Courses
Fall 2022
Advanced Furniture Studio
This is a required studio for seniors that develops advanced theory and practice in furniture design. Projects include experimental seating design and an introduction to upholstery techniques. Seniors develop a Degree Project Proposal along with a project that explores and tests the proposal. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Cabinets, Doors and Drawers
This course will provide an opportunity for students to design and make cabinets of various types with doors and drawers. Students will learn the subtleties of casework and fitting doors, drawers and hardware. While a wide range of design approaches from very simple to complex will be encouraged, this course will be an especially good opportunity for those students who wish to explore advanced woodworking. Elective; Furniture Design majors only. Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.
CAD Modeling For Furniture Designers
This course will provide students with a high level of competency and an increased sensitivity to the creative potential that CAD modeling presents to designers. Students will be introduced to the fundamental concepts and technologies of CAD using Rhinoceros. There will be expenses associated with outputting services (printing, rapid prototyping and/or CNC machining). Elective Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.
Collaborative Study
A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows two students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of independent study. Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered.
Design & Processes
The junior studio expands and interprets the skills and concepts introduced in the sophomore studios. The primary focus of the semester is an experimentally based investigation of bending and forming techniques - molded plywood, bent lamination, steam bending, and vacuum-formed plastic. While focused on the use of wood and plastic materials, an experimental approach is expected in the studio. Students are encouraged to conceptually explore skills and materials to develop a personal design approach and studio practice. The semester culminates in a final design, in which students utilize learned techniques to create one-offs, objects intended for batch production or prototypes designed for production. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Drawing Furniture 2-D
Drawing for Furniture 2D will focus on the ways in which drawing can help generate, evaluate and communicate design concepts. Students will be introduced to the conventions and techniques of technical drawing for Furniture Design while pursuing experiments that supplement and challenge established practices. Focus will be on two drawing systems, orthographic and paraline projection, working by hand and with computers. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Form In Metals
In this junior studio students are presented with the idea of using metal to develop furniture forms. While the primary metal used to investigate form is mild steel, properties and techniques are also presented that apply to stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass and bronze. Students become proficient in TIG welding, and are introduced to arc welding, spot welding, gas welding, brazing and soldering. Basic structural properties of steel are investigated through a series of short projects designed to inform students of the appropriate forms and applications. Basic and more advanced fabrication techniques, metal surface treatments, as well as metal finishing are also topics of class demonstrations. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Furniture Design Senior Seminar
In this course we examine individual studio practices in depth through collecting, drawing, and writing. We approach writing as a mutable medium, one that can be built up, torn apart, cobbled together, patch-worked, polished, shined, exploded, and altogether constructed in a way that is not dissimilar to the way an object emerges in the studio. We examine the ways that writing as a part of making can spark ideas for visual work, enrich subliminal visual narratives, connect ideas that may seem disparate, collect a wide variety of sources in a small space, act as a place for reflection, and ultimately be an active and integral part of making. In the process, we will unearth themes that permeate students' artistic work in a way that forges future paths for creative exploration while protecting some of the mysteries that are particular to an embodied practice. Students will begin to develop a personal vocabulary that parallels the richly developed language of their visual work, laying the foundation for their Senior Degree Project. The primary aim of this class is for students to develop a better understanding of their own practice and its context through writing and archiving influences and inspirations, laying the conceptual foundation and establishing a specific theme for the spring semester Senior Degree Project Report. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Furniture Design Thesis Seminar
This graduate seminar is organized in parallel with the Graduate Furniture Design Thesis studio for the purpose of guiding the written thesis document. The goal is to provide students with a focused opportunity to map their thesis projects and to create the document that supports their studio practice and body of work known as the thesis. Open seniors, fifth-year seniors, and graduate students. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration. Open to non-majors pending seat availability and permission of Instructor.
