Dwayne Riley

My name is Dwayne Riley. I'm from Philadelphia and study Architectural Design at Parsons New School for Design in New York City. I'm passionate about Architecture, but have always had a love for design and art in general. My ultimate goal is to run my own architecture practice one day but my current goals are based in working in environments conducive to my development as a designer.

What inspires me most in the design process is tangibility. Materiality often drives every project I'm tasked with. I usually have a clear idea of the materials and what story I want them to tell at the start, and the design comes to life behind that phenomenology. Since most of my work is in architecture, I understand the differences between a monolithic concrete wall and a clear glass wall is of course the functionality, but also the stories they can tell when composed in a design. I think this is true for all design forms, not just architecture. Materials can play a specific role in function but they can also play a specific role in the experiential component. And that is what excites me most in the design process as a creative.