Interior Architecture Commons^™

Dying Differently: Designing A Death-Oriented Psychedelic Treatment Center, Grace Caiazza

Masters Theses

In the context of therapeutic treatment for the terminally ill, psychedelic assisted therapy instigates a direct confrontation with a person’s experience of dying. Over the course of several weeks a patient will arrive at a facility, lay down in a room, and for up to eight hours at a time recommit themselves to the question: how do I comprehend death? Their answer will come in the form of sensations and sounds, visions and abstractions — things that are perhaps not immediately understood, but rather are immediately and vibrantly felt. The answer will follow a non-traditional logic unfamiliar to the empirical …

Last Sunset : Design To Alleviate Social Isolation For Chinese Elderly, Linghui Li

Masters Theses

China has one of the fastest aging populations in the world. The country’s rapid economic development and urbanization have separated millions of older adults from their children, leading to empty nest families where the elderly must fend for themselves without assistance. Design in the modern era caters to the younger generation with more consumption power while neglecting the needs of these older adults.

In China, from the moment a child is born, confinement centers, preschools, and tutoring institutions, those venues are common throughout the urban fabric. Which spaces are mainly designed for the Chinese elderly? Besides meeting necessary physical needs …

The Cthulhu Journey : Storytelling Through An Architectural Immersive Experience, Rui Zhang

Masters Theses

The exhibition of sequential art is becoming increasingly popular. The subjects of these shows vary from fantasy, horror to science fiction depending on the style of authors. Compared with other 2d images, sequential art requires more narrative framing. Typical exhibitions show sequential art like regular images, however narrative is the essence of sequential art. This thesis will find a way to exhibit sequential art forms in a way that respects that they are based in storytelling. I will develop an immersive experience of sequential art. Immersion is also a narrative-based experience, if we combine the immersive experience with the sequential …

Endless Construction : Occupant Activism And Authorship, Jiayi Wang

Masters Theses

Though we don’t think of it this way, “Adaptive Reuse” often happens naturally, guided by users who modify their physical environment to satisfy urgent living needs. While these modifications may appear haphazard, they show the user’s individualism and life philosophy. We, as designers, should embrace these interventions to explore how to participate with the occupants’ adaptive reuse process over time. Given the richness of adaptation within the old residences in the ancient Chinese city of Suzhou, it is an appropriate place to explore both the skill of self–modification and the potential for interaction of designers in this process.

The old …

Hospitable Healthcare Design: Bridging Hospitality And Palliative And End-Of-Life Care, Gabrielle Fernandez

Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones

Aside from the reverence of cemeteries and funeral homes, healthcare facilities are spaces where the reality of death coexists with the vitality of life. Regardless of culture or background, every person has to interact with the certainty of mortality, but not all of society is provided with rituals and spaces that adequately allow one to grieve. In the case of patients and family members who experience palliative and hospice care, the grieving process tends to begin long before the person has passed; changes in physical and mental state are a foreshadowing to an end that is hard to accept overnight. …

Skins+Fabrications: Addressing Fashion And Clothing Waste, Renee Palmer

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Articles of clothing; they are the second organ, the Second Skin. Their functions are to protect the body from the harsh external elements and create a sense of design with Fashion—the same as exterior facades on a building. However, where architecture and Fashion differ is sustainability.

The Global fashion industry contributes 10% of greenhouse emissions. From that 10%, about 13 million tonnes of clothing waste ends up in landfills or burned. Most of the waste comes from the Fast Fashion Industry, which sees cheap labor from underdeveloped countries to maximize profits. These companies will spend a good portion of their …

Remembered Spaces: Reframing Architecture From Body To Building, Shaan Lyngdoh Lakshmanan

Architecture Senior Theses

Our bodies act as instruments to record sensations received from the world that surrounds us. The internal world we create is how we perceive, remember, and preserve the external world. The process is essential to the continual formation of ourselves.

This thesis aims to reframe the values we place on architectural representation, from the objective, novel, cartesian parameters of architecture to qualities of emotion and place. The device for this reframing is the remembered space, which is an architecture that exists in our memories. It is within the remembered space that we begin to understand how a space was inhabited.

Genius Loci: Capturing The Distinctive Roman Spirit Through Pochoir, Carlee Mcguire

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

This capstone explores the concept of genius loci through photographic and artistic exploration and does so through a lens of study set on Rome, Italy. The first major goal of the process has been to discover the elements, moments, physical textures, and other design elements that comprise the genius loci of a city or space. The second goal has been to partake in a process that can be used by myself and other designers in efforts to make more conscious design decisions — gaining a better understanding of ‘sense of place’ can assist designers in straying from globalized, placeless design.

Achakali Chickasha Holbachi Italatalit Ithana: Continuation Of Chickasaw Design Practices, Lily Shore

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

The project aims to create an accessible tool to document, preserve, and honor Chickasaw design techniques by creating interactive 3D models replicating ancestral structures available through an online gallery. A virtual exhibition focuses on structures commonly found in a traditional Chickasaw village. The constructions represented include a traditional council house, summer house, winter house, and corn crib. Each is accompanied by contextual information, including a collection of historical photographs, information concerning use, and conventional architectural drawings such as plans, sections, and isometric views. In fruition, the project aims to function as a resource to commemorate the history of traditional Chickasaw …

Architecture As Stress Relief: What Makes A Meditative Space?, Angela Brown

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Stress is a prevalent issue today. People can become stressed or overstimulated for various reasons, whether it be due to their physical environment, their physiological nature, psychological factors, or a combination. Although the causes of stress for our prehistoric ancestors were mostly periodic events such as predators or weather, modern-day stressors are often persistent and environmental, leading to chronic stress. Also, in today’s world of constant new information and stimulation, especially in urban locations, sensory overload is common. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic and its mental effects have brought new attention to the interaction between physical environment and well-being. The prevalence …

