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Post Ocean
No full texthttps://digitalcommons.risd.edu/colorlab_exhibitions_postoceanmaxpratt/1019/thumbnail.jp
Highlighting The Benefits of Community-Based Public Art Practices: Narrating a Year of Living and Working Amongst the Creative Communities of Providence, Rhode Island.
Full text linkThis thesis investigation explores the benefits of publicly
accessible arts programming and considers the significance of art
education experiences outside the traditional classroom setting.
The social and emotional benefits of these spaces are specifically
considered as a means to build confidence, and foster meaningful,
supportive connections beyond traditional academic measures.
Embracing a qualitative, mini-case study approach, the study
details hands-on experiences collaborating with different
organizations across Providence, Rhode Island during a year-long
graduate program. The data highlights how access to public
programs in community-based settings, such as libraries, play a
pivotal role in strengthening creative ideologies and community
relations
Playing With Ideas: A Museum-Based Inquiry
Full text linkThis thesis investigates the ways that alternative arts approaches such as
Teaching for Artistic Behavior, creative inquiry, and play based learning can
be incorporated into a contemporary arts based curriculum in the museum
setting. In addition to this, it looks closely at the significance of the museum
space and community in these learning encounters. The methodology included a
preliminary case study and teacher based research, which were completed with
the School & Teacher programs at the RISD museum. The qualitative data from
this research consisted of observations, teaching experiences, and reflections in
a visual journal. These findings supported the creation of a resource based on
contemporary art & play in museum spaces in the form of a guided sketchbook
for self-guided school tours, where students are supported through inquiry based
on themes that can be found in artworks throughout the museum. Students are
able to choose the artworks that interest them, investigate them further, and
respond to an artmaking prompt reflecting on a related personal experience.
This research contributes to the discourse on how implementing alternative arts
approaches to learning spaces supports student engagement and inquiry
Coarse Woody Debris: Growth & Decay
Full text linkCoarse Woody Debris is the felled wood from trees. When branches break off and trunks fall down to the ground, the wood from the tree begins to decay. Humans need to acknowledge the importance of this regeneration and habitat building process to help protect it. The debris from coarse wood decay provides multiple benefits to the surrounding ecosystem. It is important to leave the woody debris in the context in which it fell so that the cycles of growth and decay can be preserved. My project is a public service announcement about the values of coarse woody debris. Instead of cleaning or chipping up the fallen branches and logs we should leave them to rot on the forest floor. Coarse wood needs to remain in our forests to maintain a healthy environment
Rural Dreams
Full text linkWith the rapid development of urbanization in China, people\u27s connection with nature has weakened, leading to an increasingly common phenomenon of nature-deficit disorder. The high-paced, information-saturated lifestyle of cities has further reduced people’s sensitivity to natural rhythms. This is especially true for the younger generation, who are accustomed to fast, dense information flows and find it difficult to slow down and engage meaningfully with nature, even when visiting rural areas.
This study uses the ruins of Puji Temple, located about 50 miles from downtown Beijing, to explore how spatial design can offer urban youth opportunities to reconnect with nature while preserving examples of rural architectural. The project retains the original structure and vernacular features as much as possible, while introducing natural elements selectively to create a dialogue between architecture and nature.
The spatial experience unfolds in three layers: an entry courtyard serving as a psychological threshold, interior spaces encouraging a slower pace and connection to rural and natural life, and a designed forest path with sensory stops that gradually immerses visitors in natural rhythms.
The project avoids large-scale reconstruction and instead focuses on creating a coherent and immersive experience based on the site\u27s existing texture and ecology. Here, nature is not treated as scenery or decoration, but as a living rhythm, a breath, and an emotional presence. Rather than controlling natural elements, the project constructs a layered framework that gradually shifts visitors’ pace and deepens their engagement with the environment. Through reconnecting traditional site elements, ecological features, and sensory experiences, the reimagined Puji Temple a natural setting that fosters emotional resonance and physical awareness among urban youth
Unseen, But There
Full text linkPedestrians often arrive at the Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Bridge in a hurry—rushing through daily routines—only to slow down or stop at its center. Here, they are drawn by the openness of the view, the rhythm of the wind, and a sense of pause that floats above the surface of the Providence River.
This thesis is an ongoing experiment in direct, sensory experience. It centers on this pedestrian bridge not just as a site of circulation, but as a space of unintentional stillness and layered perception. While many passersby are drawn to its scenic beauty, few pause to consider what lies beneath. Below the bridge, the river carries not just water, but traces of pollution, urban neglect, and ecological disconnection. What does it mean to admire a landscape while standing above what has been contaminated?
This project proposes a long-term installation that archives these unseen realities through a growing series of glass bottles—each containing a collected water sample and paired with a short video accessed via QR code. These videos offer a poetic intersection of observation, memory, and environmental inquiry. The work invites slowness and attention, urging viewers to observe what is normally overlooked.
A second QR code embedded in the installation opens a participatory channel for the public. Viewers are invited to contribute short videos or visual reflections specifically documenting environmental pollution around the Providence River near the bridge. These community-submitted fragments may be selectively incorporated into future iterations of the project, expanding the archive while maintaining its ecological and spatial coherence.
