Courses

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is defined as a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. Revit is one of the most comprehensive and widely used BIM programs in the world. The software closes the gap between 3D geometry and building component data. This course will introduce students to Revit utilizing a hands-on approach. The class will introduce the essential concepts of the software through weekly class lectures/ tutorials. Weekly assignments will allow students to use their knowledge to complete real-life design tasks. Hands-on exercises will also focus on software interface, creation of parametric families and creation of construction document sets. Participants must have laptop with Windows, w/Parallels recommended for Mac users. Free student download of Revit available. Major elective: BFA,MDes, MA INTAR majors only.

Choice of advanced design studios offered by the Department of Interior Architecture. Details & studio descriptions are made available to pre-registered students. Estimated Materials Cost: Varies depending on required studio course supplies or related travel. Anticipated costs will be provided in advance, and announced during the lottery studio presentations held in the department. INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

This course focuses on the drawing as it serves to convey different design intentions. As a continuation of the basic drawing coursework in the MDes Summer Program, this course will explore advanced techniques in digital representation. Students successfully completing this course will be able to understand the construction of 3D drawings, develop sophisticated digital layouts with image processing software, create CAD based 2D architectural drawings and 3D models, and develop a 3D visualization of a design. The integration of 2D and 3D data, digital materials, as well as the basics of digital lighting and camera work will also be discussed. Major Requirement: MDes INTAR majors only.

This course approaches the subject of adaptive reuse through environmental issues, economic analysis and design. These fundamental concepts are applied in real-world projects of reuse to reduce negative impacts to the built environment. Course objectives include an understanding of energy and environmental context, the ability to develop schematic designs for energy efficient interventions in an existing building, the ability to perform basic analyses of the energy and economic performance of building measures and to apply course material to case studies of completed buildings. Students should develop familiarity with energy and environmental impacts associated with the built environment and the rationale for responsible design, energy modeling and calculations, passive and active lighting systems (including daylighting techniques and fenestration) and the thermal performance of buildings including the thermal envelope and passive and active heating systems. The course structure includes a midterm examination, case studies, an individual research paper and a final design project. Major Requirement: MAINTAR majors only.

This class introduces the student to different building materials, their properties and characteristics as they relate to the design of interior, sustainable structures. This will include interior finish materials as well as the understanding of wood, metal, masonry and concrete for projects of reuse. The student will visit sites of material production as part of this course. The course structure includes sketch assignments, a midterm, a final exam. Major requirement: BFA INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture department, course not available via web registration

While introducing students to the principal concepts of structural design and mechanical systems, the course will attempt to provide a direct link to the built environment with focus on the rehabilitation, preservation and adaptive reuse of existing structures, both historical and contemporary. The presentation of case studies, focus on the structural and mechanical aspects of students' individual studio projects and the excursion to a construction site will bridge the gap between class room and the world of building. Major requirement: BFA INTAR majors only.

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. Proposals for CSPs are due the semester prior, per the published deadlines in the Academic Calendar.

This seminar is the second of the three-part Design Thesis sequence in the department of Interior Architecture. This course is designed to assist students in identifying a thesis topic and respective design project through discussions that include studies of precedents, site related issues, program, and regulations, all of which are specific to adaptive reuse. Through group discussion and individual interviews, outline proposals will be approved in principle, requiring each student to prepare a feasibility report for their proposed Design Thesis. This completed feasibility report will be submitted for evaluation at the end of the Fall semester. Approved proposals will proceed to the next course in the sequence, where the proposal will be further refined, culminating in the design phase that will take place during the following Spring semester. Major requirement: MDes INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

Introduction to means of representation of ideas for Interior Architecture through various types of drawings: orthographics, axonometrics, perspectives, freehand sketching and mixed media. Work will be done on site from existing structures as well as in the studio concentrating on concept development through drawing. Major requirement: BFA INTAR majors only Registration by Interior Architecture department, course not available via web registration

This course will examine the development of adaptive reuse practice in the context of its social, political, technological, and economic circumstances, as it pertains to the design culture of the period. Special emphasis will be given to interior renovations, additions, transformations and other interventions of adaptive reuse. Attention will also be given to design theory, and the evolving doctrines relating to heritage. This course will be conducted in seminar form with graduate level discourse and discussion. Requirements include midterm, final exam and research presentation. Major Requirement: MDes INTAR majors only.

