Rhett Russo
Associate Professor
Undergraduate Chair
Greene Building, 006
518-276-8354, Ext. 8354
Master of Architecture, Columbia University; Bachelor of Environmental Design, Texas A&M University
Rhett Russo is an artist, designer, and educator. He has 25 years of experience teaching architecture at both the undergraduate and graduate level, in top tier schools including, California College of the Arts, Columbia University GSAAP, PennDesign, Pratt Institute, SCI-ARC, and Washington University in St. Louis, where he served as the Ruth & Norman, Endowed Visiting Professor. Prior to joining RPI, he worked for the award-winning architects, Bernard Tschumi Architects, Hanrahan Meyers Architects, Reiser + Umemoto RUR PC, and Weiss & Manfredi Architects. Rhett is a former Van Alen Institute Dinkeloo Fellow at the American Academy in Rome, SOM Fellow, and recipient of the Architectural League of New York, Young Architects Award.
Rhett’s architecture and design work focus on the design of novel ceramic material systems and the evolution of the ceramic process. His designs are artefacts of Ceramicology – a body of research that foregrounds the vibrancy of clay to postulate architectural space through an interaction with light, sound, color, and reuse. Rhett is a three-time resident at the European Ceramic Workcenter. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, at Data Clay: the San Francisco Museum of Arts and Crafts, the Florence Art & Design Biennale, the Beijing Architecture Biennial, Object Rotterdam, The Cluj International Ceramics Biennale and the City X Venice Italian Virtual Pavilion.
His press molded ceramic design for the T-Stool, was exhibited as part of The Ghosts of SundayMorning, at the Design Museum Den Bosch. The exhibition included the ceramic works of Tony Cragg and Anish Kapoor and highlighted the most technically ambitious and rarefied ceramic objects produced at the EKWC in the last 50 years. Rhett’s interactive designs for the Dunejars incorporate light, sound, and sensing technology into a series of translucent porcelain lithophanes. The Dunejars received special awards at Craft Forms 24th International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Fine Craft and were recognized with the New Taipei City Government Award at the Taiwan Ceramics Biennale.
Rhett has published over 25 articles in journals, conference proceedings, books and exhibition catalogs, related to architectural design, architectural education, design theory, and the role of digital technology in design, including Flux: Architecture in a Parametric Landscape (ORO Editions), Aesthetics Equals Politics (MIT Press), AD Workflow (Wiley), XXL-XS New Directions in Ecological Design (Actar D), The Estranged Object (Graham Foundation), Via: Dirt (MIT Press), Meander: Variegating Architecture (Bentley), Matter: Material Processes in Architectural Production (Routledge), 306090: Models (Princeton Architectural Press), The Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA), Design Communication Association (DCA), Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, (ASCA) and the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA).
Rhett holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design from Texas A&M University (1991) and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University (1995), where he was awarded the Charles McKim Prize for Excellence in Design.