Graduate Furniture Design I
This course concentrates on the exploration of personal design aesthetics and the development of furniture projects that exhibit a high degree of technical proficiency. Graduate major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Graduate Furniture Design III
This course concentrates on projects that begin the thesis body of work. Advanced design and technical processes are continued as part of this process. Graduate major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Introduction To Materials and Process
This course focuses on material and process investigations that lead to a higher degree of technical proficiency providing students with an expanded foundation on which to carry out their ideas. The content of the course emphasizes how exploration and application operate in both pragmatic and unorthodox ways and reinforces ideas of how critical making and material investigation can lead to innovation. The technical aspects of production and outsourcing will also be examined. Estimated Materials Cost: $150.00 Graduate major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
ISP Major
The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.
Professional Internship
The professional Internship provides valuable exposure to a professional setting, enabling students to better establish a career path and define practical aspirations. Internship proposals are carefully vetted to determine legitimacy and must meet the contact hour requirements listed in the RISD Course Announcement.
Professional Practice
This course will prepare Juniors for life after RISD and the start of their professional careers. With a focus on discovering and articulating each individual's personal goals, students will develop strategies to put them on course towards a fulfilling, sustainable and growth-oriented career. Students will be engaged with many of the concerns a practicing designer faces, financial, social, legal and other-wise as they navigate the various industries, they derive their livelihood from. A primary concern of the course will be developing skills and materials that students can use in the pursuit of opportunities, including a resume and website. Additionally, guest speakers will provide students access to experts in relevant fields including: licensing, media and publishing, retail and legal. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Research Elective
Students will research specific furniture themes and materials in a variety of contexts including external partnerships. Spring 2023: Section 01: The Hyundai Research Collaborative is a part of a longstanding collaboration between RISD and the Hyundai Motor Group. This approach offers an understanding of the practical challenges of a major technology company, while creating solutions that center just societies, new ways of making and knowing, and sustainable futures. Using scientific methodologies combined with design thinking, students will draw from four main areas: symbiosis and coexistence in crisis, organic interiors, energy management, and autonomous driving. Section 02: Herman Miller & the Eameses Throughout the career of Charles and Ray Eames, the furniture brand Herman Miller was one of their most important collaborators. Herman Miller was the producer of nearly all of their furniture designs and relied on the Eameses for design leadership in manufacturing, communications, and architectural projects. In 1954, the Eameses designed the Depree House in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the then-president of Herman Miller. Recently, several Sycamore trees on this property were removed and have been milled into lumber. Herman Miller approached the department of Furniture Design in seeking a fitting use of this material. This design-oriented Research Elective course will engage students in working with this material and in learning about the unique partnership of the Eameses and Herman Miller. Using this wood, students will design and create original furniture that aspires to the research, design, and production legacy of the Eameses and Herman Miller. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Permission of Instructor required.
Sophomore Design Methods
This studio course introduces materials commonly used in furniture making and the foundation skills necessary to integrate them into furniture. Emphasis is on techniques, structures and materials properties. These are integrated with theoretical exercises that focus on design. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Story Exploder
The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation that is to come. - Steve Jobs Story Exploder examines the intentional and unintentional narratives embedded in the design of the built world through the lens of set design and theatre principles. By working within the traditions and practices of set design to construct and deconstruct intentional narratives, the principal goal of this course is to foster an understanding of the greater implications of all aspects of the built world on behaviors, social constructs and interpersonal dynamics. The work in this course is intended to help develop a set of skills and methodologies that are sensitive, agile, and adept with regard to deliberately working with and harnessing conscious narrative intention within a design practice. The built world, including all of the objects, systems, buildings and spaces that we use to inhabit and interact with are essentially the "set design" of real life. It informs our culture, character, dynamics, and communities as an inextricable framework of our personal and collective stories. Therefore, the built world holds the power to help us evolve, and to cast a vision for a future we intend. Designers must own this responsibility in all of their choices. The main objective of the course is to expose students to the potential narrative intentions contained within the worlds they create, through the lens and tools of scenography. By recognizing the creative agency and artistic intent deployed in the conscious communication of narrative through set, story, performance, and audience, we will create a framework for understanding the cultural and social narrative implications embedded within the built world, and thus the opportunities to design objects, spaces and experiences with this awareness. Open to sophomores and above. Also offered as FD-3350; Register in the course for which credit is desired.