This course will examine personalities working in Europe and in North America as well as non-western regions in the period 1400 to 2009. Areas of study will include an examination of interior architecture related issues that will be studied in the context of their social, political, technological, and economic circumstances, as they pertain to the design culture of the period. Special emphasis will be given to interior additions and renovations and other interventions. Other areas of study will include the development of architectural drawing, and the way in which designs often evolved through committees, or ongoing consultations among patrons, designers, administrators, and scholars. Attention will also be given to design theory, and the doctrines relating to site, orientation, proportion, decorum, and the commercial design market. A general background in the history of art and design is desirable but not mandatory. Major Requirement: BFA INTAR majors only. Art History credit for INTAR majors. Liberal Arts elective credit for non-majors pending seat availability and permission of Instructor.

The psychology of the client/user influences the design of the environment and the practice of interior architecture. This course will explore issues of anthropometrics (the study of the characteristics of the human body), ergonomics (the application of anthropometric data to design), and proxemics (the study of the effect of cultural/psychological factors on design). During the semester the student will gather facts about the interaction of the environment and a user's culture, gender, stage of life cycle, and physical characteristics. These ideas will be implemented in the design and construction of an object. Major requirement: BFA INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture department, course not available via web registration

This course will focus on factors influencing the design of the interior environment through exploring issues of anthropometrics (the study of the characteristics of the human body), ergonomics (the application of anthropometric data to design), and proxemics (the study of the effect of cultural/psychological factors on design). It will be complemented by a study of acoustics as it relates to the relationship between the built environment and sound; predicting and designing for the acoustic performance of spaces, and executing acoustic measurements (impulse response, reverberations). Major Requirement: MDes INTAR majors only.

This course builds on the foundations gained in previous studio and course work to further design development abilities. The studio will require the integration of the student's emerging knowledge of site analysis, mapping & documentation, innovative tectonics and systems, applicable theoretical issues, relevant cultural precedents, and material investigation into a cohesive design agenda. Major Requirement: MDes INTAR majors only.

This course, the first in a sequence, explores design principles through design problems involving the unique fundamental framework for the reuse of existing structures. The semester is arranged around several projects, providing access to the discipline from as many related perspectives. The project assignments require the student to visually and verbally convey clear design intent, think visually in two and three dimensions, formulate and develop abstract design concepts, discern relationships between design interventions and their physical and contextual setting and develop presentation skills to effectively communicate propositions and positions. Major requirement: BFA INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

Building on the skills and knowledge developed during the first year in the Department, undergraduate students will focus their attention on a project which requires the hypothetical remodeling of an existing building of some complexity for a proposed new use. Major requirement: BFA INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

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. Proposals for ISPs are due the semester prior, per the published deadlines in the Academic Calendar. 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.

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.

Refer to the 'Internship' section in the Academic Policies portion of this Course Announcement for information on the registration process. Permission of Instructor Required

This course explores the principles of construction and design detailing. The student will detail the construction of a previously designed studio project. Finish materials, window treatments, light fixtures, and furniture will be selected. Construction methods and materials will be examined as well as the performance and appearance retention of finishes. Individual presentations will be made on a variety of traditional and nontraditional materials. Major requirement: BFA INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

This lecture course is designed to familiarize students with structural principles and systems as they relate to the study of interior architecture and adaptive reuse. The course will examine the performance and composition of various structural systems, including wood, lightweight metal, steel, masonry, and concrete structures. Local examples in the built environment will be explored to gain an understanding of structures, their materials and components in adaptive reuse. Course work will be complimented by visits to local examples in the built environment. Major requirement: MDes INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture department, course not available via web registration

Defined as "transforming an unused or underused building into one that serves a new use," adaptive reuse is defined by its relationship to context. This lecture course examines the pluralism of this practice through weekly lectures that focus on aspects of heritage, conservation, typology & classification and culture. The course will also focus on the differences in the implementation of this practice from countries in Northern Europe with its longstanding regard for reuse to countries with emerging practices. The lectures will include case studies of buildings, unbuilt projects, and urban assemblages, which will be contextualized through the common themes which are critical to understanding reuse. Requirements: weekly lectures and discussions, readings, a mid-term examination and final presentations. Major Requirement: MA, MDes INTAR majors only. Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

