Students Report to Rafael Viñoly

This is the first year of the program, expected to be conducted annually.

Interior Design, October 20, 2005, by Mairi Beautyman

Wouldn’t it be nice to receive training and tips from one of the world’s architectural masters? This is reality for 19 lucky students, currently in the midst of a 14-week series of architectural master classes with critically acclaimed Rafael Viñoly.

Over the upcoming weeks (classes began September 14), Viñoly will lead students through an exploration of the architectural craft, from the evolution of ideas to the current state of architectural practice, education, and criticism. Topics cover getting and executing a job, choosing and organizing visual and intellectual tools, strategic thinking, the design process, forms of seeing, recognizing architectural ideas, self-criticism, managing time, defining an ideological base, and positioning a practice.

Selected out of 53 international applicants, students have diverse backgrounds--hailing from countries including Taiwan, Germany, and Spain. Experience levels range from current undergraduates and recent graduates to those in practice for several years. The two architects from Spain are in the process of setting up a practice. One is a civil engineer hoping to focus on "aesthetic engineering." Iso Hasani is from the province of Kosovo. "I think that the Rafael Viñoly training program is a great opportunity for me to observe first-hand in a practical setting the collaboration of research, theory and design," he notes.

Viñoly starts each two-hour class with a short presentation outlining the general topic, and following it with a few practical examples. Participants are then invited to present their own experiences with similar problems, which become the basis for more extended investigation and discussion

This is the first year of the program, which is expected to be conducted annually. More information about the program is available online.

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Students Report to Rafael Viñoly

This is the first year of the program, expected to be conducted annually.