Summer 2022
Professional Internship
The professional Internship provides valuable exposure to a professional setting, enabling students to better establish a career path and define practical aspirations. Internship proposals are carefully vetted to determine legitimacy and must meet the contact hour requirements listed in the RISD Course Announcement.
Wintersession 2023
Collaborative Study
A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows two students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of independent study. Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered.
Exploring Upholstery From The Basics To The Extreme
This course will focus on the art of upholstery design. It will teach the basics of traditional techniques and materials; cover historic influences; and explore methods used in mass production. The course will survey nontraditional materials and review unconventional methods. There will be an emphasis on ergonomics including shaping, angles, and scale and how upholstery impacts comfort. This is a hands-on class where students will gain experience applying the techniques of upholstery. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Elective for majors; open to non-majors. Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.
Futuristic Furniture: Furniture Imagination In The Era Of Big Data
The global epidemic limits people in many ways, however, it has become a catalyst that stimulates the development progress in medicine, material technology, international transportation, and many other fields. A series of new technical terms frequently appear in our lives like 5G, Meta, and 3D printing. People are communicating with the world in the form of data. The long-term quarantine also greatly changes the way people live and work. According to the article "How to do Hybrid Right" by Lynda Gratton, the hybrid-working method is potentially a permanent change. Thus, the transformation of space functionality has prompted us to rethink the possibility of furniture. With the stimulation of new materials and new technologies, we can't help but to imagine what existing forms of furniture might be in the future. In the era of big data, what kind of form could a piece of furniture take? Are there any new ways of interaction or communication between people and the future of furniture? Can furniture have some new functions? Even more, Can furniture participate in the transformation of energy in ecological and social systems? This course will benefit students looking to prepare a project proposal, an exhibition, or thesis project. The goal of this course is not for students to create a grand masterwork, but to learn how to encourage new ways of making that can preserve discovery and surprise. Students of all disciplines are encouraged to apply. Any media can be used in this course. Ample studio time and one-on-one visits with the professors will be provided to investigate the idiosyncrasies and nuances of each students' practices. Estimated Materials Cost: $150.00 Also offered as DM-1795.
Introduction To Furniture
This course will be an introduction to the skills and techniques for furniture design. The primary focus will be on developing innovative concepts through drawing and model-making. Exercises in sketching, model-making and various design strategies will aid in developing an understanding of materials and processes. Through a series of informative presentations, lectures, and short project assignments, students will explore the relationships between concepts, techniques and objects.
ISP Major
The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.
Metals For Furniture Design
This course is an appropriate introduction to furniture design in metal. The goal of this course is to introduce students to the basic techniques of metal fabrication as they apply to furniture design. Design issues will be resolved through a series of drawings and models and welding skills will be honed through several preliminary projects. Students will be expected to complete a piece of furniture. Estimated Materials Cost: $75.00
Nomadia: Transitory Utilities
This class is an introductory course to inspire thinking about object and spatial design which is focused on easy movement and relocation. For the average young professional, living in a city can often be described as nomadic and condensed. Space is limited, every inch counts, and the idea of 'settling down' is but a dream when living as a renter. We move constantly as we change constantly: adjusting to our spatial needs, altering our relationships and discovering new paths. It is essential to contextualize this mode of living, historically, sociologically and economically, for us to adapt to it as best we can. By relating to one another through our experiences, skills and designs, we are able to create a web of understanding that enables us to see the world around us in the most honest way possible. As designers of objects and spaces, we have a great responsibility to synthesize all of this information and realize physical solutions which answer to current conditions of our culture. This five-week course will investigate historical and contemporary answers to a nomadic lifestyle. From flat-pack-furniture to van-life-videos and tribal songs to ancient textiles, students will begin to understand how humans have adapted their objects and built environments to account for the need to exist comfortable within a small 'footprint'. We will research and create visual maps in order to relate and learn from ancestral communities who lived as nomads. Projects and deliverables will consist of a research project/visual map, iterations through drawings and models, and designing a piece of storage furniture or object that reflects the ideas discussed in class. Estimated Materials Cost: $50.00 - $100.00
Professional Internship
The professional Internship provides valuable exposure to a professional setting, enabling students to better establish a career path and define practical aspirations. Internship proposals are carefully vetted to determine legitimacy and must meet the contact hour requirements listed in the RISD Course Announcement.