Topics in Exhibition and Narrative Environments I is the first part in a year-long exploration of a fluid field in which exhibition occurs in museums as well as other environments. This seminar offers various approaches for that exploration and will provide the student insight into different aspects of exhibition: curatorial matters, experience design, narrative creation, graphic design, new media, user participation, installation, site specificity, production, etc. The content may change from year to year to include special projects. The content may change from year to year and may include theory, hands-on installation, curatorial matters, research, design planning, materials, new technology, time based interactions, and, of course, design of the narrative environment. Major requirement: MDes ENE INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

Using a local site in Providence, this studio will focus on the fundamentals of documenting an existing structure. These techniques will include, at a minimum, measuring, surveying, photographing, analyzing of materials and construction details, researching databases for relevant, related information and understanding the existing structural and mechanical systems. This information will be organized to create a full architectural documentation set. Documentation will also be explored in model form, building on the skills acquired in Studio Ia. Upon completion of documentation, the students will learn to analyze the existing structure both as an entity and within the adjacent urban context. The studio will also focus on the presentation of such analysis and the possible uses of it in design transformation. Major Requirement: MDes INTAR majors only.

This class will introduce the fundamentals of orthographic drawing through the investigation of an existing object. Working with the object, the student will study and implement the use of plan, section, axonometric and perspective to expose the spatial qualities of the structure. Basic drawing conventions and model making techniques will be introduced. The concept of architectural scale will be explored. Major Requirement: MDES INTAR majors only.

Using an existing site, this studio will introduce the concept of transformation and intervention through a program of new use. The students will propose a design intervention to transform the site for a new program. These interventions will be based on the accommodation of the design program but will also be a response to the analysis completed in Studio Existing Construct. It will require an understanding of the structural system and the issues of egress. The culmination of this studio will result in a design that is conceptually sound and complete in its description as a full architectural proposal in drawings and models. The student will prepare a design proposition including analysis of the existing structure and its inherent existence within the new work. Major Requirement: MDes INTAR majors only

Refer to the 'Internship' section in the Academic Policies portion of this Course Announcement for information on the registration process. Permission of Instructor Required

This seminar combines an overview of Nordic architecture and design through lectures, a Visual Journal course - and workshops that engage with local Adaptive Reuse structures of Copenhagen. Through lectures and readings, students will explore the historical and current conditions of architecture, interior design, and planning from architectural, social, and political points of view. Students will further analyze design solutions as well as design and production processes through a visual journal. As an additional component, students will engage in in-depth site specific strategies of reuse within their studio project. Major requirement: MA INTAR majors only. Elective for others with department permission Summer 2017 dates: June 12th - July 29th

The studio instruction focuses on the process of Interior Architecture within the context of Copenhagen, a city committed to the issues of the environment and climate change. Students will be asked to address a design problem that deals with the relationship between conceptual design and its application within an existing structure. Issues of natural light, materiality and design process are studied through the assignments. Major requirement: MA INTAR majors only. Elective for others with department permission. Summer 2017 dates: June 12th through July 29th

Used as a verb, to queer is to apply an action, or a series of actions, which aim to subvert, destabilize, or reclaim space in an effort to be in service of disempowered people. Design : Queerified is a workshop-based design course that will encourage students to use tactics of queerification as a means of social activism. To start, we will explore historical context and contemporary precedent research. From that investigation, we will develop design strategies to engage tangible problems. This effort will then evolve into the active process of fabrication and installation of our interventions. Funding has been secured through RISD Center for Student Involvement (CSI). Estimated Materials Cost: $100.00 Students from all majors are welcome.

This course is primarily intended to provide some insight into the design objectives of the studio projects of the undergraduate and graduate degree programs of Interior Architecture at RISD. As a studio introduction to Interior Architecture for non-majors, the course will focus on the spatial design concerns of the department focusing on how one creates and occupies built space. Projects will explore the realm of work that begins with an architectural volume and transforms it from the ill-used or obsolete, to one with new purpose and viability, presented in drawings and models. Open to freshmen and sophomores only.

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. Proposals for ISPs are due the semester prior, per the published deadlines in the Academic Calendar. 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.

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.

