Interior Architecture Commons^™

Design Solutions For Common Problems In Senior Living Facilities, Mary Schmidt

Senior Honors Theses

With the aging population of the United States, the prevalence of dementia rises along with its challenges for individuals in long-term care facilities. As cognitive function deteriorates, dementia patients face growing difficulties in performing daily activities. Common issues such as wayfinding, wandering, exit attempts, agitation, and a generally low quality of life plague most dementia patients at long-term care facilities. Design features can improve quality of life, safety, and coherence for residents with dementia at assisted living facilities. This paper examines existing research to present various design strategies that can enhance daily life for dementia patients in long-term care facilities. …

Farmstead Therapy: Intergenerational Connection And Sense Of Place Via Equine Therapy, Kaleb Griffeth

Student Research Symposium

Therapy has become a crucial element within society. It has offered relief, understanding, and hope for a changed future to hundreds of millions of people just in the last five years (SAMHSA, 2004).

On another front, division between generations seems to be growing by the month. Political, social, and economic differences between generations “X”, “Z”, Alpha, and Baby Boomers make it appear that there is no connection whatsoever across age gaps.

Because equine therapy has proven a succesful branch, especially for those of a younger demographic, Farmstead Therapy was a project designed to bring together the skills of the older …

New Beginnings Behavioral Health, Mckenna Spens

Student Research Symposium

This project is the 2025 IIDA Student Competition. The objective of this project is to design the Lobby/Reception and Inpatient area of a behavioral health clinic. The design must consider the safety and well being of the patients as well as the staff. This project is in partnership with OFS and Carolina and at least 50% of the furnishings shall be sourced from them. The Lobby/Reception must contain a reception desk for 4 staff, a waiting area, and a minimum of 4 lockers for guests. The Inpatient area must contain the following: a sallyport at the entrance; 2 consultation rooms …

Effects Of The Built Environment On Intergenerational Interaction, Hyrum Worth

Student Research Symposium

What are the effects of intergenerational interaction? Who do they impact, and how?

The Impact Of Visual Stimuli And The Properties Of Green Walls On Human Well-Being In Built And Immersive Virtual Environments, Alireza Sedghikhanshir

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The built environment significantly influences human well-being, particularly in the context of stress recovery and cognitive restoration. This dissertation investigates the impact of visual stimuli, particularly green walls, on human responses related to stress, restoration, and thermal comfort. The research is guided by three primary objectives: (1) examining the role of visual stimuli and their properties in promoting stress recovery and restoration, (2) evaluating the potential of Immersive Virtual Environments (IVEs) as tools for delivering and studying restorative environments, and (3) investigating the influence of green walls on indoor environmental conditions.

A series of experimental studies were carried out to …

Beyond Barracks: Addressing The Psychological Impacts Of Military Housing Through Design, Malia Hunt

Interior Design Capstones

Military personnel sacrifice their lives to safeguard the country yet often return to inadequate living conditions that fail to support their needs after facing the rigors of duty. Beyond Barracks explores the impact of military housing on the mental health and well-being of service members.Prevalent concerns such as insufficient privacy, limited space, and poor facility conditions can exacerbate the physical and emotional challenges already faced by those in service, diverting their energy from service duties to unnecessary complications.

This body of research and design examines the shortcomings and successes of current military housing to provide a comprehensive overview and identify …

The Internal Flame, Bailey Robydek

Interior Design Capstones

This body of research and design explores the vital relationship between interior environments and the well- being of firefighters. Challenging the traditional assumptions about how fire station design impacts their health and recovery. Firefighters endure significant physical exertion, psychological stress, and exposure to traumatic events, yet many fire station interiors remain focused primarily on operational functionality rather than personal wellness.

This research underscores the urgent need for fire station design to transcend traditional assumptions and evolve into a model that actively supports holistic recovery. Firefighters require spaces that address the cumulative impacts of their profession, both physical and mental taxation. …

Building Better Communities, Abby Simandl

Interior Design Capstones

This project explores how innovative design strategies can build better communities by enhancing mental health, physical well-being, and social engagement, ultimately creating a sense of belonging and growth in cities.

Motivated by the challenges of affordability, accessibility, social isolation, and environmental degradation, this project emphasizes the transformative power of design. By integrating community-centered design (CCD) and human-centered design (HCD) principles, the project aims to learn about resilient, inclusive, and sustainable communities. These approaches involve active community participation, ensuring that solutions are culturally relevant, inclusive, and responsive to local needs.

Key strategies include promoting social connectedness, improving public access to health …

To Build A Home, Liset Diaz-Cortes

Interior Design Capstones

Multigenerational housing allows for a more compassionate and whole-hearted alternative to other forms of elder care while addressing the needs of vulnerable groups. The multigenerational housing model emphasizes dignity and comfort, while increasing the quality of life overall. It is crucial to focus on living as individuals gain years of “living in place”. Living in place provides more than just physical care—it cultivates a life enriched with meaning, purpose, and the comforting familiarity of home. This research demonstrates how individuals can thrive within the home environment, enriching quality of life and preserving independence through intergenerational support. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored …

Alvar Aalto: Past. Present.Future, Matthew Collins

Interior Design Capstones

Alvar Aalto serves as a timeless guide for architectural and design principles. These principles are not of universal rigidness but are flexible based on the givenconditions of site, culture, and people. His traditionalmethods of sketching and drawing create a hand to mind connection to the design process. This process, much like his work, develops a mindful and thoughtful outcome of decisions. With computer technology become more increasingly apart of our lives, it is important that we not forget the human point of view rather than purely a rational mode of thinking. This capstone project address how it is possible to …

Architecture Of Union: Exploring Community-Supported Wedding Venues, Erica Keillor

