Comprehensive design of building enclosures - integrated consideration of structural design, tolerance, detailing, thermal transmission, air transmission, and moisture transmission. Introduce typical and atypical systems of enclosure with emphasis on relative advantages of different systems depending on location, intended performance, and design intent.

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

Major Requirement | MArch (2yr) and (3yr): Architecture

Anyone following contemporary debates in architecture knows that there are as many definitions of architecture's disciplinarity as there are people who attempt to define it. In the current spate of publications on this topic, Mark Jarzombek declares architecture to be a failed discipline; Jane Rendell claims that architecture is a 'subject' subsuming several disciplines; Mark Wigley ruminates upon the prosthetic nature of the discipline to the sciences; Bob Somol and Sarah Whiting attempt to recover a Foucaultian disciplinarity in which norms, principles and traditions are supplanted by performative practice; Akos Moravansky argues that the disciplinarity of architecture resists the discursive approach embodied in post-1968 theory; Keller Easterling seeks the trapdoor into another habit of mind" by eschewing narrow categories of thought for more inclusive ones; Sylvia Lavin uses the analogy of the 'kiss' between an installation and the architecture that houses it as a model of architectural inter-disciplinarity as media interaction; and Hal Foster and Michael Speaks face off on the relative merits of design intelligence and critical distance. How can a student of architecture ever gain a foothold in this complex and confusing debate? At stake in the debates over disciplinarity is the question: how can we identify architecture's categories of knowledge, and how did the categorization of knowledge become a priority? This Disciplinarity seminar will historically situate the circumstances of architecture's emerging disciplinarity, and thematize it through three seemingly disparate but operatively identical lenses: the aesthetic, the historic, and the technological. Although the debates cited above appear unruly at first blush, fundamentally they aggregate around the relative merits of defining disciplinary categories of knowledge either too narrowly or too broadly, focusing either on architecture's autonomy or its extra-disciplinary appropriations. In addition to architecture's various categories of knowledge, the seminar will consider the influence of disciplinarity on our practices, considering how various classifications of architectural knowledge affect its techniques, standards, and formats of dissemination. From its Foucaultian framing to its current incarnations, Disciplinarity will unpack the construction of architecture's disciplinarity, and shed some much-needed light on what it means for architects to be disciplinary.

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

Major Requirement | MArch: Architecture (3yr)

Separated at Birth (Textile & Paper Applications in Architecture) operates between the interwoven histories and shared tectonic vocabulary of paper fabrication, textile production, and architectural design. The course opens ways for student experimentation in material behavior as a driver of decision-making of an architectural project.

Paper and textiles share basic structural principles; both are essentially the entanglement of fibers into thin, pliable surfaces. In their simplest states, both perform well under tension and fail quickly in compression. They have undergone similar periods of industrial development, have tangential inter-applications, and share the potential for architectural ramifications. Their respective material processes act as productive foils to architectural making, highlighting and differentiating certain qualities. 

The course is anchored by material production in paper and in textile through collaborative construction projections. These built events establish a shared material experience, a common fast-and-loose attitude toward production, and an opportunity for collective critical reflection.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $150.00 - $200.00

Elective

It's no coincidence that some of the most timeless pieces of furniture were designed by Architects. Iconic designs by mid-century architects like Charles Eames, Alvar Aalto, and Eero Saarinen are still in production today with originals valued well into the thousands of dollars. But what makes these pieces so timeless? This winter-session course will begin with a brief survey of American mid-century design with a focus on material, form, and construction techniques. Students will then choose one mid-century design and present their own critical analysis. Building on their exploration, students will be asked to develop their own designs through conceptual sketches, CAD, digital modeling and rapid prototyping. Students will then create shop drawings from which a full-scale piece of furniture will be created.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $250.00

Elective

This course emphasizes the unique opportunity to learn Japanese Ceramic History and a hands-on study in Taiwan to learn new studio practices of clay art and its inherent characteristics and its possibilities as both utilitarian and sculptural ceramics.  The focus of this class will be on the foundation skills of hand-building, wheel-throwing, and surface decoration in a rich historic and cultural context of study in Japan and Taiwan.  The elements of this course will be taught through lectures, demonstrations, critiques, and assignments.

