Interior Architecture Masters Theses
Interior Architecture offers the following degree program options at the graduate level:
• Master of Arts (MA) in Adaptive Reuse, a one-year+ program
• Master of Design (MDes) in Interior Studies / Adaptive Reuse, a two-year+ program
• Master of Design (MDes) in Interior Studies / Exhibition + Narrative Environments, a two-year+ program
Both programs take an innovative and progressive approach to addressing design issues intrinsic to the reuse and transformation of existing structures. US News & World Report and Design Intelligence have both ranked RISD’s Interior Architecture programs among the top in the country.
Each MA candidate produces a final project that begins with a research component in the fall and evolves into a studio/design project in the spring. MDes candidates demonstrate competency through self-directed Degree Projects that include a seminar on theory, a research component and a studio component. Each DP focuses on the transformation of an existing structure of their choice in the city of Providence. All MA and MDes candidates also participate in the RISD Graduate Thesis Exhibition, a large-scale public show held annually.
Graduate Program Director: Markus Berger
These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Theses from 2019
Integration as a catalyst for change : school for Rohingya children, Naeera Ali
Architecture as magnet : extension to Fort Adams, Mingyi Hu
Exhibiting materiality : object for love attachment therapy, Yunhong Hu
Tea journeys : exhibition as experience, Liujun Liao
Road home : family renovation in rural China, Guijiadong Lin
Playfulness : exploring experience through a trajectory, Yingjing Qu
Re-activating collective memory : museum as a workshop, Sfoorti Sachdev
Field in adaptive reuse : discussion of the existence of the field and its influence, Yilun Shao
Breaking barriers, opening doors : integrating the formerly incarcerated with community, Ruoyi Song
Remembering culture in the modern era : cultural center SPA Grössling, Alex Trajanov-Godmas
Theses from 2018
Evoking the divine : from secular to sacred and back again, Dragos Tiberiu Alexandru
Environmental diversity for student residence life, Jiaying Bai
Architecture as water-human mediator, Hui Bao
Creating connection in a digital society, Mariah Bennett
Revealing context & complexity in urban historic sites, Simin Chu
Amending the idle : an analysis of urban idle spaces + third places, Paige Davidson
Reveal the aura : RISD contemplative atrium, Shuyi Guo
Moments of rotary motion : temporary use in vacant industrial heritage architecture, Xuecheng He
Preventing lonely death, Hyun Kyu Lee and Menghan Zhou
Rising above disruption, Paola Alexandra Mondino
Bound by // to // in earth, Lila Pickus
Gassed out, Toban Shadlyn
Purpose after tragedy, Elena Tepavac
Understanding dwelling beyond the terrestrial, Sungkyu Yang
Architecture as an adapter : a revolution in high-rise corporate architecture, Nan Zou
Theses from 2017
RISD Club, Madeleine Devall
Imagine of space : rest(ing) rooms for high-stressed RISD students, Fang Ho
We are what we dispose : continuation of culture through recycling at Rhode Island School of Design, Xinzhou Jiang
Wellness within reach : life / work balance within the RISD campus, Kyunghwa Kang
Lighting : an atrium core to reconnect with the sun, Quan Lei
Creative collisions : a RISD case study, Hannah Liongoren
Building community : network within grey space, Lingfei Liu
Building as reef, Anna Morataya Quan
Hill study : re-energize highly-programmed hill study space, Di Qiang
Into the open : blurring building fences, Chun Qiu
Updraft : crafting a new passive cooling, Hobin Song
Theses from 2016
A place for family: support health through community, Jiaqi Li
We can be heroes: enriched spaces for men of color, Ann McKinnon
Theses from 2015
Equilibrium: public spectacle for social integration, Reem Al Thani
Community in a post-diest world, Kirby Benjamin
The post office reimagined : restoring healthy living in America, Mallory Buck
Power shift: a catalyst for architectural transformation : rapid transit, Cincinnati, Dachamont Kaewket
Redefining liminal spaces through natural phenomena, Hanna Kim