The pioneering work of Dutch crystallographer Arthur L. Loeb (1923–2002), who taught for many years in Harvard's Visual and Environmental Studies Department, established new ways of envisioning the world at macro and molecular scales and communicating elemental spatial concepts. The objects and prints from his personal teaching collections that are now at RISD illustrate core principles of pattern, symmetry, and structure found both in nature and the built environment. This type of visual/spatial thinking is increasingly recognized as fundamental to innovation and scientific creativity.

The Arthur Loeb Design Science Teaching Collection was given to RISD in the early 2000s by Arthur Loeb's widow, Mrs. Charlotte (Lotje) Loeb, who intended it to become part of the Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab and for it to help students "develop investigative habits of mind and . . . competence at problem solving based on hands-on research with a wide array of biological and fabricated materials and processes." For both practical and preservation purposes, the collection has been housed since 2021 in Fleet Library and can be accessed for individual research and class instruction, in keeping with Mrs. Loeb's intentions, through the library's Visual + Material Resources Center.

The collection comprises 412 structural and tensegrity 3D Models , including Loeb’s “Moduledra” prototypes, Stewart Coffin puzzles, and Dennis Dreher jitterbugs; Holly Alderman's Symmetry Portfolio, a series of geometric silkscreens that illustrate all repeating patterns or symmetry groups possible in the plane; Dr. Loeb's personal library; and Documents and ephemera related to his teaching, research, and collaborations with notable figures like R. Buckminster Fuller, and M.C. Escher.

The Arthur Loeb Design Science Teaching Collection can be viewed in Digital Commons @ RISD. To access physical material or to schedule a class visit, you can fill out the Loeb Collection Appointment Request Form or the Loeb Collection Instruction Request Form.