Registration is not available in Workday. All students are required to remain in good academic standing in order to participate in the Wintersession travel course/studio. A minimum GPA of 2.50 is required. Failure to remain in good academic standing can lead to removal from the course, either before or during the course. Also in cases where Wintersession travel courses and studios do not reach student capacity, the course may be cancelled after the last day of Wintersession travel course registration. As such, all students are advised not to purchase flights for participation in Wintersession travel courses until the course is confirmed to run, which happens within the week after the final Wintersession travel course registration period.

Elective

Students will learn handbuilding, glazing, and surface decorating as well as other press molds and other sculptural techniques. They will use their creativity and storytelling to dream up a world in ceramic sculpture, and turn the everyday into something whimsical. We will focus on bringing imaginary objects and creatures  to life and provide demos on fur, scales, warts, claws, feathers and more.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $75.00

Elective

This course will explore digital design and production methods of ceramic objects within the context of contemporary art and design. Students will undertake a series of projects utilizing 3D modeling applications to produce forms that can be fabricated by additive technologies including direct extrusion of clay. Students will also build an open source printer to gain a better understanding of the adaptability and control of the tools they will be using. Rhino will be used as the primary CAD tool and students will need to provide their own laptop with Rhino installed. Experience with both ceramics and 3D modeling preferred.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00

Elective

The course explores an extensive range of sculptural possibilities for ceramics through the theme of sampling. Students learn basic ceramic construction including handbuilding and moldmaking. Projects include: transformation of found shapes, images or objects, abstraction and introduction to contemporary ceramic sculpture. The emphasis is on experimentation and development of personal ideas.

Elective

In this class you will find a site, a venue, a place from which your investigations will spring. Working from the tradition and need of tableware; or architectural ornamentation; or public art, you will attach your personal expressive needs and vision to uses outside of the studio. Creative and inventive individual solutions are stressed. All ceramic techniques and processes appropriate may be used. Collaboration is encouraged. Designed for students at an advanced level, using clay as a primary material and involving a variety of processes and forming methods.

Elective

Students explore the pottery making processes of throwing, jiggering, extruding, casting, and pressing. They test and experiment creating the ceramic surfaces from a variety of high temperature glaze and firing techniques. They establish and challenge the creative and expressive potentials of utility.

Major Requirement | BFA Ceramics

The second semester is a development of the ideas and work begun in the first. Students are available and pursue active contact with the faculty. Students also attend supplemental department presentations.

Major Requirement | MFA Ceramics

Ceramic Sculpture will cover a range of concepts, traditions and techniques that are specific to the disciplines of both ceramics and sculpture. Projects will revolve around the topics of space, structure and form and the development of ideas. Techniques and processes including hand building, surface treatment and glazes will be covered. Clay is a subtle material allowing an exchange between the medium and the self. Through making, your skills and confidence will develop giving you more control over the objects you wish to realize. Students will approach these dynamics through installation, large construction and small-scale object making. Designed for students at an advanced level, using clay as a primary material and involving a variety of processes and forming methods.

Major Requirement | BFA Ceramics

A posed model will serve as the visual base from which students will compose and articulate 3-dimensional form in clay. Class projects include a series of small standing figures, a portrait, and a series of larger figures or large fragments of figures. Students will learn to build armatures and use clay modeling tools effectively. Outside assignments include skull study, a hand study and drawings from figurative sculpture found in and around Providence. Strong emphasis is given both to whole sight and to abstraction of essentials - proportion, spatial relationship, and axial orientation.

Major Requirement | BFA Ceramics

Continued exploration begun during the first year leads to the presentation of a thesis project. Students work during class hours to ensure daily contact with faculty.

Major Requirement | MFA Ceramics

The second semester is a continuation of the senior degree project begun in the Fall. The work and ideas are further developed and refined for final presentation at the Woods-Gerry Gallery.

