Elizabeth Debs

Critic
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RISD faculty member Elizabeth Debs
BA, Vassar College
MARC, Harvard University Graduate School Design

Elizabeth Debs, AIA, NOMA, has been involved in architecture/planning, community development and nonprofit work for over 25 years. She is especially interested in issues of social equity and focuses her work and volunteer activities there. Elizabeth has worked in real estate development, as the executive director of a community-based organization, and as the principal of an architectural practice. In the past several years, she has become interested in innovations in professional and higher education and the ways in which academia interacts with the larger community.

She has been teaching in the Interior Architecture department at Rhode Island School of Design since 2015 and is very active in the Providence community. She often partners studio work with community organizations’ needs and has coordinated the department’s charette project for a number of years. Elizabeth is on the Board of Trustees of the Providence Public Library and was recently appointed by the governor to the Rhode Island State House Restoration Commission. She was the 2021 chair of the Institute of Architects National Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community.

Previously she was a board member of the West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation after several years as the co-chair of the Sankofa food and culture initiative. She is also an advisory group member of the Venture Farm Institute at the UConn Agricultural Extension.

Courses

Fall 2024 Courses

INTAR 2380-02 - INTRO TO DESIGN STUDIO II
Level Graduate
Unit Interior Architecture
Subject Interior Architecture
Period Fall 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

INTAR 2380-02

INTRO TO DESIGN STUDIO II

Level Graduate
Unit Interior Architecture
Subject Interior Architecture
Period Fall 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-09-04 to 2024-12-11
Times: TTH | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Elizabeth Debs Location(s): Center for Integrative Technologies, Room 103; Center for Integrative Technologies, Room 610 Enrolled / Capacity: 14 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This course builds on the foundations gained in previous studio and course work to further design development abilities. The studio will require the integration of the student's emerging knowledge of site analysis, mapping & documentation, innovative tectonics and systems, applicable theoretical issues, relevant cultural precedents, and material investigation into a cohesive design agenda.

Major Requirement | MDes Interior Studies

Spring 2025 Courses

INTAR 2302-01 - INTRO TO INTERIOR STUDIES II
Level Undergraduate
Unit Interior Architecture
Subject Interior Architecture
Period Spring 2025
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

INTAR 2302-01

INTRO TO INTERIOR STUDIES II

Level Undergraduate
Unit Interior Architecture
Subject Interior Architecture
Period Spring 2025
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2025-02-13 to 2025-05-23
Times: TTH | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Elizabeth Debs Location(s): Center for Integrative Technologies, Room 610; Center for Integrative Technologies, Room 611 Enrolled / Capacity: 14 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This course further develops design principles from the first semester and introduces students to methodological thinking in the relationship between context, scale and use. Real site situations are introduced and students develop individual design processes associating topological relationships between the interior and exterior, at multiple scales of interventions. Students will have the opportunity to explore design issues through both traditional and computer generated design.

Major Requirement | BFA Interior Studies

Image
RISD faculty member Elizabeth Debs
BA, Vassar College
MARC, Harvard University Graduate School Design