Interior Architecture Commons^™

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. …

Intensifying The Experience Of Contemporary Art, Wanjin Feng

Masters Theses

Contemporary Art museums, emphasizing visual experience- es, struggle to accommodate multi-sensory art forms. This thesis introduces a groundbreaking exhibition design mod- el focused on creating immersive, multi-sensory experiences for visitors. The model transitions from a passive observation paradigm to an interactive perception approach, fostering a deeper understanding and emotional connection to art.

Applied to the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), the model introduces strategies such as narrative sculptures, interactive drawing spaces, integrated reading within exhibitions, and emotionally-driven spatial design. These strategies aim to make art more accessible, promoting personal connections with artworks.

In conclusion, the proposed model transforms contemporary art …

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 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 …

Archi-Comics, Timothy Gatto

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Humor in architecture is not at the forefront of architect’s minds, this comes from architects need to be deemed serious. This way of thinking is what has backed architects up into a corner banal and stagnant architecture. Architecture is the art of context, everything in architecture is referential. Humor is foundationally the exact same way, the incongruity theory makes humor possible by putting a concept into context with things and finding contradictions in the process, thus developing a joke. Each of these arts, humor and architecture, are that of context and when architecture is delivered like humor, it points out …

(Not) Knowing, Jared Friedman

Theses and Dissertations

Jared Friedman’s work creates monuments out of banal common objects. Through acrylic paintings on- Astroturf, burlap, canvas, and upholstery fabric- he explores the ambiguity of the unremarkable, such as the condenser coils on the back of a refrigerator. In, (Not) Knowing, he parses the difference between knowing and understanding.

Two Churches, One Vision: Sacred Architecture As A Reflection Of Benedictine Values And Liturgical Reform, Katheryn Wethli

Obsculta

This piece compares the architecture of the worshipping spaces of Saint Benedict's Monastery's Sacred Heart Chapel and Saint John's Abbey Church; presenting how the worshiping spaces uplift their monastic communities’ Benedictine values and demonstrate their monastic call towards evangelizing the Gospel in the modern world, highlighting the liturgical reforms of the mid-20th century.

Women's Healthcare In Kenya, Anne Szymanski

Student Research Symposium

Research on the current healthcare that women have access to in Kenya and how the design of a facility can solve problems.

Haven Women's Shelter: Interior Design Promoting Equality, Safety, And Comfort, Sierra Martineau

Student Research Symposium

The objective of this project was to develop a concept that would not only enhance accessibility for occupants of a women’s shelter, but also create an environment where interior design fosters healing and comfort for its residents. The space was designed to cater not only to women but also their children and pets, offering all necessary facilities to meet the residents’ needs within the shelter’s premises.To create this vision, included in the space is a comprehensive set of amenities, including a therapy room with an onsite therapist, a medical room staffed by a qualified registered nurse, a daycare area for …

Dignity And Functionality In Affordable Housing Design, Olivia Wallentine

Student Research Symposium

The cost of housing across the United States is becoming a major issue that seems to be spiraling quickly out of control. The percentage of Americans who report that the availability of affordable housing is a major problem in their community is rising quickly, and it is becoming much more difficult for young adults to buy a home than in previous generations. The inability to afford housing, or anything beyond housing, has severe consequences across society. These include but are not limited to poverty, homelessness, poor public health, economic decline, population decline, high crime rates, and low education rates.Affordable housing …

Villanueva Community Garden Center: Green Building Design For Low-Income Communities, Landry Cazier

Student Research Symposium

Located in Villanueva, New Mexico, this LEED-certified community garden center is designed to be a place for the community to flourish. Designed to aid the community’s low-income and harsh environment, this garden center provides a place for residents to garden. Constructed from rammed earth, this structure implements a sustainable design that is both good for the environment and its surrounding economy.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Ingram, James Maurice, 1905-1976 (Sc 3672), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3672. Photographs (black & white, one color) of churches, schools, a library, a residence, and a business complex, presumably all designed by Louisville, Kentucky architect James Maurice Ingram. The residence and some of the church photographs are unidentified.