As artists & designers we build worlds, create objects, products, spaces and installations. In order to realize those worlds, we often engage with larger, outsourced fabrication, manufacture and facilitation of those ideas. Using the language of furniture as a lens and vehicle for ideas and world building, we will engage with the manufacturing and fulfillment landscape in a calculated manner, and examine how this applies to a multidisciplinary practice. This class is meant for students in all disciplines and will cover professional practices of specifying, and facilitating between various artisans, vendors, manufacturers, designers, engineers and brands. At the end of the course, students will have a strong understanding of how the industry operates via the furniture landscape and will have a keen understanding of the practical knowledge needed to enter or engage. This course will allow students to leverage knowledge they have from their existing discipline to maximize opportunities in the marketplace. We will explore the tools and language needed to bring designs to life, manifesting concepts into physical space through the language of furniture and fixture design and specification. This course will be offered in a hybrid format with both in-person lectures and remote, allowing for a diverse group of guests and experiences. Also offerd as FD-1825; Register in the course for which credit is desired.

This class is primarily intended as a means for students in their year of graduation from the Department to prepare their portfolios for interviews with potential employers and for entry to the professional world of design. Using computer programs which will build upon knowledge already gained, the course will be helpful to all those who wish to gain some knowledge of techniques which will enhance the presentation of design work already completed while this is an essential aspect of the class, it should not be regarded as an opportunity to extend further design work on earlier studios, although some refinement of existing drawings will be necessary. InDesign, Illustrator & Photoshop software required. Graduating Interior Architecture majors only.

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.

We become what we behold. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us. John Culkin, professor of communication at Fordham University in New York and friend of Marshall McLuhan This course seeks to introduce the students to Spatial Computing. It is an umbrella term for technologies allowing us to survey, describe and visualize spaces and spatial components. When this course was first held in the fall of 2017, many of these technologies were in their infancy. 5 years later, the transformative potential of Spatial Computing is evident. We can survey buildings and objects alike with the assistance of artificial intelligence. We can project creative works in our spaces, as e.g. the 2020 IntAR seniors did with their IntAR2020 augmented reality app[i]. We can immerse people in spatial ideas using virtual reality, breaking down barriers originating from a lack of knowledge related to conventions applied in design representation. For instance, projects like Crossing The Pell [ii] have shown how immersive visualization techniques can assist lay people understand massive and complex design proposals. Outside academia, design firms are increasingly using spatial computing in their work processes, and applicants familiar with the key concepts have superior opportunities in the job market. This became evident with graduates from IntAR who had taken courses involving Spatial Computing. Recently, the Metaverse became not only a buzz-word, but also saw a significant increase in investments. Presently, there is no generally agreed upon definition of the Metaverse, and views are varied. Some understand it as an immersive iteration of the internet, accessed via connected devices stimulating our senses to create that immersion. Others perceive it as a democratic movement driven by cryptography. Some industry leaders project the Metaverse to become a multi-trillion market by the end of this decade. The world's largest social network, Facebook, even renamed itself to Meta Technologies. Presently, the prospect of shared simulated environments merging the perception of the physical 'real' and the virtual on a large scale faces a number of technical challenges. While they are in the process of being overcome, several questions as to what humanity is creating here must be addressed. For instance, what will the role of physicality in its pure form, as we experience it now, be in the future? What do we want it to be? Will only elites who can afford it be able to choose and form their merged reality? How can we assure equity with access and participation? How will artists who have formed physical pieces for millennia respond to their designs potentially becoming the piece, without the imminent need of a material representation? How can creatives partake in the many discourses related to the Metaverse? This course seeks to introduce the underlying concepts and technologies of spatial computing and provide a fundamental understanding of artificial intelligence. Thus, it shall enable the students to partake in a technological transformation now unfolding. It is driven by spatial computing and AI. Open to INTAR MDes graduate students only.

This course registers an outgoing exchange student into a pre-approved INTAR studio course which is taken at the exchange school. Successful completion of the course will result in a "T" grade once receipt of the official transcript from the partner school has arrived at Registrar's Office.