Witness Tree Project
Witness trees, as designated by the National Park Service, are long-standing trees that have "witnessed" key events, trends, and people in history. In this joint studio/liberal arts course, students have the unique opportunity to study and work with a fallen witness tree, shipped to RISD from a national historic site. The course will involve three components: 1) a field trip to the tree's site at the beginning of the semester; 2) classroom-based exploration of American history, memory, landscape, and material culture; and 3) studio-based building of a series of objects from the tree's wood, in response to both the site and students' classroom study. Overall, the course will explore both how material artifacts shape historical understanding and how historical knowledge can create meaningful design. Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration. This is a co-requisite course. Students will receive 3 studio credits and 3 liberal arts credits for a total of 6 credits.
Spring 2023
Collaborative Study
A Collaborative Study Project (CSP) allows two students to work collaboratively to complete a faculty supervised project of independent study. Usually, a CSP is supervised by two faculty members, but with approval it may be supervised by one faculty member. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses, though it is not a substitute for a course if that course is regularly offered.
Comprehensive Sustainability Thinking
This research elective class will focus on the myriad opportunities for the sustainable practice of design. The somewhat humbling point of departure is the fact that many, if not all, of the problems we currently face are the direct result of previous "design solutions". There are numerous topics to cover under each of the following domains. Our aim is to expose students to meaningful comprehensive and anticipatory sustainability thinking. The focus of the class will be on the development of a comprehensive, operationally useful "sustainability lens" through which to evaluate design decisions as they are being made in hopes of avoiding the Law of Unintended Consequences on the front end, rather than seeking to simply design without regard for the potentially negative outcomes that require fixing on the back end. Material: The 1st and 2nd Laws of Thermodynamics, Material choice, material sourcing, life cycle analysis, the containment of entropy Economic: Full Spectrum Accounting. Bring all externalities back onto the balance sheet Life: Creating conditions conducive to life, Biomimetics: Learning from Nature not just about Nature. The preservation of biodiversity Social: How does your object contribute to the quality of life for maker and user and other organisms, as well? Appropriate human behavior in the biosphere Spiritual: An exploration of how students' work contributes to the "Great Work", embracing uncertainty and cultivating wonder Estimated Materials Cost: $50.00 Open to juniors and above.
Design & Processes
The junior studio expands and interprets the skills and concepts introduced in the sophomore studios. The primary focus of the semester is an experimentally based investigation of bending and forming techniques - molded plywood, bent lamination, steam bending, and vacuum-formed plastic. While focused on the use of wood and plastic materials, an experimental approach is expected in the studio. Students are encouraged to conceptually explore skills and materials to develop a personal design approach and studio practice. The semester culminates in a final design, in which students utilize learned techniques to create one-offs, objects intended for batch production or prototypes designed for production. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Design For Production
Long known as the "Beehive" of industry, Providence RI is one of the most diverse manufacturing hubs in the US. Although today's global market continues to absorb these resources, Providence has retained a highly skilled manufacturing center that is eager to work with the creative arts. This rare resource provides designers the unique ability to work locally with manufacturing re-sources from traditional lost wax casting to emerging manufacturing technologies such as laser cutting, multi-axis cnc, and rapid prototyping. Throughout the course we will visit manufacturing, marketing, and retail facilities to develop a working understanding of production processes and methods available to you and how best to effectively implement these resources into your work as a designer/artist. The studio course will conclude with each student presenting a finished production ready object in multiples along with supporting marketing materials. By approaching this class from a design, manufacturing, and marketing perspective students will acquire a practical knowledge of production strategies essential to the success of a designer today. Elective Permission of Instructor required.
