RISD’s Master of Architecture program is taught in a way that understands the practice of design and making as a thoughtful, reflective process that both engenders and draws from social, political, material, technological and cultural agendas. The program aims to empower graduate students to exercise their creativity by claiming their role as cultural creators, and position their work within the discipline of architecture.

The thesis project represents the culmination of each student's interests and embodies the architectural values that best characterize the authors as architects. Their body of research engages a range of pressing contemporary issues reflecting the values of the department such as questioning the architectural canon, interdisciplinary ways of making, and imagining more just and equitable futures through the power of design.