Peter Dean
Peter Dean was trained as an architect in the Department of Architecture and Design at RISD, and as a furniture designer/maker at RISD under Tage Frid, graduating in 1977. For the past 16 years, he has worked in the Department of Furniture Design, teaching Sophomore Studio Methods, the Senior Degree Project and Sustainability: Green Materials and Green Behavior research elective.
Working with a few colleagues, Dean developed the Nature-Culture-Sustainability concentration at RISD, and he teaches the core course in the concentration. He also helped to develop the R. Buckminster Fuller Biennial Design Science Symposium in collaboration with the Edna Lawrence Nature Lab at RISD and the Synergetics Collaborative.
Courses
Fall 2023 Courses
FD 2527-01
CABINETS, DOORS AND DRAWERS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
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.
Prerequisite: FD-2502
Elective
GRAD 146G-01
BIODESIGN STUDIO
SECTION DESCRIPTION
The course aims to create sufficient awareness of what yields life on earth, and a complementary biocentric view of the world. New ethical and critical challenges are continually presented to human society with the growth of material science and its implications for design; the course introduces sources and research references to assist with our understanding of these challenges. We explore aspects of human knowledge of living systems, providing a research-based approach to such topics as BioDesign; biomimicry in materials, processes, and structures; functional morphology and the cognitive phenomena of Biophilia. The 'affinities and aversions' we as humans have regarding natural living systems are in everything: from the spaces we inhabit to the metaphors we employ in order to understand complexity in general, including issues connected with health, recuperation and resilience. Using the recently extended facilities and resources of the Edna Lawrence Nature Lab, faculty and graduate students together create opportunities to experiment, observe, and learn about the networked aspects of living systems, materials, structures and processes. Theoretical frameworks associated with the biology of living systems, the growth and formation of natural materials including the contemporary revolutions in evolutionary theory are introduced and examples discussed with visiting specialists.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $30.00
Open to Graduate Students.
Elective
Spring 2024 Courses
FD 2029-01
COMPREHENSIVE SUSTAINABILITY THINKING
SECTION DESCRIPTION
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.
GRAD 146G-01
BIODESIGN STUDIO
SECTION DESCRIPTION
The course aims to create sufficient awareness of what yields life on earth, and a complementary biocentric view of the world. New ethical and critical challenges are continually presented to human society with the growth of material science and its implications for design; the course introduces sources and research references to assist with our understanding of these challenges. We explore aspects of human knowledge of living systems, providing a research-based approach to such topics as BioDesign; biomimicry in materials, processes, and structures; functional morphology and the cognitive phenomena of Biophilia. The 'affinities and aversions' we as humans have regarding natural living systems are in everything: from the spaces we inhabit to the metaphors we employ in order to understand complexity in general, including issues connected with health, recuperation and resilience. Using the recently extended facilities and resources of the Edna Lawrence Nature Lab, faculty and graduate students together create opportunities to experiment, observe, and learn about the networked aspects of living systems, materials, structures and processes. Theoretical frameworks associated with the biology of living systems, the growth and formation of natural materials including the contemporary revolutions in evolutionary theory are introduced and examples discussed with visiting specialists.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $30.00
Open to Graduate Students.
Elective