Interior Design Commons^™

Ketamine Clinics: Designing For Better Patient Outcomes, Erica Evans

Student Research Symposium

Bright Mind Wellness is a state-of-the-art ketamine clinic that offers a spa-like experience for patients seeking treatment for mental health disorders. The clinic's main patient demographic includes individuals suffering from major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety, PTSD, and/or chronic pain. Ketamine has been shown to be an effective treatment for these conditions, and the clinic's design is centered around creating a safe and calming environment for patients to receive their treatments.This presentation aims to explore the therapeutic benefits of ketamine and how it can be used to aid in the treatment of mental health disorders. We will delve into the science …

Sunrise Mental Health Clinic, Kassie Kunzler

Student Research Symposium

How color affects our mental health and how we can apply it in interiors to help in the healing process.

Re-Imagining Labor And Delivery Facilities In Hospitals, Kenley Roberts

Student Research Symposium

This labor and delivery hospital wing has been redesigned with the woman’s needs in mind. Modern mothers want more natural birth experiences. There is many popular fads going around where women are having at home and underwater births. This is unsafe especially if complications arise and cannot get to the hospital fast enough. These re-imagined labor and delivery rooms create a safe environment that feels less like a sterile hospital and more like a home. These hospital rooms provide better comfort for the mother when laboring and delivering as well as the family.

Elementary Education In Ethiopia, Sarah Wiscomb

Student Research Symposium

In developing and developed countries alike, children do not have access to basic education because of inequalities that originate in sex, health and cultural identity (ethnic origin, language, religion). These children find themselves on the margins of the education system and do not benefit from learning that is vital to their intellectual and social development. Factors linked to poverty such as unemployment, illness and the illiteracy of parents, multiply the risk of non-schooling and the drop-out rate of a child by 2. Undeniably, many children from disadvantaged backgrounds are forced to abandon their education due to health problems related to …

Designing For Autism, Brinley Gibby

Student Research Symposium

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder with a wide spectrum of different symptoms in varying forms and varying levels of severity. ASD can be detected and diagnosed in a child as early as three years of age. Because of the range of symptoms and the range of severity in those symptoms, those with Autism Spectrum Disorder experience their own strengths and challenges. When it comes to designing for people with ASD, especially children, many aspects of design need to be taken into account in order to make a space as comfortable and as stimulating or as non-stimulating as …

The Body Is Only A Vessel, Victoria Johnson

Student Research Symposium

The body is only a vessel treats funeral homes less as venues for the exhibition of embalmed bodies and more like vessels constructed to fulfill whatever needs of those left behind, documenting how funeral practices aren’t so much a dance with death but a shuffle around it. By exploring the mundanity of death and the implied tension between the present life and the afterlife, the project visualizes quiet emblems of loss through texture, light, and space. Doors and windows serve as allegories to “the other side,” as impressions of light and shadow demonstrate the delicate balance between life and death. …

Parkinson's Accessible Home, Bailey Wilde

Student Research Symposium

I chose this research topic because I have watched my uncle and his family change every aspect of their lives due to the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Over the past 10 years, his health has progressively gotten worse and his living conditions are in no shape to adapt with him and his family's needs. He is in need of a home where he can age in place.

Proper Acoustics Create Better Learning Environments In The Classroom, Brian Harris

Student Research Symposium

The acoustics of a classroom can greatly help or hinder the learning process for many students. Studies have found that speech intelligibility can be affected by poor acoustics and this can lower the student’s comprehension scores. When correct acoustic tools are implemented, student success can be augmented.

Traveling With A Purpose: Sustainable Tourism, Nina Rossman

Honors Theses

The act of traveling is often seen as exciting for many travelers looking for adventure or to experience something different than their everyday routines. However, many current tourism trends force negative burdens onto local communities and environments. For instance, when development increases consumption in an area where natural resources are scarce to begin with, it can put pressure on those resources. There is a certain level of visitor use that an environment can manage; negative impacts occur when the changes in visitor use exceed this limit.[1]

While tourist destinations experience negative impacts from the tourism industry, tourism also supports …

Seeking Identity In The Built Environment The Impact Of Latinx Culture Centers On College Campuses, Nancy Munoz

Capstone Projects

When students move to college for the first time, they are faced with challenges of adjustment and acclimating to a new environment. For Latinx students, these challenges are amplified. Many Latinx students are first-generation college students, meaning neither of their parents attended or obtained a bachelor’s degree from a four-year institution. This causes a ripple in the experiences these students face as they were given little guidance on how to navigate college.

They are leaving behind a culture they shared with friends and family. This culture is full of cuisines, music, and cultural traditions. For many this is the first …

Making Nature Accessible: Building An Accessible Wellness Retreat Within Nature For People With Physical Disabilities And Their Communities, Jenna Morell

Capstone Projects

Nature impacts our lives in such a way that it can be incredibly detrimental to our health and wellbeing to be away from nature (1). Nature helps us heal faster, relax more, and just generally lead a more well-rounded life (2). It provides an opportunity to feel the sun on our face, breathe fresh air, and get the exercise we need. When deprived of these experiences, our bodies truly suffer (1). People with physical mobility limitations suffer from mental health issues at a much higher rate (3), this issue is often exacerbated by the fact that much of the built …

Adaptive Reuse Of Frosty Morn, Veronika Kalugina, Rebecca Tonguis, Heidi Gabriel, Peyton Kauffman

