On was an interdisciplinary graduate periodical established by RISD graduate students in 2006. It featured essays and student work that related to a general issue theme. On was intended as a quarterly publication, but it is unclear if further issues beyond the first were ever published.
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Reconcile Liminality
Zefeng Wang
This thesis explores the concept of liminal space as a metaphor for the current transition to the digital era. We are not fully prepared for what the future holds. Fears and worries surrounding rapid development are amplified by the potential for social problems. However, by examining human development in history, we can gain insight into our current situation and start a discussion about where we are headed. The objective of this proposal is to create a space that eases concerns about the arrival of the new digital age. This is particularly relevant to Japan, which is now at a digital threshold. Despite ranking highly in fields such as microelectronics and computer hardware, Japan still uses outdated operating models, systems, and technologies. Such digital dysfunction indicates a palpable fear of the advent of digitization, as evidenced by the government’s use of fax machines to report infection numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study thesis seeks to investigate how the concept of liminal space can be applied to design a solution that addresses the anxieties associated with the digital age transition anxieties over transition to the digital age in Japan and beyond.
本论文提出了一种设计解决方案来解决日本对数字化转型的恐惧和不情愿，这源于他们对技术的保守态度和生活在平成时代的历史门槛内。使用代表两种存在状态之间过渡的阈限空间的概念，本文旨在创造一个身心空间，以减轻围绕新数字时代到来的担忧和恐惧。设计灵感来源于日本平成时期首次引领世界的新陈代谢运动，利用新陈代谢建筑运动最具代表性的代表作——被拆除的中银胶囊塔。通过使用一个胶囊作为设计策略，这篇论文希望鼓励日本重拾平成时代的精神，无所畏惧地迎接新的变化。拟议的设计旨在促进从旧到新的平稳过渡，从而减少数字化转型的阻力，使日本能够在数字时代蓬勃发展。
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Navigating Contextualism: An architectural and urban design study at the intersection of climate, culture, urban development, and globalization Case Study of Dire Dawa
Ruth Wondimu
This thesis investigates architectural typologies that have dominated the world especially in the context of Ethiopia. It critiques the de-contextual nature of the modernist and related typologies through the lens of climate, socio-economic fabric, and urban design. It then focuses on Dire-Dawa University, located in the eastern part of Ethiopia, by investigating the authenticity, functionality, and contextuality of the architectural designs as well as their relationship with the people, urban landscape, and culture. Finally it provides design interventions that mitigate the climate related problems through local solutions.
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Illusion of Consumption, Architectural Rebellion: Unraveling the Maze of Consumption
Xinjie Xiang
Consumerism was born in the industrial age, and has been criticized since that time, but it still exists and flourishes in new forms with the information age. Consumption affects values and life, spurring economic growth and causing ecological crises. Therefore, a critical discussion of consumerism must continue.
This thesis proposes a space within an existing mall that raises people's awareness to be vigilant against the control of consumerism by exposing how marketing packages goods and manipulates people's psychology to guide consumption. An ideal mall to host this program is the Changsha International Finance Square, a large mixed-use building in the most flourishing street in Changsha, a medium-sized city in China.
Existing malls reinforce traditional consumerist messages. The hierarchy of brands is expressed in architecture through placement and access to valuable resources, such as layout, traffic, patterns and more. Beyond physical space, with the development of the Internet, consumerism has emerged in all parts of life, analyzing data from phones and understanding of consumer psychology to manipulate people into buying even more. It shares similar characteristics with traditional consumerism, but promotes fanatical consumption in a more complex form.
Changsha, in recent years, has become an internet celebrity city popular among the younger generation, who are more likely to be lured and manipulated by internet consumerism. This thesis explores the characteristics of traditional consumerism and internet-driven spending, transforming marketing methods into spatial maneuvers. By deconstructing the hidden connotations of consumerism in architecture and daily life, the thesis seeks to reconstruct these elements using an architectural language that consumers can perceive. Ultimately, the goal is to create an experiential space within a shopping mall that questions the nature of consumerism and teaches consumers how to recognize this manipulation in the wild.
