RISD vs Tualane vs Ohio State University

SeanMcG
Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:29:57 +0000

Tulane student here, from my understanding from friends who go to RISD, Tulane and RISD are very different in their architectural pedagogy and conceptual approach. Tulane emphasizes design that respects its surroundings, especially due to the cultural and historical significance of existing buildings in New Orleans (most of our design sites are in NOLA). We have a great design-build program here called UrbanBuild, and if you’re into that realm, this is probably one of the best schools in the South if not the country to actually get a design realized while still in school. That being said, if you want to be very conceptual and artsy, you’ll find yourself in a minority here. I’m personally into parametric based design, and I am always influenced by professors to make my designs performative and not just purely an artistic ego-experiment. Honestly, visit both of the schools and see where you would fit in. I did that with USC/Tulane and it really cleared it up for me. Don’t let the US News/Design Intelligence Rankings influence you-- purely superficial criteria are used in relation to architecture schools.