Kyna Leski

Professor of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design, Designer and Author

Kyna Leski is a Professor of Architecture, former Department Head and Graduate Director at The Rhode Island School of Design. She has played a formative role in the beginning education for architecture students as well as students in Experimental and Foundation Studies and Industrial Design departments. The pedagogy she developed recognizes ideas that emerge from making and engagement with material; intentions from a reiterative process and development of a syntactic language, from material through spatial order. One iteration of her pedagogy is showcased in the book The Making of Design Principles. She was the Chief Critic of RISD’s European Honors Program In Rome, Italy and was a visiting professor at the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China. More recently Leski has developed experimental studios that draw upon capacities associated with artists as agents of invention and action in addressing the crisis being played out on our global shorelines. These studios have operated as collaborations with scientists, environmentalists, dancers and musicians.  

Kyna Leski is a principal of 3six0 Architecture, an award-winning professional partnership with Chris Bardt. Recent 3SIXØ projects include Brown University’s Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship, Community Music Works and several residences. 

Leski’s design for a house of visual shadows was awarded first place out of 480 entries in the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition.

In addition to designing buildings, furniture and academic programs, Leski is an illustrator, animator and writer. She has spoken about the creative process throughout the US and abroad and wrote the book The Storm of Creativity, published by The MIT Press, which has been translated into Ukrainian, Russian, Chinese, Korean and Turkish and Arabic. She can be found most mornings before dawn rowing on the Seekonk River and Narragansett Bay in Providence.

Leski received a Lifetime Achievement Award from DesignxRI in 2017 and was inducted into their Hall of Fame.