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Beyond Burial - Transforming Death: A New Ritual of Farewell and the Ecological Return of the Body to Nature
Chang Xie
Burial and funeral culture have been shaped by human self-awareness and reflect an anthropocentric worldview. The modern funeral industry's multi-billion-dollar enterprise is based on the principle of protecting, sanitizing, and beautifying the corpse to promote the idea of human exceptionalism. However, this practice overlooks the natural process of decay and the potential beauty in returning the body to the earth, with which the body shares the same chemical basis as the earth itself. Modern science has provided Eco-friendly green burial methods, such as soil modification, ice burial, and water burial, making it suitable to contribute to natural ecology using human bodies.
China's explosive population growth resulting from urbanization has caused a shortage of cemeteries, making it challenging to access earthen burials and cremations. To address this issue, this thesis proposes an Ecological Architecture of Death by renovating Hong Kong's iconic Star Ferry Pier into a new cemetery typology that promotes green burial methods and creates an earth-friendly resting place for the deceased and a space for the living to reflect on our entanglement with the natural world. The proposal is divided into four parts: Spiritual Space, Facility, Theatre, and Memorial. Spiritual Space provides a ritual to participate in the farewell process and build a relationship with the deceased. Facility offers functional and technical support for burial, while Theatre dramatizes the moment after the farewell to prolong the process of memorialization and incorporates it into architectural spaces and narratives to facilitate the grieving process. Memorial keeps remembrance alive and welcomes members of the surrounding community. By embedding the cemetery within urban life and improving accessibility, mourning behaviors can become a part of daily life.
Ultimately, this thesis proposes a sustainable approach to death that challenges the conventional funeral industry's anthropocentric practices and promotes ecological harmony between humans and nature. Providing safe and open interactions with death and dead bodies, this architecture can help individuals unburden their grief and find a path towards healing.
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Interactive Architecture - Intervention of Virtual Business on Commercial Space
Yihao George Xu
Traditional mall-based restaurants, such as P.F. Chang’s in the Providence Place Mall, have primarily focused on site-based dining and bar services. However, the food provided by this chain restaurant often lacks depth, and customers seldom learn the story behind the dishes. This thesis explores the integration of mixed reality technology within the physical environment of P.F. Chang’s, an American Chinese restaurant chain with over 300 locations, aiming to transform it into an authentic Shanghai food culture experience. This experience combines virtual and physical stimuli to evoke various periods of Chinese history, providing a unique encounter for customers.
The proposed transformation for P.F. Chang’s includes several steps. Firstly, the entry area will be enhanced to express dining visions, incorporating video footage of people enjoying the food and the cooking process. Secondly, a blend of physical dining and virtual digital interaction, including screen tables and digital menus, offers an immersive environment. Visitors can observe their surroundings transform to evoke the atmosphere and aesthetics of Shanghai. The screen table and digital elements change color to stimulate diners’ appetites with visual cues, and the surrounding lighting is adapted using a REST API embedded into the online menu as food is served. Furthermore, customers can interact with the table to learn about the ingredients of the food served, promoting food knowledge.
Leveraging Firebase, a back-end database technology offered by Google, this thesis examines user involvement within the metaverse and potential implications for the future of physical commerce at P.F. Chang’s in Providence Place Mall. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how virtual business interventions can reshape the commercial landscape. The results suggest that integrating mixed reality technologies can create more engaging and personalized cultural immersions for consumers, thus transforming the traditional restaurant into an immersive Shanghai cultural engagement.
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Destination Unknown
Dongheng Yang
Since the end of my undergrad years, I’ve been noticing my increasing tendency to not want to talk much about my work. What is it that lingers inside of me behind such silence? What story could one possibly talk about his studio practice, when he has little to say? Well, this thesis documents the thoughts behind this silence, which, I have to admit, have fueled my works in the past two years. I investigate postmodern phenomena and literary analysis on pop culture in East Asia, including hikikomori and decisionism, to better understand myself and the world around me. Constantly faced with the existential question of why I blow glass, I gradually come to realize that the answer to this question relates to that which has been encouraging me to be quiet.
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Seasons at the Tsubaki Stationary Store
Huiyun Yang, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
Entry for the 10th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening Reception Thursday, February 29th, 2024 Fleet Library, Main Reading Room. Juror: Ian Cozzens BArch 05.
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On the Power of Attainable Architecture Community Engagement and Interaction through Architecture: A New Approach to Architectural Exhibitions
Jianing Yang
This thesis explores the potential of architecture exhibitions as a medium to make architecture more accessible and relevant to the public. Drawing inspiration from an article titled "6 Small Scale Projects with Large Social Impact", it highlights the significance of small-scale architectural interventions that foster social responsibility, public engagement, and sustainability.
