Kyna Leski

Back in 2012, as Head of the Department of Architecture, I organized a Symposium called "RE:making Architecture. We made a digital archive of work from the Architecture Department since its inception, mounted a show in the gallery, made videos of a selection of RISD...

Anthony Candido was my first studio professor at The Cooper Union. The projects he gave shaped my understanding of architecture and pedagogy. I remember being at my desk and suddenly realizing that he was standing next to me as I worked. His presence disappeared into...

More on ethos, pathos, and logos from https://www.wix.com/wordsmatter/blog/2020/12/ethos-pathos-logos/ “Ethos is when a speaker or writer * appeals to their authority as a means of persuasion. They ** convince the audience of their reputation, virtue,...

I found out a few days ago, that my book, The Storm of Creativity, is being translated into Ukrainian by Publishing Company "Arthuss" Llc. I was so moved by this, as I have been consumed by watching this unprovoked war on a country and people who love...

So happy to see this show of my colleagues work, especially after so much time away and too many contentious discussions. It is good to just SEE what we all care about through our work. Above is my piece in the show, “Making of Field:” a prop used for an...

https://drawingmatter.org/ is a great resource for Architecture and drawing. And… it just posted my brief piece and (my sister, Andrea Costa’s) video of my father, Architect Tad Leski–telling the story of the accident inspired design of the...

This Conference asks the question about the “current role of drawing . . .in the ideation of what has not been seen yet.” I gave a talk using three examples of how drawing can “make sense” of what’s to come. Václav Havel: “Hope, in this...

More about T-Space: T-Space is a special organization focused on the arts, education, design and ecology located in the woodlands of Rhinebeck, NY. Founded in 2010 by the Steven Myron Holl Foundation, ‘T’ Space has grown to become a vital center for the arts, nature...

Zooming into the dead leaves from our garden, I find the Dylan’s Green Fuse (The force that through the green fuse drives the flower. . .Drives my red blood) and Francis Ponge’s pré or meadow. Drawing from observation guides this work. I try not to go...

The Storm of Creativity  The Storm of Creativity is now in paperback. From the additional preface for this new edition: “I have returned to the power of three active, in-the-moment, decision-making faculties: Improvisation (chapter 5): on-the-spot choices made through...

My animated drawings will be a part of an upcoming show at The Chazan Gallery at the Wheeler School in Providence.  By Other Means, an exhibition featuring the work by Architecture Professors: Markus Berger, Gabriel Feld, Jeffrey Katz and myself. My statement for this...

The bowl I designed in 1991 which was originally turned in Elderwood by the Viennese Turner, Drefox,was just successfully cast in glass. This was a challenging mold problem that was worked out by Yuhao Jiang (Gordon) and a factory in China. Thank you Yuhao Jiang for...

KRIGA (Korea National University of Arts Korean National Research Institute for the Gifted in Arts) was established in 1993 by Ministry of Culture and Tourism as part of a ‘Ten-Year Project for the Cultural Development of Korea.” In the beginning of July...

Our (3six0 Architecture) design for the Brown University Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship at 1 Euclid Street in Providence, is complete and open. Three floors of provocatively flexible space—a response to the charge that the Nelson Center’s Executive...

Drawing is understood through its origin, to pull or extract. Extracting or pulling are motions from and towards. This idea of drawing is more specific than the generic image; as in, drawing out from the imagination or memory to the page or drawing from the world...

Here is RISD Architecture Student, Madison Russ’  “drop”/costume/screen for the opening of YOMO. She made this is in my Fall 2018 studio, which was first performed in our production of “Ocean Clarion Call.”  Free tickets may be reserved...

Intro to Ocean Clarion Call By Kyna Leski It is clear that human civilization has impacted the earth’s ecosystems. And, at the same time that the ‘earth system’ sweet spot[1] which gave rise to human civilization—is far more delicate than we realize. The...

A short animated film / dance performance by the students of my Architecture Studio: YOMO (Your Ocean, My Ocean) that conveys the ocean’s urgent call. The Ocean is a living matrix of immense scale. Our charge is to bring the message of its state to the scale of human...

On Tuesday, October 23rd at 5:30 p.m. I will be giving a lecture called, “Open House & Invisible Guests” at  Ryerson School of Interior Design-RSID-in Toronto. This talk is about the invisible guests that have played their role in my life. It is inspired by this...

