I got into RISD two years ago. That's really not that long of a time ago if you think about it...Anyway, Some random thoughts. The Arch dept. shares a 3-5 storey building with the L.archs. I was admitted with a $3,000 scholarship.



I was gung ho about RISD from my sophomore year until I graduated and visited the school. Providence for starters is a beautiful place. It’s big but small.

When I went to visit, like I said it was beautiful, although it rained the super cold, my first three days there. Most of the Main buildings are along the river, and most of the people were nice.

I actually stayed with alum of RISD's graphic program. I stayed in their warehouse and took the bus from a nearby town to providence. When talking to the guy I stayed with, he said most RISD alum end up staying in Providence not doing a whole lot. Mostly because they liked it there, and too that there wasn't much of a job market. This lead me to believe I must either have some rich folks or like he said, "wait tables, and throw the paper" to stay afloat.

I put all this aside though. He was an artist, and that's what artists do, wait tables, sell paintings or starve. Going into architecture, I dismissed his comments.

Anyway, Providence is a very diverse place. For some reason I pictured a lot of crackers in boat shoes, but that wasn't the case. This didn't bother me either.

The thing that did bother me, and that completely changed my mind was when I visited the architecture bldg. The building itself was nice, but the work in the gallery caught me way, way off guard.

So, I walked in and there was an exhibit up. I looked around and thought...eeghh, second year undergrad. There was an array of oddities displayed and only two nice (laser cut models). Yet, there were horribly charcoaled sketches of out of proportion building interiors; there was also a lot of meager vellum drawings that didn't look very well developed. AND then there was some really bad sh*t, Bad enough to effect my decision.

The one that did me in was this: It looked like someone bought a really shitty dresser. Then sawed off some of the intermediates. Actually it looked like they gnawed them off with their teeth. Then they covered the opening by fastening plex doors to brass hinges. Inside the dresser was a series of ramps constructed out of warped (paint soaked) chipboard. Also there was some other weird stuff inside, a big red wheel, some painted tennis balls, etc.

I was immediately disgusted and interested, thinking "did someone accidentally leave some shit on the exhibit floor that they were taking out of the studio?" But upon further examination I figured out what it was. On top of the "dresser" were some brass 1" dia, countersunk cylinders. I lifted one up, It said "lettuce." the other said "cottage cheese." It was a freaking hamster home!

o.k. I thought, it's sophomore work, and there's always one sophomore that just doesn't get it. After browsing around, I bumped into a guy looking at the work also. He, to my displeasure informed me that in fact this was the architecture dept.’s thesis work. I threw up in my mouth! And left!

I retuned the next day. I confirmed the same information with the admin. My next step was to ask, as any self respecting student who has busted his ass to get into a great school, and who is about to spend $30,000 a year on an education, to see the NAAB archive.

After asking on three different occasions that week, and being denied.
I declined my acceptance.

Now before you say it's ridiculous to pull out of a school because on one hamster home, just think about it. Some kid spent a good six months to a year developing this ludicrous idea in front of professors. This kid may leave, but the Profs who let him do this, and exhibit it, are still there. Now I’m a rambuncous dreamer, but there’s no way I’d do a hamster house for a thesis!

In closure, I’m not going to any school that says hamster homes are intellectual. AND, AND if they are there should be a 1000 page document explaining the psychosis behind it sitting right there next to the lettuce cylinder!

If your artsy fartsy you'll wish you would have applied to another RISD degree program. (graphics, industrial, etc.) Perhaps that was the case with the hamster home.

Check it out before you drop you wad!

I think hamster homes are more intellectual than using terms like "cracker" in a public forum.

hey hotshot i am a cracker! thanks for paying attention!

jimjaxx- were you looking at RISD for M.Arch or B.Arch?

location, faculty and education
RISD, Penn, MIT, and GSD are all very, very different schools from each other and are a peculiar group. Look at the kind of work the grad. Profs are writing/producing as well as their facilities. Based on what’s important to you, I would imagine you’d be able to make an easy decision immediately after visiting each of them. Personal opinion…go to any of the others before RISD.

jajoca-

would you hold out for next year rather than go to RISD? if so why?

In my humble opinion…the other three schools offer a graduate level education that is worth the energy, time and money in terms of the knowledge you’ll gain and overall post-grad benefits…risd strikes me as a very direct extension of undergrad work (which seems very comfortable and is quite expensive for what you get.) I’m basing that opinion on one visit and a handful of RISD alums. Again, they all offer extraordinarily different approaches on architecture and you should visit all of them.

Skip RISD altogether... Having spent a semester at RISD in the Architecture department as an undergrad I can say that it's not as challenging at the Master's level as other programs that are exclusively graduate. The bulk of studios are shared with undergraduates. The quality of the teaching/criticism and other students' work is also extremely uneven. I also know from friends who graduated with MArch degrees from RISD that it has been harder for them to find employment than graduates from the Ivies.

