Interior Architecture Commons^™

Where Do We Go: Rethinking Public Libraries, Emma Jouppi

Interior Design Capstones

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors contributing to the decline in public library visits and to identify practical strategies for increasing community engagement with library spaces. Public libraries have long served as accessible, inclusive environments for learning, technology access, and social connection. However, recent years have shown a decline in visitation, raising important questions about public perception, awareness, and accessibility. This research seeks to better understand how these factors intersect and what can be done to strengthen the role of libraries as vital third spaces within their communities.

This study aims to bridge the gap between …

Spring 2026 Title Of Blueprints For The Mind: How The Design Of Public Built Environment Impacts The Mental Health Of Youth, Faith Holton

Interior Design Capstones

Blueprints for the Mind investigates how public built environments influence the mental health of youth, with attention to rising rates of anxiety, depression. Through a multidisciplinary approach bridging environmental psychology, public health, interior architecture, and usercentered design, this project identifies the environmental factors shaping young people’s emotional well-being. Findings reveal that sensory conditions such as lighting, acoustics, layout, materiality, and predictability directly affect youth comfort, focus, and emotional regulation. Field research with students (ages 13–15) and an expert interview with licensed social worker Carmen Ortega-Cline further demonstrate that overstimulating, crowded, or unclear environments heighten stress, while semi-private, naturally lit, and …

Through The Lens Of Zoology, Madalyn Haun

Interior Design Capstones

Current zoo and sanctuary models often fail to meet the complex psychological, behavioral, and spatial needs of endangered and rehabilitated wildlife, resulting in chronic stress and welfare compromises. Beyond the Cage presents a transformation approach to zoological design, shifting the paradigm from entertainment-based displays to a “welfare-first” philosophy. This book argues that effective captive care requires expansive, species-appropriate habitats that facilitate natural behaviors, rather than merely simulating natural aesthetics. Through the lens of modern zoology, this work explores the implementation of groundbreaking exhibit re-creation, focusing on habitat enlargement, precise climate change control, and innovative environmental enrichment. A central pillar of …

Designing Across Generations: Bridging The Gap Through Ecclesiastical Architecture, Aurora Thompson

Interior Design Capstones

The purpose of this capstone project is to develop an intergenerational worship environment that reinforces a sense of unity and harmony among the generations through intentional design strategies. This work addresses the widening generational gap within religious communities and responds to the growing departure of younger generations who often feel unseen or disconnected within traditional church settings. By integrating generational preferences into the architectural and experiential components of the worship space, the project seeks to create an environment where all age groups feel represented, valued, and spiritually engaged. Situated within the context of increasing religious disaffiliation, this project highlights the …

Rekindling Hearth: An Investigation And Discussion Of The Traditional And Evolving Roles Of Hearth In Architecture, Ruth E. Prenzler

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research explores the evolving role of the hearth in domestic architecture, examining its historical significance and its continuing symbolic and architectural significance. Once essential for heat, cooking, and gathering, the hearth has shifted from necessity to nostalgic artifact due to technological advances and changing domestic patterns. This study reexamines the hearth’s spatial, social, and functional roles in architecture through a combination of literature review, theoretical analysis, and visual diagramming. Six case studies, spanning pre-modern to contemporary housing, are analyzed to identify patterns and transformations in hearth placement and significance. Through detailed diagrams, the paper offers a visual and theoretical …

Affective Perception Of Color In Classroom Design, Emmalyn Burns

Interior Design Undergraduate Honors Theses

The physical environment of a classroom plays a crucial role in shaping how students learn, engage, and interact with their education. This study focuses on color’s influence on well-being, focus, and overall academic experience. Many higher education classrooms still rely on a standard that implements neutral colors, which does not always align with student preferences. While prior research has shown that color can have measurable cognitive and emotional effects, its thoughtful application in university settings remains limited. Current architectural design processes often overlook ongoing user-based feedback past the pre-design phase, leaving students without input on the decisions for their learning …

