Art and Design Commons^™

Umbrales (Thresholds), Maureen Scally

Masters Theses

Umbrales is Spanish for Thresholds.

Thresholds are by nature ambivalent spaces, inviting two distinct realities into play. As an artist, I materialize my experiences as a migrant into an architectural form. A series of textile walls shape a space that is simultaneously interior and exterior so that the audience circulates in the negative space in between. It is in the construction of this threshold condition — a simultaneous placement, neither here nor there — that a complex narrative of place unfolds.

Urban Looms, Recoloring City, Ella Son

Masters Theses

The metropolis has been a dominant and defining aspect of my life. Acutely aware of visual illusions created by the choreographed and unchoreographed movements of people in the streets and the distortions of light and shadow on the glass facades of skyscrapers, I reinterpret the patterns and colors that are in constant interplay into a collection of architectural textiles.

With an emphasis on optical layering, these immersive installations recreate the quality of being spellbound in the city. Scaled to emphasize verticality and activated through transparent overlays and dense color interplay, a rich visual field is activated. In their application, the …

Coarse-Work: An Investigation Into The Impact Of Materiality In The Interior Educational Setting, Isabel G. Robb

Honors Theses

Education design in modern suburban America curates learning environments that are cold and impersonal, being used more as a place to keep youth during the day than as a place where they can truly learn about and understand the world around them. This learning environment does not suit all students, especially those with learning disabilities, and it leaves little room for flexibility in classroom usage.

Focusing on creating a learning environment where all students feel welcome and are able to effectively learn, this projective design research project aims to provide a comprehensive intervention through the built environment and interior design, …

The Kruger Collection Reimagined: A Case Study In 3d Scanning And Interactive Exhibit Design, Annissa Davis

Anthropology Department: Theses

This thesis examines the use of 3D modeling in museum exhibition to create exploratory exhibits that facilitate unique relationships between the visitors and the collection beyond what is provided by the collection’s in person counterparts. Typical use of 3D modeling in museums is currently often representative rather than exploratory. By employing a Digital Humanities lens to approach the development of a digital exhibition utilizing 3D technology and interactive elements created in a video game engine (Unity), this thesis project evaluates these potential new relationships. Using the Eloise Kruger Collection of Miniatures as a case study, the following text details the …

Storytelling In Interior Design: A Hospitality Case Study Based On Avatar: The Last Airbender, Katelyn Isaacson Bauer

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Storytelling can function as a crucial element in interior design, offering a powerful means to captivate and engage individuals within a space. The allure of storytelling lies in its ability to evoke emotions, convey messages, and create memorable experiences. Humans are naturally drawn to narratives that transport them to different worlds, evoke nostalgia, or inspire. This fascination with storytelling has led to a notable increase in themed spaces across various industries, from amusement parks and hotels to restaurants and retail spaces. The integration of storytelling into interior design not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of a space but also serves …

Creating An Index To Graduate Theses To Support Their Discoverability, Ellen Petraits

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

As a Research and Instruction Librarian, one of the most frequent questions I'm asked is how to find past theses on a particular topic or theme. There is an active thesis culture at RISD that goes beyond writing and binding a text. An exhibition is held in the graduate gallery to celebrate a curated selection of theses at the beginning of the academic year. (See Book of Thesis Books) Theses can range in format from an artist book to a loose-leaf portfolio. Many emphasize the visual and are a bridge to the student’s studio work. They may include unusual or …

Interiority Across The Scales, Paramita Atmodiwirjo, Yandi Andri Yatmo

Interiority

The understanding of interior gradually has shifted from the enclosed spatiality defined by physical boundaries to the extended notion of interiority as a dynamic condition. Understanding interior becomes more complex as dynamic conditions make it possible for interior to extend across boundaries, time, scales and typologies. This issue of Interiority presents various inquiries on the emergence of interiority and interior conditions across different scales. The articles demonstrate a wide range of perspectives on interior beyond the conventional notion of interior scale and typology, mainly addressing the domestic environment and its dynamic variants and elements. These cases acknowledge the dynamic aspects …

Ephemeral Domesticity: Campsite, Julia Capomaggi

Interiority

The fleeting nature of life and the resulting transformation of inhabited spaces into artefacts that take on different socio-spatial forms through temporary shelters such as cabins, tents, and trailers is a major theme explored particularly in the 1960s and 1970s that introduced the concept of time into the formation of transient communities. This article focuses on the issue of the endless interior generated by transience in group living linked to tourism and recreational leisure, specifically elective nomadism, which represents alternative models of colonisation and the relationship between habitat and nature. Although the origins of these ideas can be traced back …