Drawing Furniture 3-D
This course continues drawing and concept development techniques, sketching with three-dimensional models, mock-ups and prototypes. Working in several scales and levels of articulation, students will expand pre-visualization and detailing skills. Basics of 3-D computer simulation will also be introduced. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Flexible Technology: Tension & Turning In Spindle-back Chair Design and Contruction
Learn the theory of Windsor Chairs and how the use of wood in tension can create a chair like no other. This class will cover techniques necessary to the Windsor system of building while working through design decisions that will culminate in a completed chair. Students are encouraged to embrace process and parameters in a direct and hands-on manner. Through small projects, students will learn how to balance wood strength, aesthetics, joint strength and ergonomic considerations. These principles will be applied to a carefully considered, finished chair. Topics covered will include: selection of wood, turning, seat carving, complex radial layout, several types of joinery, and finish techniques. Estimated Materials Cost: $200.00 Elective; Furniture Design majors only. Open to juniors and above.
Form In Metals
In this junior studio students are presented with the idea of using metal to develop furniture forms. While the primary metal used to investigate form is mild steel, properties and techniques are also presented that apply to stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass and bronze. Students become proficient in TIG welding, and are introduced to arc welding, spot welding, gas welding, brazing and soldering. Basic structural properties of steel are investigated through a series of short projects designed to inform students of the appropriate forms and applications. Basic and more advanced fabrication techniques, metal surface treatments, as well as metal finishing are also topics of class demonstrations. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Furniture Design Degree Project Seminar
This course is the second half of the Furniture Design Senior Seminar begun in the fall semester. This seminar is a forum for discussion, research and writing that is coordinated with the parallel studio course and is intended to help seniors develop a theoretical and intellectual framework for their Degree Projects. The primary deliverable is the Degree Project Report. The seminar format will encourage the content to be student driven, based on their studio work and responsive to changing contemporary concerns. There will be assigned weekly readings including student selected texts and related short writing assignments to guide the discourse along with regular presentations of students' research and studio processes to guide the development of the longer writing that will constitute the Degree Project Report. The primary objective of the course is to provide a structured experience for seniors to develop coordinated skills in research and writing in a practice-based discipline. The underlying purpose of the course is to engage students in critical discourse regarding design thinking and new perspectives on design practice so that each student can communicate an informed and original point of view on their own creative practice. This seminar is intended to increase exposure to design theory and provide students with skills necessary to articulate an effective intellectual basis for their studio practice through writing, research and making. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Graduate Furniture Design II
This course explores advanced design processes and methods of construction. The evolution of a project through a complete design process is required including conceptual and design development phases. Graduate major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Graduate Furniture Design Seminar
The graduate seminar is a forum for discussion and research outside of the studio setting. Through a series of topical investigations, lectures and presentations, students will explore current design issues, professional practices, directions, and developments within the field, and other topics that will help to formulate the basis of the graduate thesis work. Graduate major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration. Open to non-majors pending seat availability and permission of Instructor.
Graduate Furniture Design Thesis
This course culminates the completion of the thesis body of works and accompanying written document. Graduate major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
History Of Furniture
This course is an introductory survey of the history of furniture. An emphasis is placed on developing a methodology for understanding historical context and transferable critical thinking through furniture. The fundamental methodology presents furniture design as an expression of interdependent relationships involving technology, identity and culture. The course will include lectures, sketching, writing, discussion and exams as well as learning from direct observation of objects including many in the RISD Museum. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Art History credit for Furniture Design majors. Liberal Arts elective credit for non-majors pending seat availability and Permission of Instructor required. Restricted to Furniture Design majors in Spring semester.
ISP Major
The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.