As the final studio in the year-long sequence of studios and seminars focusing on the practice of adaptive reuse, the student will have the opportunity to demonstrate these principles and theories in a complex design project of reuse. With a local site as the setting for the project, students have access to the site and are able to observe and experience firsthand the constraints of an existing structure. Students will also have the opportunity to use city resources such as the Department of Planning and Development, Historic District Commission, RI State Council on the Arts, etc. This project will serve as a model for engaging other real-world adaptive reuse applications. This studio will be taught in conjunction with the 3-credit Adaptive Reuse Seminar: INTAR-2363. Major Requirement: MA INTAR majors only. Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

This 12 week seminar will engage desktop making tools to foster familiarity with digital fabrication in the design of the Interior environment. The student will explore the generation of new tectonic forms through abstract geometrical principles. Components of interior architecture will be modeled and fabricated with rapid prototyping and CNC machines. Topics will vary from semester to semester. (Laser Cutter, CNC Routing and 3D printing/ Rhino 5.0 V. Windows + Grasshopper plug-in, VCarve) Major elective: BFA, MDes, MA INTAR majors only.

Choice of advanced design studios offered by the Department of Interior Architecture. Details & studio descriptions are made available to pre-registered students. Estimated Materials Cost: Varies depending on required studio course supplies or related travel. Anticipated costs will be provided in advance, and announced during the lottery studio presentations held in the department. INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

This class introduces the student to an overview of codes and its implementation through construction details as related to the study of adaptive reuse. It will provide in depth focus on pertinent parts of local and national building codes that address issues affecting interior architecture such as egress, materials, planning, and accessibility. The student will be asked through quizzes as well as short design projects to implement these rules and regulations and to demonstrate a familiarity with the codes. Major requirement: MDes INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

Crossing the Pell is an exhibition emerging from a multi-year design project in the Department of Interior Architecture that began in 2020 with an invitation from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of RI to consider the adaptive reuse of the Pell Bridge for bicycle and pedestrian access. The exhibition was installed in December 2022 in Newport and received nearly 500 visitors over 3 days. Invitations have since been extended to install it in at least three different cities and various venues from public libraries and schools to an international yacht race, a Senator's office, and the World Conference of Architects. Since its inception, this design project of infrastructural access has grown from an academic endeavor to a public art project. Going beyond conventional design representation techniques, immersive visualization based on virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) allows visitors to 'walk' and 'bike' along four design visions for adapting the Pell Bridge in the future. It is a design project that engages communities through sharing in a universally accessible language the reality of what is possible for a sustainable, healthy and inclusive future. In this course, the students will further develop these VR and AR pieces, adapt them as required for the various venues, take part in the installation and operation during events, and train high school students as well as staff at the Newport Public Library on the underlying technology and operation of the pieces. In addition, the students will further develop a feedback system, providing policy makers and stakeholders with sentiment-based data, and update the project website. To partake in this course, and given an advanced stage of development of the exhibition pieces as well as the time-line of the planned installations, the students must already possess proficiency in one or more of the following: XR development with Unity, 360 VR tours, Illustrator and Photoshop, digital making and working in the wood shop, web design including experience with WordPress. Permission of Instructor required.

Required for students in the MDes degree program. Under the supervision of their thesis advisor, students are responsible for the preparation and completion of a fully articulated design proposal of their own choice, as described by their "Design Thesis Feasibility Report", submitted at the end of the Fall semester's Design Thesis Preparation class. Major requirement: MDes INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

The objective of this class is to employ digital techniques in spatial design. Students successfully completing this course should be able to develop sophisticated digital layouts with image processing software, create 2D architectural drawings and 3D models, and develop a 3D visualization of a design. In this course, we will also discuss the integration of 2D and 3D data, digital materials, as well as the basics of digital lighting and camera work. Major requirement: BFA INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

This course provides students with an opportunity to study how distinct building systems are constructed to form a comprehensive whole. Through case studies, students will examine approaches to integrating a variety of systems, such as structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, acoustic, and communication systems. This course will focus on how interior architecture interfaces with existing buildings; the case studies will be of recent works that have altered existing building. Students will be required to use the shop and computers to execute their individual and group assignments. Major requirement: MDes Elective for undergraduate students; INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

Building on the final advanced studio in the undergraduate program, the seminar engages the graduating senior with research and design studies that expand the focus of the final studio. This will involve reading, group discussions, topical studies, concept development and the crafting of an artist's statement - all in service of understanding the design intervention and its relationship to the context of its host structure. The course will culminate in a group project: the design and installation of the Senior Show as a demonstration of a design intervention within an existing structure. Major requirement; INTAR senior majors only. Permission of instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