Real-Time Adaptable Residential Kitchen: A Plug-In Standard, Rachel Fuelberth

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

This thesis looks at how a real-time adaptable standard could be put in place within the modern kitchen to allow for equitable use of the space by numerous members of the household and their differing physical characteristics. The residential kitchen is a fundamentally exclusionary architectural construction designed around able-bodied, average-height adults. This excludes children, the elderly, anyone outside of the average height, and people with mobility differences. The kitchen has never been a place of equity. It has been designed to be used by an average-height female, and it does not account for the discomfort of those outside this norm. …

Accessibility On Campus: How Universal Design Can Make A Difference, Samantha Wittenberg

Honors Projects

This research is meant to showcase how survey those who self-identify as having a disability so see how feedback they provide can help guide changes to make to the Maurer Center on Bowling Green State University’s campus. By utilizing principles found in Universal Design, much of the feedback was able to be applied. Much of what was found are small modifications to help with general accessibility such as visualization to help with navigation.

The Staging Grounds Of Architecture, Kristanti Dewi Paramita

ARSNET

The articles in this edition of ARSNET offer various design explorations that investigate the idea of staging as the creative grounds of architecture. This edition discusses different design inquiries that aim to redefine the act and spatiality of staging, beyond the context of a space for performance. Explorations elaborated in this edition outline alternative design approaches, which focuses on the dynamic curation of spaces and celebrates the unscripted and unintentionality of its experiences. Such approaches range from the utilisation of various representation techniques to reveal the multidimensionality of architecture, construction of spatial experiences that juxtaposes and connect spaces dynamically, and …

Liquid Modernity Off-Modernity: A Pop-Up Interior In The Middle Of Nowhere, Ayman Kassem

ARSNET

This visual essay examines the pop-up desert café as a contemporary interior condition shaped by mobility, reversibility, and performative occupation. Framed through Bauman’s (2000) liquid modernity and Branzi’s (2002) diffuse modernity, it argues that temporary desert setups are not informal exceptions but design responses to unstable, event-based ways of living. The essay reads the pop-up as a hybrid interior-exterior assemblage, where carpets, furniture, lighting, signage, and social rituals produce atmosphere and collective presence. Using collages on photography taken by the author-co-created with architect Moustafa Abdulwahed—as a method, the visual essay journey moves from photographic observation to extraction and speculative recomposition, …

Forget-Me-Not: Facilitating Social Vibrancy In Spaces Designed For Alzheimer's Disease, Torilyn Mossner

Honors Theses

The objective of this capstone project is to create a foundation for vibrant community interactions and connections that support those living with Alzheimer’s disease, their loved ones, and the broader members of the community through interior design. This work is relevant because Alzheimer’s disease affects 1 in 9 people over the age of sixty-five worldwide. Without a cure, as people continue to age, there is going to be a constant need for development of care. Additionally, design should go a step further than healthy living and begin to prioritize creating a vibrant life and community integration for those living with …

Restoration Of Rogers Hall, Patsy Glenn

Documents

History and information on much needed repairs of Rogers Hall at UNA, 2006

College Building Transformed Into Museum, Dolly Dalrymple

Documents

An article from The Birmingham News-Age Herald about Wesleyan Hall, its impact on the university and students/faculty, and the addition of a museum to the building, 1940

Welcome Mat's Out, Susan C. Taylor

Documents

Open House for Rogers Hall, 1985

Hall Of Work, Michele Brown

Documents

Much needed renovations are about to begin on Rogers Hall at UNA

*Article from The TimesDaily

A New Chapter, Ty West

Documents

Rededication of Coby Hall, 2005

*Article from The TimesDaily

George S. Lindsey Theater And Ernest Borgnine Performance Hall Grand Opening Ceremony, Una Foundation

Documents

Grand Opening Ceremony for the George Smith Lindsey/Ernest Borgnine Performance Hall, 2012

Room To Grow, Sunny Xiang

Documents

Article from The TimesDaily about the new off campus residence hall apartments, Appleby East and West. These were built were the old Coffee High School and Appleby Jr. High School buildings were located.

Tower Dorms Get A Redo, Jason Lankford

Documents

Article in The UNA Alumni Magazine of renovations to Towers Complex (Rice and Rivers Hall) in 2011

The Science And Technology Building University Of North Alabama, Barbie Hampel-University Advancement

Documents

Brochure and floor plans for the New Science and Technology Building at UNA