The prevalent architectural elitism often overlooks attainable, small-scale architecture, which advocates for a broader appreciation of architecture, including the everyday built environments that shape our communities and everyday lives.
The thesis proposes a new approach to architecture exhibitions emphasizing authentic immersion and engagement. It introduces a unique 1:1 experience where visitors can understand and appreciate architecture as it is utilized in its original context. This approach addresses the limitations of traditional architecture exhibitions, which often fail to convey the physical experience of being in the space, the tactile qualities of the materials, the context of the building's surroundings, and the social and cultural significance of the architecture within its community.
To address this issue, the thesis presents six case studies of architectural projects that have had a significant social impact on their respective communities. These projects are showcased in an exhibition format, including 1:1 replicas, contextual understanding, live activities, interactive touchpoints, and educational workshops. The exhibition strategies aim to recreate the built environment and the living culture that surrounds and interacts with it.
The case studies include the Center for Women in Masai Village, The Garden Library for Refugees and Migrant Workers, The Green Embassy, Story Pod Library, Za'atari Classroom, and Tea, Chocolate, Coffee Pavilion. Each project is presented in a way that allows visitors to experience the architecture in the same way as the community using the original architecture, thereby providing a deeper understanding of the architecture's social context.
In conclusion, my thesis underscores the crucial role of embracing a different role of architecture in addressing the needs of people. It highlights how, far from elitist concerns, architecture can be a powerful catalyst for positive societal change. By embracing the cultural nuances and economic conditions of diverse communities, creating typologies that cater to their unique needs, empowering marginalized groups, bridging divides, and contributing to sustainability, architecture can truly make a difference in society.
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One More Time, I Love You —— 我有所念人，隔在远远乡
Jingjing Yang
"One More Time, I Love You ——我有所念人，隔在远远乡" is a thesis project that delves into the profound nature of "obsession," which surpasses the boundaries of life and death, as well as the mortal world and the underworld. The interpretation of this type of obsession varies among individuals, and my understanding of it originates from the traditional Chinese myth concerning the afterlife journey. According to this myth, upon departing from the mortal realm, the deceased traverse the Bridge of Helplessness, cross the Forgotten River, peruse their past, present, and future lives on a Three Lives Stone, and then partake in the Soup of Oblivion. This soup cleanses all memories of their current life, leaving behind only an unblemished and pure consciousness ready for the next life.
Although the tangible and discernible elements have completely vanished, the intense nature of obsession can permeate the flesh and bones, disregarding the coexistence of yin and yang within this world. My fascination lies in this delicate, yet profoundly overpowering emotion that transcends the boundaries of life and death. This thesis serves as an introspective exploration of my emotions at a specific juncture in time. Through my artistic works, I attempt to express the ineffable obsessions that elude verbalization, encapsulating both my personal experiences and the resonant emotions they evoke. These works bear the invisible burdens I may not even be conscious of, eventually converging into a nuanced spectrum of blue, symbolizing my own version of the Soup of Oblivion and Three Lives Stone, embodying tangible connections within my uncertain future.
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Moving In, Moving Up, Moving On : The adaptation and preservation of Chinese diasporas through food
Jieqi Yao
Moving In, Moving Up, Moving On explores the processes of Chinese culture and space in America of adaptation, assimilation, and preservation that underlie food changes. As Chinatowns across the US have evolved and residents have relocated, former centers of Chinese cultural identity have progressively transformed into restaurant districts with increasingly diverse populations and space gentrification.
The thesis argues that food is central to preserving cultural memory and reducing the generation divide. In the context of the Chinese diaspora transformation, culture has changed food in different spaces, and it gives people more choices to acquire and exchange information and values through food networks and daily food habits. From a single package, to public kitchens and community warehouses, to tell how the future Chinese food culture can reduce the generational divide and promote greater responsiveness in the exchange of culinary knowledge in a more ecological way.
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Watering the Soul: Reintroduction of Water to the Urban Space
Danfei Zhang
Water and humans have a primordial connection which is more than fundamental survival requirement. Throughout human history, water has been a spiritual archetype by which people perceive and imagine the world. As a reflection of this, water is broadly featured in human material culture and plays a primary role in all religions and cultures.