Interior Design Capstones

Weddings, as deeply symbolic rituals, often rely heavily on the venue to set the tone and enhance the emotional resonance of the event Yet, the rising cost of wedding venues often excludes couples from lower-to-middle income backgrounds, creating a barrier to access for many. This design project explores the potential of a community-supported greenhouse wedding venue—a model that not only offers affordability through shared community investment but also enhances the symbolic resonance of weddings through its nature-integrated architecture. The design investigates how intentional spatial planning within a greenhouse structure can serve both the practical needs of wedding ceremonies and the …

Food, Design & Desire, Emily Harnden

Interior Design Capstones

The research presented in Food, Design, and Desire examines the impactful role of interior design in shaping the connection between humans and food, with a focus on fine dining environments. Grounded by the thesis, the ideal dining experience creates a profound connection to oneself and the environment around you. This project investigates how built environments influence diners’ emotional and physical experiences, enhancing their intimacy with food. The research addresses the interplay between space, desire, and the human relationship with culinary experiences, aiming to develop design strategies that increase customer retention and deepen the human connection to food.

This project utilizes …

Artificial Interiors, Alex Renbarger

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Artificial Interiors is a series of intimately scaled paintings that depict dramatically lit domestic interiors. My limited yet saturated color palette creates a dark atmosphere that feels both strange and familiar, contributing to the unsettling ambiance of the domestic scenes. Their origins in Artificial Intelligence (AI) prompts further reinforce this effect. Each painting begins as a composite collage created with AI-generated images, iterative prompts, and Photoshop, in a process that creates fantasy spaces, detached from real ones, even as their elements - sofas, chairs, corners, stairs - suggest common expectations and experiences for domestic life in the U.S.

These digitally …

The Healthy Campus Project: Assessing The Indoor Health Of The Campus Environment, Amy Claire Bourque, Sam Carduner

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Research, monitor, observe, and analyze the health of a designated building on Belmont University’s campus in accordance with “The 9 Foundations of Healthy Building,” along with information from Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Can Make You Sick – or Keep You Well.

An Essay Of Images From Playlab Inc., Playlab Inc., Archie Lee Coates Iv

Digital Laboratory: Publisher of Internet Journal

A series of images depicting the illustrious Playlab Inc. as a collection of projects in different mediums. The LA-based design studio has contributed to fashion, art, and urban culture through collaborations with major institutions and emerging artists. The photo essay highlights Playlab Inc.’s diverse projects and installations, embodying its core philosophy: no focus. This principle guides the studio to the cutting-edge of contemporary culture, where innovation meets execution. The creative powerhouse has demonstrated a capacity to engage with contemporary cultural movements through its projects. For instance, in the OTW Vans project, the firm acquired images from notable skate photographers Atiba …

Cohen-Lasry: The Architectural History, Jennifer Krulisz-Hossain

Strassler Center Archival Collection Finding Aids

This collection contains images, newspapers and architectural plans related to the current Strassler Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies at 11 Hawthorne Street in Worcester, MA

Synchronizing Work And Teaching Practices With The Spatial Dna Of Distributed Work And Learning, Manju Aishwarya Adikesavan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Phygitality, the seamless and synergistic integration of physical and digital realms, is an indispensable and irrevocable part of contemporary office-based work. Phygitality facilitates spatially and temporally distributed or multi-local working where employees work from diverse locations such as their home, office, and third places at any time of day or night. It also makes nonterritorial working at temporary workspaces accessed on a session-by-session basis possible.

This dissertation examines how phygital, multi-local, and nonterritorial working reshape individual and group work behaviors, organizational spatial practices, work-centric settings, non-work-centric settings, neighborhoods, cities, and regions. The Spatial DNA of Distributed Work encapsulates a conceptual …

Analysis Of The Represented Interior Space: Hermeneutic Study Of The Peres Maldonado Ex-Voto, Blanca Ruiz Esparza Díaz De León, Héctor Omar Gonzaléz Romo

Interiority

The paper demonstrates the application of Henri Lefebvre's postulates in the hermeneutical study of the Peres Maldonado Ex-voto, created in Aguascalientes in 1777. This piece, authored by an unknown artist, likely illustrates the first mastectomy performed in Mexican lands. This study employs an analytical framework that integrates the propositions made by the philosopher Henri Lefebvre and the experiential spatial systems proposed by the authors. The former formulates a conceptual foundation that unfolds the body in three spatial dimensions: mental, physical, and social. The unfolding could make possible the defragmentation of the painting's elements to analyse the concept of corporeality or …

Dynamics Of Nodes: Adaptation Of Interior Places In A Historic Waterfront Community For Sustainability, Thanapan Laiprakobsup, Narongpon Laiprakobsup

Interiority

This study aims to investigate environmental interiority and urban conditions which promote adaptations of nodes as foci of place in the historic, suburban waterfront community. Nodes, existing as strategic places as public activity settings, on the other hand, have been barely examined in terms of the dynamic transition of interior places among urbanisation. The study argues that nodal adaptations taking up dynamic development play crucial functional roles in sustaining a waterfront community in connection with the implementation of place resources and accessible opportunities of new transportation networks. Nodal adaptations lead to the emergence of new functions and place identity in …

Interior Fragments, Paramita Atmodiwirjo, Yandi Andri Yatmo

Interiority

The critical role of fragments in spatial discourse stems from the complex relationship between fragment and whole. The paradox of fragments offers a deeper understanding of how our architecture, interior, and urban systems are constructed by the presence of fragments and whole and, more importantly, by their interrelationship. Understanding fragments is more than just understanding them as independent spatial entities; it establishes knowledge of how fragments are constructed, connected, and negotiated. This issue of Interiority presents a collection of inquiries on fragments within various everyday interior contexts and representations, demonstrating the emergence of spatialities that celebrate interconnection possibilities beyond the …