My drawings and animation “Storm’s-eye View” are a part Carleton College Fall 2018 exhibition “Pulchra Scientia: The Aesthetics of Discovery.” From the exhibit description: Beauty does not simply refer to compositions of shape, color,...

Clambake is a gathering for designers, creatives, and those who like design and want to know more. It’s a time to get together, network, and hear about some of the cool new design work that is happening in RI. Two presenters from two different design disciplines...

My animation “Storm’s-eye View” is a part of the Rush Process International Shorts Festival this Friday, August 17, at 7:30pm at Aurora Picture Show in Houston, TX.  Click for trailer Tickets:...

"The Opera House," the documentary on the MET Opera's move to Lincoln Center can be watched in its entirety on the PBS website until June 8th at the link above. In it, I tell the story of my father's, Architect Tad Leski's contribution, as W.K.Harrison's designer for...

A little interview with my 3six0 Architecture partner, (and husband) Chris Bardt, and me,  in the Providence Business News on the occasion of our recent AIA Award.

Check out my interview on The Private Side of Public Work podcast!

January 13th & 17th: Susan Froemke’s documentary of the realization of the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center, with a chapter on my father’s contribution as its designer for Wallace K. Harrison is showing in theaters everywhere. Click HERE to...

I want to make little animated gifs of marks that form moving figures and fields. The first is of our Scottish Terrier, Oliver

Both 3six0 Architects Principals, Chris Bardt and Kyna Leski were independently awarded “Lifetime Achievement Awards” and selected to be inducted into the designxri Hall of Fame.

My father, Architect Tad Leski, came up with the concept for the Metropolitan Opera chandeliers by accident while working on the design of the Opera House for Wallace K. Harrison. He was hurriedly finishing a perspective sketch of the interior of the Opera for a...

In this comprehensive post, architectural writer Louis Postel questions the generous permission needed for creative discovery during times of crisis. An excerpt: “That said, there are any number of cultural dikes and levees warding off such storms of creativity....

Returning to my Alma Mater Tuesday, March 21, 2017, to give a talk called, “Field Guided” 12:00pm – 2:00pm. I am reflecting on the 35 years since I completed the project which the image above is of. The Dean of The Cooper Union School of...

Every year the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, (which contains the oldest school of Pharmacology in the U.S. established in 1821), holds a week long, “Misher Festival of Fine Art.” This year I am the Visiting Misher Professor. I am excited to participate...

This beautiful publication by the China Academy of Art just came out on the workshop which I taught there in 2011. The Architecture School is run by the Pritzker Prize winning architect, Wang Shu of Amateur Architects, a firm which he runs with his wife and partner,...

I wrote an article, "Dear Carl," on the work of the Norwegian architect, Carl-Viggo Hølmebakk, in the October issue of "a+u." An excerpt: The wall of the Mortuary at Asker Crematorium swelled to give space for a sitting area and cherry tree, the bricks separated to...

An article on The Storm of Creativity in a new blog by Automattic looking towards the future of Design, Inclusion, +/- Tech and making the Internet a better place.

Architecture Graduate Student, Dongyue (Sunny) Zhang presents her project to critics: Noah Klersfeld (architect, digital artist), Anthony Mastromatteo (painter), Kyna Leski (advisor), Scott Abrahams (architect), out of view: Judyth vanAmringe (multi-media artist),...

Origins are critical in establishing authorship. But like any beginning, the origin of a work of art or invention is not crystal clear. A story I wrote about the genesis of the design for the chandeliers of the Metropolitan Opera:  an accident suspended like a drop of...

DISCOVERING DESIGN: Taking & Making - Creativity and the Design Process May 17: 7:00PM – 8:15PM This panel of takers and makers will walk the audience through the process of being a creative: what it means for each of them, and how those measures and mechanisms...

Kyna Leski will be giving a talk at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach California on March 29, 2016 on her book The Storm of Creativity. It will also be streamed live via the web.

A great finish to a great semester of The Making of Design Principles, the first semester of core studio for Architecture students at RISD. We started by launching paper into the air, continued by designing "shuttles" with optimal flights, floats and falls and then...

Although each instance of creativity is singular and specific, Kyna Leski tells us, the creative process is universal. Artists, architects, poets, inventors, scientists, and others all navigate the same stages of the process in order to discover something that does...