Brett Schneider

Associate Professor
Image
Brett Schneider head shot
BA, Williams College
ME, Princeton University

Brett Schneider is educated as both an architect and an engineer. After earning his BA from Williams College in art history (with honors) and astrophysics in 1994, Schneider pursued joint Master’s degrees in architecture and structural engineering at Princeton University, graduating with a Master’s in engineering in 2000.



Schneider teaches structural engineering, integrated design and design studios at RISD. He was a visiting critic at the Yale School of Architecture in 2022–23 and a visiting lecturer in architecture at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University in 2021–22. He has previously been visiting faculty at Parsons the New School for Design (School of Constructed Environments), the College of Architecture Art and Planning at Cornell University, and the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University.

Schneider has practiced at Guy Nordenson and Associates (structural engineers) in New York, NY since 1998 and is currently a senior associate. Significant recent projects include Day’s End with the artist David Hammons for the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Menil Drawing Institute with Johnston MarkLee. He was the winner of the Lakefront Kiosk Competition for the 2015 Chicago Architectural Biennial and corresponding BP Prize with Aaron Forrest and Yasmin Vobis (Ultramoderne) for Chicago Horizon. This innovative pavilion using super-laminated CLT to make a monolithic timber roof was also a recipient of US WoodWorks’ Wood Design Award (2016), an Architect Magazine R+D Citation (2016), a SEAoNY Excellence in Structural Engineering Award (Other Structures, 2017) and an AIA RI Honor Award (2017).

In 2017, Schneider was commissioned by the Architectural League of New York to design and erect a site-specific installation to transform an industrial space at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for their Beaux Arts Ball. The installation, which included a 450-ft transforming curtain of burlap and canvas hung with funicular lines of paracord from the existing structure, was a collaboration with Elizabeth Hodges, RISD students Farinaz Moslemi MArch 18 and Andrea Kelly MArch 18, and others. It is notable that this is the only time the ALNY has asked an engineer rather than an architect to design the installation for the Beaux Arts Ball.



Current research includes a project in collaboration with Aaron Forrest and Yasmin Vobis (Ultramoderne and UC Berkeley) titled Heterogenous Constructions, which looks at the implications of material heterogeneity in construction as a cultural practice through the use of full-color, technical drawings of global case studies and speculative construction projects. These drawings and a collection of related essays is expected to be published in a book with same name in 2024.

Courses

Fall 2023 Courses

ARCH 2196-06 - THESIS SEM: NAVIGATING THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Seminar
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ARCH 2196-06

THESIS SEM: NAVIGATING THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Seminar
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: W | 1:10 PM - 4:10 PM Instructor(s): Brett Schneider Location(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 117 Enrolled / Capacity: 12 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

We begin work on your Thesis Projects from the outset of the semester: navigating arbitrary beginnings; setting boundaries like nets; developing a whole language of grunts, smudges and haiku; gathering the unique and unrepeatable content, forces, and conditions of your project; hunting an emerging and fleeting idea; recognizing discoveries; projecting forward with the imagination; and distilling glyphs, diagrams and insight plans.This course satisfies the prerequisite requirement for Thesis Project.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $50.00 - $200.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | BArch, MArch (3yr), MArch (2yr): Architecture

ARCH 2252-01 / LAEL 2252-01 - PHENOMENA
Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Liberal Arts Elective Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ARCH 2252-01 / LAEL 2252-01

PHENOMENA

Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Liberal Arts Elective Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: T | 1:10 PM - 4:10 PM Instructor(s): Brett Schneider Location(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 106 Enrolled / Capacity: 50 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

As artists and designers our understanding of the physical universe can be a fundamental part of our engagement with our context and in production of our creative work. This course includes an introduction to selected fundamentals of physics: momentum, thermodynamics, and waves and optics - all part of the basis for Architectural Technology. These fundamental phenomena are to be considered both through their mathematical application and expression as concepts in contemporary art. Content to be examined through mathematical problem solving, critical reading, and lab sessions using both physical measurement and digital simulation in Python programming language.

Offered as ARCH-2252 and LAEL-2252.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Open to non-major Sophomore, Junior or Senior Undergraduate Students.