Major Requirement | BFA Ceramics

Students explore the pottery making processes of throwing, jiggering, extruding, casting, and pressing. They test and experiment creating the ceramic surfaces from a variety of high temperature glaze and firing techniques. They establish and challenge the creative and expressive potentials of utility.

Elective

In this studio elective, students will explore extended reality (XR) technologies and their implications for our shared spaces and collective futures, from surveillance and smart cities to interfaces and intimacy. Looking far beyond traditional tech canons — which skew heavily institutional, Western, white, and male — we will actively work to broaden and upend existing narratives about XR’s uses, users, and possibilities.This course is ideal for students looking to connect their own research interests with critical approaches to augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) tools and concepts. Students can expect to leave the course with new technical skills, a body of self-initiated work, and a critical understanding of the promises and perils of extended realities past, present and future. We will focus on beginner-friendly, no- and low-code software, but students who know how to code are welcome to use more advanced techniques in their work. In the class’s first third, workshops and experimental exercises briefly introduce AR/VR tools, photogrammetry, and 3D modeling. Over the rest of the semester, students develop two individual projects. Regular feedback, shared during 1-on-1 meetings and group critiques, will help students define their own process, motivations, and criteria for success. Throughout, in lectures, readings, and discussions, we will analyze diverse work by artists, designers, technologists, and activists who are imagining alternatives to big tech’s constrained visions for our shared futures.

Estimated Cost of Materials : $100.00

Elective

In this course, students will play, critique and make artistic games. These can generally be characterized as simple, conceptually-based and personal interactive experiences. Unlike mainstream games, these games highlight individual narratives, emphasizing self expression, non-linear logic and creative inquiry. Using the free and widely supported Unity Engine, students will learn the basic programming, 3D modeling (using the built-in ProBuilder plugin) and environmental storytelling, with no prior experience required. This will give students the technical and conceptual framework necessary to build their own “world”, one where they set the rules for a change.

Final projects could address identity, agency and self-expression though are not limited to these themes.Every week a new tool will be introduced alongside a playable prototype (made by myself) that demonstrates how the tool can be used and misused (in a productive way). Students will receive a homework assignment based solely on the weekly topic, challenging them to craft an experience within a limited set of parameters that will slowly expand. Additionally, a curated selection of related games and relevant texts will be provided every week.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00

Elective

Creative directors are often artists in disguise, with roles as fluid as myths. They could helm a magazine, a fashion house, or an art exhibition, devise strategies to link brands with people, or they could lead a media platform masquerading as a tech company, or vice versa. Bound by a scope of work, a creative director's work is a collective effort, not a standalone piece. They orchestrate behind the scenes, curating concepts and crafting communication strategies. Their role is essentially non-material—focused more on process than product—and is precise and covert, with the client seen as the 'author' of the work.

This studio course operates at the intersection of creative direction and artificial intelligence, investigating the evolving relationship between AI systems and creative practice. As AI systems evolve from tools into collaborators and potential competitors,  we must reconsider how human creative direction can evolve alongside—or in resistance to—artificial intelligence.

Through hands-on workshops, students will design and train AI models for creative tasks. Weekly projects focus on implementing machine learning models for specific creative direction tasks.  We will explore the possibility of training personalized AI agents that embody and extend individual creative methodologies. Students will develop their own AI creative director agent while critically examining the implications of delegating creative decisions to artificial systems. The course combines applied studio work with critical discussions about the future of creative direction and the ethical implications of automated creativity.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00

Elective

This studio elective focuses on creating digital image-based artworks. Students will be introduced to a wide variety of contemporary artists working between digital imaging, photography, and digital painting — and a range of technical possibilities for making and producing “painterly” digital artworks. Through several short assignments and one final project, students will experiment and then hone in on image-making processes that suit and expand their practices. These projects are complemented by readings and discussions which provide context for contemporary digital art-making: an exciting and ever-changing space for creative work.

Elective