It's time to represent.

RISD is a different animal. I can qualify this statement as a 1st year M.Arch student at RISD - and after having been part of the U of Wisconsin / Milw. undergrad program.

RISD is misunderstood and misrepresented. Without attending for a semester and a half you cannot understand. Despite having a good friend (with a background identical to mine) attend here a year ahead of me and constantly update me, I still had no idea. RISD students are generally too busy to blog, etc. The only reason I'm writing this right now is because it's spring break... but that's another story.

I had the same sort of gut reaction when I first visited RISD's gallery. The fact of the matter is that the work we do here do indeed comes across unclear at times in model form. Many models are never meant to be "architecture." Many are models of ideas, and are considered more theoretical sketches. Other models are meticulous in other ways. Right now I'm working on a model that will exist as an 8'x20' "installation" in market square. That model will be quite meticulous. A model completed a few weeks ago of a 2500 piece precast Nervi dome too, was quite meticulous; and was created in about 3 days; as almost every model is. We usually use practically anything before using foamcore and basswood to erect a "traditional" architectural model. Basically every class is a charette; and the models that you saw in the gallery were probably more of charette quality than something you present to a client. RISD students know craft well, but there's a place/time for it. Why spend weeks creating a perfect model when that time could be spent perfecting the idea & concept - or moving to yet more material?

Thinking back to my own first impression of the school's work, I realize how wrong I was - and am glad that I made the right decision to come here.

As far as job market, etc... Everyone has their priorities and makes his/her own decisions. The area has an intelligent rebellious "design" vibe which is very alluring. Plenty of people do stay here. I won't, because it's not my priority. You can only be "stuck" somewhere if you let it happen. You only miss opportunity by not acting.

I'm not surprised to hear RISD bashed here, and I really don't care. I know what's here, so does every zealously dedicated student and faculty member. If you can't deal with life-dominating nature of the first year (esp. 1st semester), then you don't either. If you subscribe to the ideas of a few forum posts bashing RISD, then don't come here. Go to another school then (though you may find the same outlook at other schools, like Harvard or Cranbrook).

If you solely rely on my personal account of the school, forget about it. But if you can clearly think for yourself, make a decision. You will land in the right place.

That's great to hear Tim...what you say was my first primal impression of the RISD program when I first learned about it. There seem to be tons of opponents and not many proponents of the program here and elsewhere on the threads.

Did I read your comments correctly: you're leaving RISD? Why?

No, I'm not leaving RISD at all. I love it here.

I noticed a few gramar/editing errors at the end of my post which may have obscured my message. I intended to convey that one ought to be careful not to let first impressions fool you. Clean-cut perfect looking models can lie (though not always). What you see in the RISD gallery is the resultant of pure design thought - and it doesn't lie. There is way more to RISD's program than first meets the eye.

The final thoughts are meant to make prospecting students really think about the decision beyond the superficial first impression. Nobody can tell you not to come here; and no one can tell you that you absolutely must. Different schools fit different personalities and produce different types of architects.

its funny how one persons perspective or brief encounter with a school can influence the future of many people peoples lives. Last year i remember looking at the posts on this site and reading about how risd has one of the best programs in the country, great student work etc. Oh and lets not foreget that debatable design intelligence survey that comes out every year and risd has placed 5th or so in the most innovative architecture programs in the country category. Then there are the NCARB or NAAB inspection teams that go out to every architecture school and evaluate the program. The success of the program influences whether its put on probation or if it passes how many years until the next visit. Well theyre not comming back to risd for 6 years (two years ago), 6 years being the best.

That aside...i know as a third year undergrad that risd has a damn good program.obviously i come from a different perspective since i am an undergrad and this post is concerned with the graduate program. The truth is that the undergrad and graduate programs at risd are the same thing, there is not an architecture class or studio that is not mixed between undergrad and grad unless it is through the landscape arch dept. For me this is great because im thrown in with a bunch of 24-35 year olds who have undergrad degrees in other fields. The grads tend to be more pragmatic and conservative towards arch whereas the undergrads bring an intense studio work ethic and creativity into the studios. Risd is considered the best art school in the country and this def shows in terms of work ethic and quality. Tim brings up a good point that the reason this forum isnt plauged by risd students is because we work soo damn hard. Its true that all architecture students assert the amount of work they take on but this is a school wide endevour at risd. My roomates who are painters and my friends who are in apparel and textiles work all the time. Yes they probably work more than most students at other architecture schools. and it gets even better because all of risd recognized the architecture department as the hardest working.

I definately agree with all that Tim has said. I have a blog on this site and would be glad to answer questions for those of you who are not concerned with blanket statements.

Obviously, everyone's experiences can widely differ at all of those schools. So in the end you have to decide what type of education you desire. It is expensive, but that shouldn't matter.