Supavenezia From Supastore: Between Art, Commerce, And Spatial Dynamics, Ayman Kassem

Interiority

This exhibition review reflects on the spatial and curatorial concepts, interior spatial qualities, and precedent design processes of SupaVenezia, which was held at the A plus A Gallery in Venice from 31 August to 25 September 2022. It examines the design of the display system at the exhibition while addressing issues pertaining to domestic, participatory, and white-cube settings. The review explores the intersection of art, commerce, spatial, and displays design dynamics in relation to the manifestation of the SupaStore’s initial curatorial philosophy. Additionally, it reflects on the variety of spatial experiences provided and the manner in which a small-scale …

The House I'D Like To Have: Women's Spatial Cultures, Design, And Aesthetic In 20th Century Italy, Francesca Romana Forlini

Interiority

"Has any woman ever designed architectures in the past centuries? You may ask her to design a hut, not even a temple! She can't. She is foreign to architecture." These infamous words of Benito Mussolini (1927) reflected the widespread sexism of the Fascist regime and prompted a silent wave of dissent pioneered by women intellectuals, architects, writers, and journalists in the early 20th century. They advocated for a valuable feminine contribution to Italian architecture and their story is still partially unknown by architectural historians today. This essay tackles Italian women's spatial design and aesthetics during the regime, a period in …

Buah Buton In Traditional House Interior: Representation Of Women's Role And Influence, Fakhrur Razi Maamor, Sabzali Musa Kahn, Basitah Taif

Interiority

Buah buton is a three-dimensional wooden carving as an interior object in the traditional house of Negeri Sembilan. The purpose of this article is to establish a link between the buah buton in Luak Tanah Mengandung, Negeri Sembilan and the position of women who connect the legacy and leadership in the Adat Perpatih, a customary community law, and how such a relationship manifests itself within the traditional house's interior. The function of buah buton was revealed through fieldwork and interviews with community leaders, which were then combined into a narrative that represented the function of buah buton. The …

Typology And Interiority Of Cohousing In Europe 1981–2021, Virginia De Jorge-Huertas, Justo De Jorge-Moreno

Interiority

This work aims to research the connection between cohousing architecture and interiority. For this purpose, the analyses are structured in two phases. The first consists of the characterisation and identification of underlying typologies of European cohousing projects in the last three decades, 1981–2022. The second phase consists of the connection between the interiority concepts (in terms of planimetry, typology, spatial syntax, and interior spaces) and the cohousing architecture in the case studies selected from the first phase, which made it possible to compare cohousing projects and propose future strategies. The research identifies a typology with two clusters of cohousing projects …

Exploring Parametric Concepts And Principles For Furniture And Interior Design, Klawkanlayaphon Sawatmongkhonkul, Eakachat Joneurairatana, Veerawat Sirivesmas

Interiority

This research explores the incorporation of parametric models into the algorithmic design process, specifically focusing on furniture and interior design. It presents a case of an experimental equation centred around a waffle honeycomb structure. The first part of the article reviews three decades of literature on parametric design, which comprises its background, history, theory, and essential concepts and applications. The second part investigates the parametric design process to uncover its potential for interior design applications. The combination of parametric equations with algorithms through the utilisation of multiple steps, such as conditional loops, efficiently designs intricate systems. An intricate system in …

To What Extent Does Lighting Affect Students’ Preference For Seating In The Georgia Southern University Henderson Library?, Hailey M. Hawkins

Honors College Theses

This study highlights the importance of lighting in academic library spaces, specifically in relation to students' seating choices and overall experience. The research is significant as it emphasizes the role that environmental factors can play in creating a conducive learning environment for students. The study utilized a mixed-methods approach, which combines quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to provide a comprehensive understanding of students' lighting preferences. The quantitative data collected through open observations and the use of a light meter provided insights into the relationship between lighting and seating choices. The qualitative data collected through questionnaires helped to understand the …

Biophilia: Developing A Taste For Care, Che'leah Shannon

Theses and Dissertations

People in materially developed cultures spend over 90% of their lives in buildings (Evans & McCoy, 1998). Commencing with the industrial revolution these materially developed cultures see most of their populus moving from the countryside to the city in search of work and better lives. The city, an urban and modern development of densely packed peoples, buildings, and infrastructure, has developed as an efficient solution to meet the needs of a cosmopolis.

