ABSTRACT
Rhode Island School of Design's (RISD's) MLA program is unique in that it gives students access to a wide range of fine art and design courses on campus. The MLA curriculum is seen as a laboratory where material investigations and conceptual explorations intertwine with individual studio research and practice. In addition, the program revolves around environmental and global issues, with recent involvement in projects in Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Ghana, and beyond. This chapter presents the interview conducted by Jonathon R. Anderson and Daniel H. Ortega. Innovation is part of the mission at RISD, and it is embedded in the curriculum of the landscape architecture department in the form of material experimentation, multidisciplinary learning, and the hybridization of technologies and practices from within and beyond the discipline. The multidisciplinary studio included sculpture students and landscape architecture students, and it focused on creating sculptural forms that could provide habitats for oysters.