Well-composed water features are capable for human’s spiritual and physical happiness and wellness. However, water that can benefit human well-being is absent from the vulnerable communities and populations that need it most, which is further exacerbated by the global water crisis.
This thesis proposes the reintroduction of water to urban public space in a more equitable, smart and poetic way to stimulate the imagination and nourish the hearts, minds and souls of all city dwellers.
Based on the research, the author uses South Providence as a research site to define and embody the opportunities of water spiritual qualities in the existing water system of a vulnerable neighborhood. On a more general level, this thesis discusses how, as designers, one can respond to the unspecified spiritual needs of humans on a concrete, practical level.
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Green Paths - On the Space In-Between Buildings
Hongru Zhang
This project focuses on the “leftovers” of our urban space after carving out what was required for buildings and transportation, and reintegrating them into a network that can be the habitat and paths for pollinators and small animals.
This network overlaps and interacts with our existing urban structures. Integrating it into our life will undermine the hierarchy of space and commodification of land intensified by the existing grid systems of the city, and introduce a different understanding of coexistence with nature.
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A Symphony of Contemplation
Shiyan Zhu, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
Entry for the 10th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening Reception Thursday, February 29th, 2024 Fleet Library, Main Reading Room. Juror: Ian Cozzens BArch 05.
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All About Honeycomb Cowfish — the Ultimate Pop-up Book
Yicong Zhu, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
Entry for the 11th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, Main Reading Room. Juror: Roger S. Williams.
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Moving Narration: A journey through history
Yincheng Zhu
The Central Pacific, as the first transcontinental railroad, is a remarkable achievement in the history of the United States. However, the story of what happened during its construction, including the struggles of the first generation of immigrants from China who built the tracks, and the resistance of native Americans to cede their lands, is largely forgotten. The California Zephyr, as a long-trip train that currently runs on the Central Pacific tracks, is not only a means of transportation but should also tell the history of survival and resistance embodied by the landscape it moves through and tracks it travels over.
This thesis argues for integrating three fragmented histories, which refer to the resistance of Native Americans, the survival of Chinese immigrant railroad workers, and the train experience during the 1960s, in a linear narrative environment. However, the design strategy is different from the conventional exhibition where audiences visit the space in a specific narrative order and stare at exhibits. On this train, riders can assume the role of either straightforward passengers or audience members. There will be opportunities to acquire knowledge of history by following Chinese immigrants’ dietary habits, reading books about that period of history, enjoying and learning about the landscape and the people who tended it for thousands of years, or entertaining to learn about cultures. Meanwhile, the narrative space created on the California Zephyr will serve as a spatial prototype for moving narration that can be used to integrate history within transportation, throughout the world in the future.
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Uncovering Emotional Contamination: Five Sites of Trauma
Abigail Zola
“Emotional contamination,” describes residual feelings associated with a space where a negative or tragic event occurred to an individual or group either personally, historically, or politically. Emotional contamination affects people’s associations with place and informs their willingness to spend time in them. This project considers a set of design principles rooted in uncovering and acknowledging the lifespan of a site, and considers how this acknowledgment can exist as an urban system rather than an individual architectural artifact. My thesis work analyzes five case studies in Berlin where political and economic factors determined the result of intervention, and how these sites can redefine our understanding of site-specific architecture as it relates to emotional contamination and memorialization.
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Revisionist Zinealog : a coacted countercultural device
Madaleine Ackerman
The REVISIONIST ZINEALOG functions as an evaluation and resourced countercultural device. Here, the user accesses a zinealog, (part zine, part catalog) and its supplemental Animate Postcard to become more familiar with how the canon of precedent positions its political relationship to a representational agenda.
This project is a critique and revision of the politics of aesthetics on the canon of precedent through the act of redrawing futures of the nonsite architectural imaginary.