The city has developed widely without a necessity or place for nature. The ground outside is paved with concrete, efficient and comfortable for travel, buildings are built high …

Learning Curve: Designing An Inclusive Early Childhood Learning Center, Sarah Alrumayh

Theses and Dissertations

This research centers on the improvement of early childhood education environments in hopes to reduce the disparities in outcomes among children aged 2-6, widely known as "the achievement gap." It sheds light on designing an inclusive, child-centered school for students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) and speech or language impairments (SLI). Drawing on the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), it underscores the benefits of integrating students with special education needs into mainstream education, thereby fostering inclusive learning environments. (IDEA, 1975).

The research question probes how to create a nurturing and adaptable school environment tailored to the diverse needs of …

Giving Up Control: Hybrid Ai-Augmented Workflows For Image-Making, Joshua Vermillion

Tradition Innovations in Arts, Design, and Media Higher Education

This paper argues that if we are to come to creative terms with AI image-making then we must critically interrogate these new tools in the production of creative works. In doing so, designers can start to chart new creative workflows that integrate AI for image-making while augmenting and then evolving our current ways of designing. Workflows are shown that relate to how AI models can augment human creativity in hybrid (human and AI) creative endeavors while taking advantage of the affordances of these technologies.

Manifestations Of Urban Interiority In Delhi Gate Bazaar Of Lahore, Sarah Javed Shah, Carles Muro

Interiority

In the contemporary debate, the notion of interiority has expanded beyond the confines of the interior, in the urban realm, as a conjunction of urban and interior conditions. This article aims to contribute to the discourse, using the lens of urban interiority to explore the unique spatial character and distinct cultural practices in Lahore’s Delhi Gate Bazaar. The bazaar exists on a linear passageway, the Royal Trail, as a network of interior, exterior, and in-between spaces—establishing a spatial continuum by blurring the boundaries between the public and private and uninterrupted flow of spaces from outside to inside. This urban space …

Illusory Interior: Public Housing As Uncanny Site, Dea Aulia Widyaevan

Interiority

In 2021, Indonesia participated in the London Design Biennale, focusing on the theme of Resonance. The pavilion's response centred around public housing as an uncanny site, examining the psychological barriers faced by evicted communities during their transition to public housing. This study provides a conceptual analysis by exploring how the uncanny aspects of the occupants' experiences are expressed in installation using the illusory interior as a spatial metaphor. Through practice-led research, utilising ethnographic surrealism and narrative inquiries, data was gathered and translated into artistic mediums through various experiments. The study identifies several factors contributing to the uncanny sensation among public …

Interiority And Agency: Exploring Self In Context With Others In The Act Of Creation, Barbara Young

Interiority

This investigation seeks to extend the discourse on interiority. I am an interior designer and, therefore, pose questions as they relate to design process, specifically that the concern regarding interiority is not necessarily something to design for, but as designers, it affects how and what we design. The presented cases are artistic explorations that provided an opportunity to interrogate interiority as it relates to my cognitive and creative process. Through an auto-ethnographic account, I present two acts of making. In the creation process, I interrogate meaning-making and perception that constitutes my subjective interiority, which can only be understood in context. …

The Emergence Of Interior Architecture, Maryam Darbandi, Nadieh Imani, Mohammadreza Rahimzadeh

Interiority

Less than a century has passed since the creation or at least the use of the term interior architecture. Although interior architecture had existed before and was considered an inseparable part of architectural work, some developments and changes became the basis for the formation of interior architecture and, as a result, its appearance independently of architecture. The main impact of these developments in the independence of interior architecture can be traced to the 19th and 20th centuries when the field of two specialisations of the same family, interior decoration and interior design emerged. This article aims to take a …

Live-Work Interior Quality For Older People In Low-Income Housing In Bangkok, Sutida Sattayakorn, Soranart Sinuraibhan, Saithiwa Ramasoot, Supreeya Wungpatcharapon, Karim Hadjri, Isaiah Durosaiye, Junji Huang

Interiority

This study explores to determine the live-work housing needs of low-income older people in informal settlements, the ways of life of whom contemporary housing provision often fails to consider. A questionnaire survey was conducted in three communities in Klong Toey, the largest informal settlement in Bangkok, to understand households’ satisfaction levels and expectations regarding the interior quality of their live-work housing. Older people’s specific interior spaces and housing requirements and expectations vary depending on the nature of their livelihood activities that can be categorised into three main groups, namely service, cook, and stock. The findings suggest a strong relationship between …