This seminar will be taught in conjunction with the 6 credit Adaptive Reuse Studio (INTAR-2362) in which the students explore design innovation and its relationship to the constraints of an existing site. A topic of research in conjunction with the design project will be explored. Students will formulate propositions and develop them with a team of advisers. Evidence of such research will culminate in written and designed form as part of the design proposal. Major Requirement: MA INTAR majors only Permission of instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

The course focuses on understanding the origin of museums and recognizing the influence that certain dominant design aesthetics, approaches, and narratives had on exhibitions. The museum architectural space and its interior exhibition design are never 'neutral' and the study of its history, codification, and exploitation are essential to rebalance and subvert the structural inequalities between Trouillot's agents (museums/institution), actors (curators/exhibit designers), and subject of museum narratives (artifacts/art/belongings). Through lectures, readings, and class debate, students will be encouraged to question how aesthetics impregnate exhibition environments through materials, light, colors, forms, and meanings; to acknowledge that architecture and exhibition design aesthetics are always politicized and that in the tiniest details of their morphology and their organization, museums have the power to validate, the power to corroborate , the power to include, and the deliberate power to silence. Major elective: MDes ENE INTAR MDes ENE graduate students only. Open to non-majors pending seat availability and permission of instructor.

This course will examine the major designers working in the period 1850 to the present. Areas of study will include an examination of design related issues that will be studied in the context of their social, political, technological, and economic circumstances, as they pertain to the design culture of the period. Special emphasis will be given to the history of interior interventions, additions and renovations. Other areas of study will include the development of architectural drawing and other presentation media, and the way in which designs often evolved through committees, or ongoing consultations among the patrons, designers, administrators, and scholars. Attention will also be given to design theory, and the doctrines relating to site, orientation, proportion, decorum, and the commercial design market. A general background in the history of art and design is desirable but is not mandatory. Major requirement: BFA INTAR majors only. Liberal Arts elective credit. Permission of Instructor required.

This course further develops design principles from the first semester and introduces students to methodological thinking in the relationship between context, scale and use. Real site situations are introduced and students develop individual design processes associating topological relationships between the interior and exterior, at multiple scales of interventions. Students will have the opportunity to explore design issues through both traditional and computer generated design. Major requirement: BFA INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

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. Proposals for ISPs are due the semester prior, per the published deadlines in the Academic Calendar. 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.

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.

This course approaches the subject of adaptive reuse through the understanding of the methods of design interventions. Students will explore the subject through the analysis and synthesis of construction methods, structure, use and scale as they pertain to existing structures will be explored. Building on the framework of the International Building Code for Existing Structures, this course also examines the feasibility of reuse as defined by construction regulations and practice. The semester will be based upon case studies of completed projects in adaptive reuse to demonstrate the principles of design and construction within the context of existing structures. Through this course, students develop an understanding for the design process necessary in the implementation of adaptive reuse in the design profession. Assigned papers and projects through the semester require the understanding and implementation of these methods and regulations. Major Requirement: MA INTAR majors only. Permission of Instructor required. Course not available via web registration.

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.

This course provides an introduction to the fundamental principles of color and light as they apply to spatial and visual perceptions in the built environment. It is an opportunity to study color theory in conjunction with light, lighting systems and the effect of light on color and form. INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department; course not available via web registration.

This seminar is intended as a reinforcement of and preparation for the self-choice Design Thesis taking place the following Spring. The seminar will assist the student in becoming more aware of factors which determine a successful outcome for a design intervention within an existing building. As the first part of the three-part thesis sequence, the course serves as the building block for INTAR-2397 and the student's approved Design Thesis Feasibility Report. Major requirement: MDes INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.

Topics in Exhibition and Narrative Environments II follows upon INTAR-2102 and continues the exploration of the principles of exhibition from curatorial matters, experience design, narrative creation, graphic design, new media, user participation, installation, site specificity, production, etc. Topics II will conclude with the selection of a potential Thesis subject. Major requirement: MDes ENE INTAR majors only. Registration by Interior Architecture Department, course not available via web registration.