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Powering possibilities
Thanks to an endowed scholarship, graduate student Chris Villalta is imagining a new future.
Chris Villalta MArch 20 is on a remarkable journey. Immediately after graduating from high school, he joined the Army National Guard in Florida and during his service earned a bachelor’s degree at Florida International University. After 10 years in the military—including overseas deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and extensive advanced infantry training—he discovered a serious interest in architecture.
“Becoming a designer requires a shift in thinking,” says Villalta, who is now a master’s degree candidate in Architecture benefitting from the support of the Joe Gebbia 05 Endowed Scholarship. Today he is happily immersed in his studies while finishing his obligation with the Massachusetts Army National Guard.
“I always strive to perform at an elite level,” says Villalta, who appreciates that Architecture faculty have rekindled his love for “the messy art studio” while also encouraging an approach that is grounded in iterative, empirical exploration.
Villalta credits RISD with helping him gain new insight and take a more holistic approach to design. “I’ve learned a lot about the importance of iterative analysis through drawing and making. By sketching, writing and building, I can understand things intuitively and get more feedback than any synthetic algorithm can provide,” he explains.
When asked about the future, Villalta is certain about two things: He plans on becoming an architect and he wants to help deserving students in need.
“Supporting financial aid at RISD will honor the people who made my own education possible,” he says. “Without help from Joe Gebbia 05 GD/ID, who’s a RISD graduate and trustee himself, I wouldn’t be able to attend RISD. The scholarship is very important financially, but it also allows me to live a healthy life at RISD while putting forth as much energy as possible towards my education. It makes me believe that anything is possible.”
