Heinrich Hermann

Senior Critic
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MagArch, U of Applied Arts Vienna
MArch, Cornell University
PhD, Harvard University

Heinrich Hermann co-founded the Int|AR Journal with Liliane Wong and Markus Berger, co-edited the first two volumes and continues to serve as head of its international advisory board. Before opening his own design studio in Concord, MA in 2002, he practiced in his native Austria and Germany and worked as designer and senior designer with large and small firms in Boston. He contributed to a wide range of project types and sizes, from residential, cultural/civic and academic buildings to very large mixed-use facilities, including the Ritz-Carlton on the Boston Commons Complex.

Hermann earned advanced degrees from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna (Mag Arch 79) and Cornell (MArch 82). His 1995 PhD dissertation at Harvard focused on the poetic/spiritual in 20th-century architecture, still the focus of his research and practice. As a teacher he continues to actively explore pedagogical strategies aimed at helping students unlock their unique creative potentials.

In addition to RISD, Hermann taught at Montana State, Virginia Tech, Washington University in St. Louis, Roger Williams University, Northeastern University and Harvard University, as well as eight graduate summer studios for RISD’s INTAR department at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS) in Copenhagen, Denmark. From 2012–15 he served as chair and professor of the architecture and design department at the SUNY College of Technology at Alfred (Alfred State), where he implemented the only accredited BArch program in SUNY’s 64-campus system.

Academic areas of interest

Hermann’s research has for many years focused on ideas, principles, strategies and devices associated with the poetic/spiritual, operative in those rare buildings and environments with a capacity to move the human spirit. Cognitive-emotive associations induced by such works may lead receptive individuals to temporarily transcend the habitual perceptions of time, space, and focus on the self, and result in feeling greater harmony with all being.

He participates actively in a research focus within the Department aimed at transforming obsolete buildings from the industrial past through creative adaptive reuse strategies.

Courses

Summer 2024 Courses

INTAR 2356-01 - SUMMER STUDIO IN SCANDINAVIA
Level Graduate
Unit Interior Architecture
Subject Interior Architecture
Period Summer 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

INTAR 2356-01

SUMMER STUDIO IN SCANDINAVIA

Level Graduate
Unit Interior Architecture
Subject Interior Architecture
Period Summer 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-06-01 to 2024-08-31
Instructor(s): Heinrich Hermann Enrolled / Capacity: 14 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

The studio instruction focuses on the process of Interior Architecture within the context of Copenhagen, a city committed to the issues of the environment and climate change. Students will be asked to address a design problem that deals with the relationship between conceptual design and its application within an existing structure. Issues of natural light, materiality and design process are studied through the assignments.

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Interior Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MA Interior Studies: Adaptive Reuse

INTAR 2357-01 - SCANDINAVIAN DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE
Level Graduate
Unit Interior Architecture
Subject Interior Architecture
Period Summer 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

INTAR 2357-01

SCANDINAVIAN DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE

Level Graduate
Unit Interior Architecture
Subject Interior Architecture
Period Summer 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-06-01 to 2024-08-31
Instructor(s): Heinrich Hermann Enrolled / Capacity: 14 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This seminar combines an overview of Nordic architecture and design through lectures, a Visual Journal course - and workshops that engage with local Adaptive Reuse structures of Copenhagen. Through lectures and readings, students will explore the historical and current conditions of architecture, interior design, and planning from architectural, social, and political points of view. Students will further analyze design solutions as well as design and production processes through a visual journal. As an additional component, students will engage in in-depth site specific strategies of reuse within their studio project.

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Interior Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | MA Interior Studies: Adaptive Reuse

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MagArch, U of Applied Arts Vienna
MArch, Cornell University
PhD, Harvard University