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Collecting Comics at Fleet Library | a panel discussion
Bill Adler, Tim Finn, Claudia Covert, and Fleet Library
Collecting Comics at Fleet Library | a panel discussion with Bill Adler, music journalist and donor of the Adler Archive of Underground Comix, Tim Finn 00 FAV, owner of Hub Comics (Somerville, MA) and library donor, and Claudia Covert, Special Collections Librarian, Fleet Library. Moderated by Susan Doyle, RISD Illustration (originally planned as Jaleen Grove, RISD Illustration). Introduced by Eric Telfort, RISD Illustration. Tuesday, October 25, 2022, 6:30 pm. Fleet Library, First Floor "Living Room", Roger Mandle Building (15 Westminster). In celebration of one of the great and growing strengths of the collections at Fleet Library, this freewheeling conversation about collecting comics, cartoons, and graphic novels from private, commercial, and academic perspectives took place on October 25, 2022. Also considered were the art, ephemera, and sometimes challenging issues related to the fields of comics and comix. The event was co-sponsored by Fleet Library, the Illustration Department, and RISD Institutional Advancement.
View Comix from the Adler Archive of Underground Comix.
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Notes in improvisation : Spatializing Black Identity through music
Esther Akintoye
The self-creation of Black spaces in America has been a form of resistance and reclamation, as well as a way to forge an identity and make room for community. This thesis argues for a use of improvisational African American music as a tool to create space. Additionally, through research and a design intervention, this thesis seeks to demonstrate how spatial creation within the framework of music and musical improvisation work as ways to expand, solidify and celebrate identity within Black and African- identifying people in America.
Fluid and improvisational techniques found in Black musical styles and genres such as jazz set the foundation for this thesis, which readapts into a contemporary setting the site of a historic jazz bar in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania formerly called the Aqua Lounge. Restoration and adaptation are employed as intervention strategies within the site, which is currently used as a retail shop called the African Cultural Art Forum (ACAF). Portions of the site’s cultural heritage will survive as it programmatically becomes a space informed by and for music, with improvisation employed as a design strategy to create flexible architectural frameworks. The design intervention uses overlapping programs to create spaces that create a dialogue within the interior of the building and also between the interior and exterior of the site. Doors are rehinged to also work as seating, new floors are inserted within the building to create “micro floors” for recording studios and the existing first, second and third floors become retail, archival and performance spaces that harken back to programs that have existed within this site over time. Reworking functions of architectural programs and existing materials creates an adaptable space open to new interpretation to the future users.
Noise, sound and rhythm inspire fluid and less rigid architecture, creating spaces that support the people and communities who contribute to Black cultural expression. Philadelphia is known as “The City of Murals” and in support of themes within this thesis the site will benefit from keeping its existing mural intact on the site. The Aqua Lounge jazz bar is considered the foundational palimpsest layer, and the expression of jazz as improvisational leads to new forms of unplanned expressions within the site. Through an architectural design the aim is to loosely design these programs in a way that can be re-written by future users of this site.
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Thanks for Making It | S1E1: How Questioning Everything Helps You Find Better Solutions – Meg Liotta of Tesla
Beth Ames Altringer Eagle, Meg Liotta, Industrial Design Department, and MADE
In the automotive industry, engineering and design are two core components. But, many companies prioritize one (read: engineering) over the other. That's for a reason — cars are about functionality and safety as well as durability and cost-effectiveness. However, design is also about functionality. For instance, interior design solutions must ensure comfort and practicality. Therefore, the intersection of engineering and design is key to the success of a car giant such as Tesla. That's also the topic of this episode of Thanks for Making It. Our guest is Meg Liotta, the Senior Recruiter at Tesla. Meg and host Beth Altringer Eagle discuss the synergy between design and engineering, what it takes to work in a design engineering role, and what soft skills are required for working at Tesla. Meg shares her career path and a piece of valuable advice for students entering the job market. Meg and Beth also discuss diversity in the business world and emphasize the significance of diversity of thought and experience.
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T-HOUSE WATER AS MEDIUM IN INTERVENTIONS AND ADAPTIVE REUSE
Katherine Bambrick Ambroziak and Brian Ambroziak
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Boston Market; Utility Clean-up
RISD Archives
This video is not available online due to copyright and privacy issues. Video can be accessed and viewed in RISD Archives, Fleet Library 2nd Floor Rm. 201. Contact risdarchives@risd.edu for more information. Jeremy's kitchen; unknown woman cleaning kitchen.
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Conservation Through Engineering
RISD Archives
This video is not available online due to copyright and privacy issues. Video can be accessed and viewed in RISD Archives, Fleet Library 2nd Floor Rm. 201. Contact risdarchives@risd.edu for more information. An Omni promotional video.