Fitness Anxiety: Redesigning The University Of Arkansas’ Health, Physical Education, And Recreation Building To Reduce Intimidation In The Fitness Centers, William Tack

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of the capstone was to redesign Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (from here on out referred to as the H.P.E.R.) building on the University of Arkansas Campus to make the space more friendly to new users. This redesign consisted of a reworked site plan for the overall building and some significant shifts in the program to accommodate more gym space. The redesign work was based on the following: prior academic research regarding what causes intimidation in gym settings, student opinions shared via questionnaires, spatial/ programmatic standards from the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association, a photographic journal documenting …

Restoring Lost Heritage, Lewis Culliver

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

One of the best streets to explore in Omaha is N. 24th Street. Many buildings showcase larger than life, vibrant murals that express the creative nature and spirit of this part of historic North Omaha. The murals represent a healing element for the community; many murals cover structures that are in various states of disrepair. Community gardens have risen to fill voids left by traumatic development practices, such as the implementation of the north freeway.

Despite having lost a large part of its heritage, including hundreds of homes and businesses that were destroyed to make way for the north freeway, …

Culture In Disney Films: A Comparative Analysis Of Color, Composition And Rhythm, Megan Paul

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

As a student of design, I take inspiration from everything around me. The media I consume, the places I visit, and the people I meet.By choice or not, I and my generation are subject to the various forms of pop culture, film is one of them. Film is one of few art forms which combines several methods and elements of design to produce a cohesive result, as opposed to a singular medium. This forms the connection to design thinking and is the foundation for the study.

Another critical component to pop culture is the ability to reach the masses. Due …

Design For A Spectrum, Brooke Warden

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a growing disorder across the world. ASD affects around 1 in every 68 children in the United States (Block, 2018). This disorder results in significant social, intellectual, and behavioral changes within a child, and create challenges for a child with ASD to learn and develop like children without ASD. No two cases of ASD are alike which is why it is called a spectrum disorder. This adds an extra challenge to designing spaces for children with ASD to inhabit and thrive. These children frequently suffer from sensory processing deficits in which they have a hard …

The Influence Of Classroom Design On Problem Behaviors And Educational Growth Indicators For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Anthony D. Asher

All Theses

This qualitative comparative case study reports on findings from a pre-and post-occupancy evaluation using multiple data collection methods to explore how classroom design features contribute to behavioral outcomes for children with ASD. Ten children, ages three to five years older with ASD, were observed over four months as they transitioned from their current classrooms into their newly built classrooms based on evidence-based design for children with ASD. For a two-month period in each setting, environmental conditions were tracked continuously in both classrooms. In addition, interviews were conducted with the special education teachers in both settings to gain insight into the …

Educational Design: Does The Design Of A Learning Environment Effect How A Student Learns?, Terrie Larsen

Interior Design Program: Student Creative Activity

New 21^st Century classroom layouts have evolved from the studies of several educational researchers and their findings over the past century. In conjunction with universities across the world, researchers developed progressive outlooks of what the built environment can offer to the newest generation of learners. Their studies have coined several terms such as Active Learning Classrooms (ALC), Student Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) and Technology Enabled Active Learning (TEAL). These classroom models represent higher learning studies for more effective 21^st century learning environments. Some of the models include a specific style of table and number …

Architecture In Anime: Miyazaki's Motifs, Jack Collins

Honors Projects

Internationally known, celebrated, and respected, director Hayao Miyazaki has become a household name by transforming an industry through his films. This research focuses on Miyazaki’s process and the similarities he shares with architects, both in and out of his works. By initially examining his background, the three motifs of architecture, inspiration, and sustainability are explored through works like Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and more. The results of this research are to inform fans of both architecture and anime about the connection between someone who designs and builds the world, and one who designs and builds …

Design Factors Affecting Music Students' Practice Duration And Quality In Higher Education, Aiyana Demmons

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this research is to help determine practice room design guidelines to increase music students’ practice duration and quality in higher education. The Foy Building music practice rooms on the Statesboro campus of Georgia Southern University are being used as the basis for this research, as these spaces are used daily by music students to practice their instruments. The study population for this research was music majors and minors, as these individuals are the main users of the practice room spaces. The research design consisted of two phases- one qualitative and the other quantitative. An initial online questionnaire …

Design Challenges Of Solving Circular Geometry In Residential Buildings, Rayan Zankar, Lana El-Kaaki, Jameel Fares

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

A dimensional geometrical shape such as a circular shape has been established all throughout the history of building design planning in order to find out the suitable arrangements for the living spaces: One of the most unusual designs planning in architecture is circular planning. Moreover, residential buildings that contain a circular plan are not built that frequently as well, but they still are a part of architecture since prehistoric times. Unfortunately, there are significant issues in such buildings, such as a structural challenge within the design module with orientation problems. In other words, there is a missing of the optimum …

Broken Chair Chaconne, Anthony Elia

Bridwell Library Research

In March 2022, I was working at my computer when this increasingly rickety chair collapsed beneath me! It was time to get back to responsible eating and get a new chair. But amid the intensive planning and production of The Festival of Form: John Cage and the Infinite Human events, it occurred to me that I could play around with the ideas of music, sound, noise, and silence, and particularly the unconventional experiments of notation and scoring. Shortly after this chair broke, I took a sharpie pen to it and began to notate it like a score, along with some …