interior Architecture major, you will choose among three specializations or ìpathwaysî through advanced design studios, focusing on design for the theater, exhibition design or retail design. Completion of the core curriculum ensures that you will graduate with a sound grasp of everything you need to relate to fellow professionals in the building industry and allied fields.

RISD’s Interior Architecture professors share a commitment to sustainability and a belief that their profession need not cater only to the wealthy. Having long volunteered at soup kitchens and homeless shelters, Professor Liliane Wong has incorporated her interest in affordable housing into studios on sustainable modular solutions and on designing and building site-specific furnishings for transitional shelters in Boston. Why focus on projects like these instead of more typical private residences? “We want students to see that design has a wide spectrum and can be used as a tool in a larger human context,” Wong says — “that it’s not just for people who can afford to pay for it.”

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