Korean Public Bathhouse: Potential Of Interiority, Michelle Boyoung Huh

Interiority

This essay introduces the Korean public bathhouse, jjimjil-bang, to understand the concept of interiority from sociocultural and psychological perspectives. The author addresses interiority as a continuous process of defining the range of intimacy that changes with context, space, and time. Interiority involves individuating spatial and situational moments in the blended physical, perceived, and imaged environment. In exploring interiority, the case of jjimjil-bang suggests broad perspectives for understanding spatial circumstances as an integration of the activity, environment, and situation. The author introduces the characteristics of jjimjil-bang in terms of the program, spatial structure, and meaning of memory. To demonstrate the …

Situated Interior, Paramita Atmodiwirjo, Yandi Andri Yatmo

Interiority

The idea of a situated interior reflects the conceptual understanding of an expanded range of interiority from the self to the outside world; it involves traversing rigid boundaries to allow fluidity and continuity. The situated interior considers the critical role of other things in defining the interior practice, from the practice of inhabitation and the practice of making and designing to the dynamic formation of the discipline. The collection of articles in this issue of Interiority demonstrates the numerous ways particular situations define the practice of design, inhabitation, and the discipline of the interior. The narratives of various situations presented …

The People's Food Project, Grace Barrett

Masters Theses

The architectural design of spaces offering food assistance has received little to no attention since food pantries emerged in the 1970s. Non-profit food initiatives are often sited quickly with limited resources, producing inadequate spaces unable to fully support a food insecure community, prioritize the experience of users, and create a sense of belonging. The current spaces limit services to merely food distribution. They do not take advantage of the opportunity to expand socioeconomic capital through the power of shared food experiences: growing, cooking, eating, and learning.

This thesis redefines the traditional food pantry model, responding to explorations in psychological comfort …

A.R. Futuristic Scenario In Seun, Yookyung Lee

Masters Theses

Due to social distancing policies during the coronavirus pandemic, people have increasingly turned to digital platforms to fulfill what they previously enjoyed in face-to-face interactions. The high demand for virtual world services, called “metaverses,” has sparked discussions about the possibility of completely replacing the real world, which has raised questions about the role of architects in dealing with physical spaces. However, it is widely believed that digital elements will merge into the real world instead of completely replacing it, which makes augmented reality (AR) a key technology to study in the context of architecture.

In “Learning from Las Vegas,” Robert …

Moving Narration: A Journey Through History, Yincheng Zhu

Masters Theses

The Central Pacific, as the first transcontinental railroad, is a remarkable achievement in the history of the United States. However, the story of what happened during its construction, including the struggles of the first generation of immigrants from China who built the tracks, and the resistance of native Americans to cede their lands, is largely forgotten. The California Zephyr, as a long-trip train that currently runs on the Central Pacific tracks, is not only a means of transportation but should also tell the history of survival and resistance embodied by the landscape it moves through and tracks it travels over. …

Overlooked Modi Vivendi, Natalia Silva

Masters Theses

Traditional gender roles, performance of heterosexuality, marriage, parenthood, and a large variety of other societal expectations manifest themselves in the domestic realm, both intangibly and spatially. The design of domestic spaces has historically catered towards heteronormative living stereotypes, marginalizing people whose way of living challenges the norm. Even in the present day, designers with non-user clients — developers, investors, real estate firms, etc. — will design with heteronormative households in mind. The rise in feminist and LGBTQ+ rights movements has allowed for non-heteronormative modi vivendi (ways of living) to be more vocally and visibly present in the sociopolitical and cultural …

Manifesto Of Poor Images: Re-Imagine Guggenheim In The Post-Digital Age, Mengning He

Masters Theses

What is the role and value of low-resolution digital images, or "poor images," in a culture dominated by high-resolution and hyper-realistic digital media? This thesis investigates poor images from several perspectives: their technical characteristics, viewer’s experience, creative process, and artistic content.

With low-resolution as the defining characteristic of poor images, these pictures challenge the unceasing longing for ever-higher image resolution. While they seem unstable and untrustworthy, they challenge the obsession with higher resolution, offer an ambiguous visual experience, and provoke nostalgia. Poor images are open to appropriation, allowing users to become editors and co-authors. In the process of image-making, poor …

A Study Of Dwelling, Julia Mcarthur

Masters Theses

In teasing out natural phenomena in the unbuilt environment, through admiring beauty, and emphasizing the ordinary, meaningful moments can be brought about that can cause you to be more present with yourself and the world we live in. It is important to qualify that these spaces that encompass “ordinary” moments are not intended to be “idealized spaces,” but a domain that reconciles the chaos from the peaceful and the stress from the calm that is ever apparent in our daily lives. My thesis asks: Through critiquing the modernist condition of a prescriptive ideal space, how can we better understand how …