More than just a classroom experience.

Hayley Bryden

General psychology, b.a.

“Working on a real project with professionals increased my confidence exponentially. It’s been an amazing experience; opening my eyes to the importance and interplay between field research and innovation.” 

Aaron Danforth

interior design, b.a.

“This experience was a lodestar for me; the first time I felt my work mattered.” 

Dan Wylnicki

Graduate Student Forensics, Film Maker and User EXPERIENCE Designer

“During our first semester of the program we learned and used Lighting Anthropology to discover what people feel, need, want, and actually do in the classrooms we were designing. My fellow students described their current experiences as“Zombie-like, boring, blah, bland, sterile, old, dysfunctional, cramped, crowded, dreary, and dead”.  Listening to what they were saying inspired me to not only improve upon the current experience but to strive to create a “flagship” experience, a classroom experience that would become a model for classroom design nationwide"

Del Simmons

architect

"This experience has brought me back to early design classes at RISD where collaboration & creativity always went hand in hand.  Where one idea built upon another and the end result was a design larger than the whole and brighter than the highest creative moment.  We dreamed together then applied the harsh reality of a building–bidding schedule & forced the idea into the grinder and out came pure gold!  The passion & experience of the students trying to create a better learning environment while still in the school was the driving factor & genius lightning stuck time after time.  It truly was collaboration and creativity at its best…and was great fun along the way!!!”