By blending personal documentation with communal witnessing, this project creates an evolving archive of awareness—one that is not only visual but relational. In doing so, it asks: What defines what we notice? What shapes what we choose to ignore? And how might design give form to what usually flows by unseen
To Reflect & to be Reflective: Student Experiences of Critique in Art & Design Higher Education
Full text linkThis thesis investigated the critique process in art and design higher education, focusing specifically on student experiences at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Through a combination of autoethnographic reflection and a campus-wide student survey, the study explored how critique was perceived, practiced, and internalized by students across disciplines. Central to this inquiry was the emotional and pedagogical complexity of critique, which was often treated as an assumed skill rather than a learned process. Drawing from personal narrative, pedagogical literature, and qualitative data, the research proposed a framework of Trust (Barrett, 2019), Courage (Brown, 2022), and Responsiveness (hooks, 1994) as essential conditions for effective and meaningful critique. These findings revealed the need for institutions to move beyond critique as a ritualized performance and toward a more intentional, inclusive, and relational model that supports student growth, voice, and learning
Post Salt: Adaptive Architecture for an Uncertain Climate
Full text linkClimate change is rapidly altering seasonal patterns, particularly in the Northeastern U.S., where winter temperatures have risen by approximately 3°F over the past century. As a result, infrastructure designed to support communities during winter conditions, such as road salt storage facilities, faces obsolescence. New York State, the largest consumer of road salt in North America, has 40 salt storage facilities in New York City alone, all of which are sited along interconnected waterways. Though often overlooked, this network of structures forms a critical part of the city’s response to winter weather. As these structures face a paradigm shift, their future is uncertain—what will become of them?
This design proposal focuses specifically on the quonset hut typology, the most prevalent form of salt storage facility in New York City, and investigates its potential for adaptive reuse. Approached through a didactic lens, the project brings visibility to the environmental and human health consequences of road salt dispersion, a practice that has quietly persisted for nearly five decades. It asks: how do these invisible systems shape our landscapes and our bodies?
Looking ahead, the proposal takes an anticipatory stance, exploring how these structures might evolve in response to changing climate conditions. Rather than allowing obsolescence to dictate their fate, it seeks to reverse it—reprogramming these utilitarian shells for public use.
This redesign envisions a network of reimagined salt storage facilities, each repurposed for a distinct public function—an exhibition space, a dining space, and a performance space. All sited along the east river and accessible by ferry, these sites form an interconnected sequence of experiences, encouraging visitors to engage with climate awareness, culture, and community through a single-day journey across New York City’s waterways.
Central to the design is a commitment to working with the components that already exist: the waterproof canvas, steel supports, and concrete foundations that define the quonset huts will be retained and reinterpreted. By limiting the introduction of new materials, the project not only minimizes environmental impact but also honors the material and structural logic of the original salt sheds.
In transforming these overlooked industrial remnants into spaces for gathering, learning, and artistic expression, this thesis challenges conventional cycles of extraction, use, and abandonment. Instead, it proposes a model of adaptive reuse that is both environmentally conscious and socially engaged—a quiet but powerful call to notice what’s been there all along
Low Carbon Adaptation through Community Composting
No full textThis project utilizes landscape architecture to reduce the carbon emission of restaurants by employing carbon sequestration techniques. By using compost gardens that shorten the transportation route of compost, new local food sources are created which replace food shipped from afar. The gardens are placed on roofs and at ground-level. The gardens also provide materials to produce organic pesticides that replace traditional pesticides, thereby reducing the release of carbon intensive VOCs. The compost gardens are implemented in existing parking lots and vacant lots and are connected in a community garden network. The proposed renovation of streets increases carbon sequestration through street-side vegetation. These interventions help alleviate the urban heat island effect, improve the micro-climate, and consequently, reduce the energy consumption associated with air-conditioning use in buildings
Tree Story
Full text linkWhat is Nature?
Nature is a system of intelligence. It means designing for efficiency—often by learning from strategies that have evolved over time. In my research, I use patterns to interpret and decode nature.
To explore nature, I began with the red cedar tree, aiming to simulate and predict its growth patterns—forms shaped by both internal biology and external forces. By analyzing its geometry, I sought to understand how trees embody the dynamic relationship between organism and environment. These patterns reveal the adaptive logic of life.
Patterns are central to understanding nature. While tree geometry may appear chaotic, it follows internal rules governed by growth and environment. Scientists and mathematicians have long used models to describe these forms. Benoît Mandelbrot’s work on fractals revealed that self-similar, recursive patterns appear across scales. Using computational modeling, simulation, and data visualization, I explored natural systems often hidden from view—decoding their structure and behavior.
In this research, I combined observation, drawing, simulation, and analysis to understand a tree’s unique “pattern language.” Trees do not grow in isolation; they exist within a network of wind, organisms, and ecological forces. By interpreting these influences, I investigated how trees adapt over time.
Focusing on branching systems, I examined how patterns serve specific functions—distributing loads, guiding energy, supporting ecosystems, and linking the organism to its surroundings. Everything is interconnected.
Building on this research, I now apply natural logic to the design of sculptural works and furniture inspired by tree geometry. Drawing from The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants by Prusinkiewicz and Lindenmayer, I translate growth rules into design systems—creating forms that reflect both function and ecological intelligence