Major Requirement | BArch: Architecture

ARCH 252G-01 / LAEL 252G-01 - PHENOMENA
Level Graduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Liberal Arts Elective Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ARCH 252G-01 / LAEL 252G-01

PHENOMENA

Level Graduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Liberal Arts Elective Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: T | 1:10 PM - 4:10 PM Instructor(s): Brett Schneider Location(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 106 Enrolled / Capacity: 30 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

As artists and designers our understanding of the physical universe can be a fundamental part of our engagement with our context and in production of our creative work. This course includes an introduction to selected fundamentals of physics: momentum, thermodynamics, and waves and optics - all part of the basis for Architectural Technology. These fundamental phenomena are to be considered both through their mathematical application and expression as concepts in contemporary art. Content to be examined through mathematical problem solving, critical reading, and lab sessions using both physical measurement and digital simulation in Python programming language.

Offered as ARCH-252G or LAEL-252G.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Open to non-major Graduate Students.

Major Requirement | MArch: Architecture (3yr)

ARCH 2252-01 / LAEL 2252-01 - PHENOMENA
Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Liberal Arts Elective Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ARCH 2252-01 / LAEL 2252-01

PHENOMENA

Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Liberal Arts Elective Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: T | 1:10 PM - 4:10 PM Instructor(s): Brett Schneider Location(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 106 Enrolled / Capacity: 50 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

As artists and designers our understanding of the physical universe can be a fundamental part of our engagement with our context and in production of our creative work. This course includes an introduction to selected fundamentals of physics: momentum, thermodynamics, and waves and optics - all part of the basis for Architectural Technology. These fundamental phenomena are to be considered both through their mathematical application and expression as concepts in contemporary art. Content to be examined through mathematical problem solving, critical reading, and lab sessions using both physical measurement and digital simulation in Python programming language.

Offered as ARCH-2252 and LAEL-2252.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Open to non-major Sophomore, Junior or Senior Undergraduate Students.

Major Requirement | BArch: Architecture

ARCH 252G-01 / LAEL 252G-01 - PHENOMENA
Level Graduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Liberal Arts Elective Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ARCH 252G-01 / LAEL 252G-01

PHENOMENA

Level Graduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Liberal Arts Elective Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: T | 1:10 PM - 4:10 PM Instructor(s): Brett Schneider Location(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 106 Enrolled / Capacity: 30 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

As artists and designers our understanding of the physical universe can be a fundamental part of our engagement with our context and in production of our creative work. This course includes an introduction to selected fundamentals of physics: momentum, thermodynamics, and waves and optics - all part of the basis for Architectural Technology. These fundamental phenomena are to be considered both through their mathematical application and expression as concepts in contemporary art. Content to be examined through mathematical problem solving, critical reading, and lab sessions using both physical measurement and digital simulation in Python programming language.

Offered as ARCH-252G or LAEL-252G.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Open to non-major Graduate Students.

Major Requirement | MArch: Architecture (3yr)

Spring 2024 Courses

ARCH 2198-06 - THESIS PROJECT
Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Spring 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ARCH 2198-06

THESIS PROJECT

Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Spring 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: MTH | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Brett Schneider Location(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 402 Enrolled / Capacity: 12 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Under the supervision of a faculty advisor, students are responsible for the preparation and completion of an independent thesis project.

Estimated Materials Cost: $50.00 - $200.00

Permission for this class is based on the student's overall academic record, as well as their performance in the Wintersession course ARCH 2197: Thesis Discursive Workshop. If the department recommends against a student undertaking ARCH-2198: Thesis Project, two advanced elective studios must be taken instead.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | BArch, MArch (3yr), MArch (2yr): Architecture

ARCH 2253-01 - ARCHITECTURAL ANATOMY
Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ARCH 2253-01

ARCHITECTURAL ANATOMY

Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: F | 1:10 PM - 4:10 PM Instructor(s): Brett Schneider Location(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 106 Enrolled / Capacity: 80 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Introduction to technical building systems - Structure, Environmental and Enclosure - and their integration with an emphasis on quantifying performance and increasing sustainability. Content includes survey of these three system types - typical components, basis of performance, and analysis of performance - and introduction to related conventions of construction and architectural detailing to realize them.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Preference is given to Sophomore Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | BArch: Architecture

ARCH 253G-01 - ARCHITECTURAL ANATOMY
Level Graduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ARCH 253G-01

ARCHITECTURAL ANATOMY

Level Graduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: F | 1:10 PM - 4:10 PM Instructor(s): Brett Schneider Location(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 106 Enrolled / Capacity: 80 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Introduction to technical building systems - Structure, Environmental and Enclosure - and their integration with an emphasis on quantifying performance and increasing sustainability. Content includes survey of these three system types - typical components, basis of performance, and analysis of performance - and introduction to related conventions of construction and architectural detailing to realize them.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to first-year MArch (3yr) Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MArch: Architecture (3yr)

Image
Brett Schneider head shot
BA, Williams College
ME, Princeton University