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Frosty Morn, a former meat packing facility in Clarksville, TN, is now abandoned, dilapidated, and partially demolished. The site sits within the Red River District neighborhood, which consists of a diverse community of artists. The Red River District has been identified by the Clarksville Mayor’s Office as an area with potential for growth, catalyzed by repurposing the Frosty Morn building as an icon and beacon of the community. Highest and best use research, in addition to community voices, indicated programmatic needs of a farmer’s market, makerspaces, small business incubators, park space, and live/work units. Our presentation will describe how this …

Physical And Emotional Impact Of Lighting Conditions In Higher Education Classrooms, Robert P. Mcdonald, Gallayanee Yaoyuneyong

AMTP Proceedings 2023

The literature review shows that researchers in different fields have long explored the impact of the physical classroom environments (e.g., lighting, temperature, classroom layout, and furniture) to identify the ideal classroom environments. When the lighting condition is poor (i.e., light levels below standards), it can cause drowsiness, leading to lower concentration and motivation, and elevated student stress. However, most studies focused on K-12 learning environments. Therefore, this study aims to specifically focus on the lighting conditions in educational facilities around a university campus in the Southeastern United States and to explore whether these lighting conditions impact students’ mental well-being, their …

Traumas Effect On Children’S Development, Spatial Design As Intervention: The Role Of Interior Design In Supporting Children With Trauma, Brooke Slater

Capstone Projects

After facing trauma, young children react emotionally, physically, and mentally in efforts to protect themselves from past or present trauma that they have faced. Young children may not always be able to recognize that the dangers they once went through are roots of trauma that have not been correctly addressed within their life. These roots may now be the result of uncontrollable behaviors, emotions, and reactions. After analyzing the lack of resources some families and children may have, a space that is uniquely catered to the children who are facing or have faced trauma that provides balanced schedules, particularly focused …

Patient Centered, Kiara Bartlett

Capstone Projects

It is inevitable to adapt uneasy feelings leading up to and during a doctor's appointment. The question is why do humans feel this? Research indicates that many medical offices and appointment spaces are designed for employee efficiency, rather that patient experience. This sheds light on the fact that there is a disconnect between provider needs and patient needs in this important, shared space.

Regardless of the type of offices, from general practice to dermatology, every physician office and appointment space have common spatial and operation needs. All healthcare offices need the same type of circulation that creates ease while moving …

Traveling With A Purpose, Nina Rossman

Capstone Projects

The act of traveling is often seen as exciting for many travelers looking for adventure or to experience something different than their everyday routines. However, many current tourism trends force negative burdens onto local communities and environments. For instance, when development increases consumption in an area where natural resources are scarce to begin with, it can put pressure on those resources. There is a certain level of visitor use that an environment can manage; negative impacts occur when the changes in visitor use exceed this limit.

While tourist destinations experience negative impacts from the tourism industry, tourism also supports the …

Inclusive/Exclusive, Sophia Shettler

Capstone Projects

Throughout history, inclusivity and exclusivity were both common in all areas of society. Inclusive civilizations like Mesopotamia laid the groundwork for an inclusive society where women and men were nearly equal, getting to own land, file for divorce, and own their own businesses¹. However, the societies within Mesopotamia soon broke off into smaller communities¹, the previous equality dwindled as civilizations formed across the world. As time went on, inclusion was revived. In the United States specifically, slavery was abolished², women were granted the right to vote³, same-sex marriage was legalized4, and so …

Connections Through Contrast The Built Environment Embracing Art Exhibition, Josilyn Welch

Capstone Projects

An emotionally immersive experience within a museum setting can foster feelings of belonging, engagement, exploration, understanding and connection. Providing an environment where empathetic immersion can be achieved through physical, psychological, and social enablers lead to transformative experiences for the visitor. To promote physical, psychological, and social enablers within the museum setting to promote empathetic immersion within its visitors, this museum will consider the following strategies:

Physical Enablers: The museum space will address physical enablers by including environmental features such as diverse opportunities for seating, immersive lighting techniques, and curated finish selections for individual exhibit spaces as well as interactive displays …

"A Decorator In The Best Sense": Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, Lilly Reich, The Fabric Curtain Partition, And The Articulation Of The German Modern Interior, Marianne E. Eggler-Gerozissis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Contributing to the burgeoning study of the domestic interior, a field of inquiry existing in the interstices of architecture, design, interior decoration, and material culture, this dissertation presents a thematic study of the modern domestic interiors of German/American architect/designer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1965) designed in collaboration with fellow German architect/designer Lilly Reich (1885–1947) during the 1920s and early 1930s in Weimar Germany. Inspired by a revealing but hitherto overlooked statement by Philip Johnson in the catalogue for the influential 1932 International Style exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that referred to Mies as “a …

The Light Of The Revival: Stained-Glass Designs For Restituted Synagogues In Ukraine, Eugeny Kotylar, Magda Teter

Faculty Publications

The catalogue for the exhibition "The Light of the Revival: Stained-Glass Designs for Restituted Synagogues in Ukraine by Eugeny Kotlyar" held at Fordham University from September 10-December 10, 2023 offers a broad perspective on the revival of Ukrainian synagogues after Ukraine’s independence. It showcases three sets of stained-glass windows, which were designed by Eugeny Kotlyar and partially implemented in Ukrainian synagogues in the period from 1995 to 2005. Two early works shown here were the first samples of stained-glass designs for modern Ukrainian synagogues, which set a new trend. The first of them—the stained-glass windows for the Kharkiv Choral Synagogue …