ISP Non-major Elective
The Independent Study Project (ISP) allows students to supplement the established curriculum by completing a faculty supervised project for credit in a specific area of interest. Its purpose is to meet individual student needs by providing an alternative to regularly offered courses. Permission of Instructor and GPA of 3.0 or higher is required. Register by completing the Independent Study Application available on the Registrar's website; the course is not available via web registration.
Lighting Design
Lighting design is an ever-growing category of furniture and product design, constantly evolving alongside technological advances in available lamp hardware. This hands-on course is an opportunity for students to explore the various types of lamp options, including incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, and LED. Students are first provided with the technical skills and safety factors involved in creating and wiring a lamp, to adding more complicated items such as switches, dimmers, and hardware, and finally moving on to designing and creating a body of functional lighting pieces. We will cover various lamp typologies (sconces, floor lamps, table lamps, chandeliers, pendants, etc), as well as light as art through installation and sculpture. Students are encouraged to work in a variety of materials and scales, developing their designs from sketches, models, and renderings, to a fully realized object. Designs will evolve through in-class discussions, pin-ups, and critiques. This class will focus on the design and fabrication of lighting as an object in a space, rather than the lighting of a space. Estimated Materials Cost: $50.00 - $100.00 Elective for majors and non-majors. Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.
Lightweight Structure
Championed by utopian thinkers of the 20th century like Buckminster Fuller and Frei Otto, the idea of "doing more with less" has become ingrained in the development of new building systems. Design for vehicles, extreme environments, and sports have pushed the field of lightweight structures along, creating a vast array of new materials and building techniques. This course will examine lightweight structures through the lens of material research and exploration. Emphasis will be placed on developing assembly systems that are integral to the particular materials being explored. Topics introduced in this course will include but not be limited to tensile structures, space frames, pneumatic structures, tensegrity, frozen fabrics and the various form finding strategies associated with each. This course will also examine the various ways that this topic can be approached through both physical and digital model making. Computer modeling experience is preferred, but not required. Open to juniors and above.
Professional Internship
The professional Internship provides valuable exposure to a professional setting, enabling students to better establish a career path and define practical aspirations. Internship proposals are carefully vetted to determine legitimacy and must meet the contact hour requirements listed in the RISD Course Announcement.
Research Elective
Students will research specific furniture themes and materials in a variety of contexts including external partnerships. Spring 2023: Section 01: The Hyundai Research Collaborative is a part of a longstanding collaboration between RISD and the Hyundai Motor Group. This approach offers an understanding of the practical challenges of a major technology company, while creating solutions that center just societies, new ways of making and knowing, and sustainable futures. Using scientific methodologies combined with design thinking, students will draw from four main areas: symbiosis and coexistence in crisis, organic interiors, energy management, and autonomous driving. Section 02: Herman Miller & the Eameses Throughout the career of Charles and Ray Eames, the furniture brand Herman Miller was one of their most important collaborators. Herman Miller was the producer of nearly all of their furniture designs and relied on the Eameses for design leadership in manufacturing, communications, and architectural projects. In 1954, the Eameses designed the Depree House in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the then-president of Herman Miller. Recently, several Sycamore trees on this property were removed and have been milled into lumber. Herman Miller approached the department of Furniture Design in seeking a fitting use of this material. This design-oriented Research Elective course will engage students in working with this material and in learning about the unique partnership of the Eameses and Herman Miller. Using this wood, students will design and create original furniture that aspires to the research, design, and production legacy of the Eameses and Herman Miller. Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Permission of Instructor required.
Senior Degree Project
Seniors will complete their final portfolio works in this studio. Seniors will design and execute a final degree project. The degree project will be individualized according to student interest. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.
Sophomore Design/practice
This sophomore studio expands basic principles of furniture design and material skills, exploring how the made objects interact with the human body. Intermediate skills will be demonstrated and practiced as students further explore materials and their applications in design. Major requirement; Furniture Design majors only. Registration by Furniture Design Department, course not available via web registration.