"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 …

Capturing Interiority, Paramita Atmodiwirjo, Yandi Andri Yatmo

Interiority

The idea of interiority is manifested in various forms, emerging through subjective modes of engaging with space and place, personal experiences, and ways of seeing. Simultaneously, interiority is also manifested in physical entities that act as traces of inhabitation. This issue of Interiority presents a collection of inquiries that attempt to capture the traces of interiority in different everyday contexts using various modes of inquiry and representational media. They demonstrate how the idea of interiority could be captured through everyday images, the presence of objects in space, locality narratives, and spatial arrangements of inhabited space.

Theory Follows Photography: The Evolving Gaze Of Denise Scott Brown, Pablo Meninato

Interiority

Throughout history, architects have communicated their ideas through writing, drawing, model-making, speculation, and built work. Photography, which appeared in architecture books at the beginning of the 20th century, was mostly considered to be ancillary to the written word. A recent exhibition of photographs by Denise Scott Brown at Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia during summer 2021 demonstrates the possibility of another creative and intellectual path for the medium. Photography simultaneously serves as a precedent and catalyst for architectural and urban thinking and theory. This article aims to examine the relationship and continuity between Scott Brown's photographs and …

To Find A Seat: Tracing The Ideoscape Of Seats In The Pathars’ Lifeworld In Penang, Sanjeh Kumar Raman, Safial Aqbar Zakaria

Interiority

This article examines the roles taken by seats in the buildings that form the lifeworld of Pathars—traditional Tamil goldsmiths—as an ideoscape following their migration to Penang during the British colonial period in the 19th century. This study used a phenomenological ethnography method to bring Pathars’ lived experiences with their physical environment to the forefront, highlighting the subjectiveness of architecture that shapes their lifeworld. The ideoscape of seats is analysed in themes to examine the power and politics of seats in the Pathars’ lifeworlds, including present-day migrant workers. To find a seat is a metaphor that elicits discussion on Pathars’ existential …

Spatial Dialogues Between Exhibited Interiors And Cultural Exteriors: How Local Museums Connect To The Community, Nuttinee Karnchanaporn, Chanida Lumthaweepaisal

Interiority

Local museums can no longer simply wait for visitors to come and see their exhibited interiors. They are tasked with community engagement and cultural continuity. They must remain relevant to their communities, but how? Recently, local museums, especially those promoting local history, have struggled to relate to rapidly changing and diverse communities. To ensure museums are community-centred spaces, this research suggests that their spatial components need rethinking. While exhibitions in local museums should be designed through a collaboration and co-creation process between museum staff and locals, semi-outdoor and exterior spaces could be organised to host community gatherings, cultural events, and …

Interiority In Sade Village Indigenous Corridor, Astrid Kusumowidagdo, Melania Rahadiyanti, Tri Noviyanto Puji Utomo

Interiority

This study aims to find and define interiority as an initiative to preserve culture and traditions in Sade Village, Lombok Island, a tourist area in Indonesia. This study adopted qualitative research with the case study method, recording several data sources through field observation, literature studies, archives, and in-depth interviews with community leaders. This study identifies the typology of areas that create psychological, form-based, atmospheric, and programmatic interiority (Teston, 2020) in various configurations. This study found the types of interiorities in Sade Village that contribute to the corridor’s uniqueness, visitors’ feeling of insideness, and the area’s maintenance. Five categories of interiority, …

Work From Home: Lessons Learned And Implications For Post-Pandemic Workspaces, Beth L. Mcgee, Ryan J. Couillou, Kristjan Maalt

Interiority

The experience of working from home (WFH) has evolved due to the COVID-19 response. A concurrent mixed-methods approach was used to assess the experiences and needs of WFH during COVID-19 pandemic across eight countries. Input concerning office workspace modifications was also explored. Participants (n = 82) were from Asia, Europe, and North America. Participants were working from home more and indicated they were somewhat satisfied with WFH and saw no change in productivity. The most common experience was feeling distracted while others experienced focus or calmness. Most participants were challenged by the lack of appropriate furniture and equipment, as …

Adaptability In Interior Space: Public Housing For Lower-Middle Income Group In Dhaka, Dilruba Yasmin, Farida Nilufar

Interiority

This research examines the spatial characteristics of domestic spaces, their use, and adaptations to analyse their changing morphology. It also examines inhabitants' preferences and requirements for the functional utilisation of the interiority of dwellings. Fifteen apartments in Dhaka were analysed to compare the initial design with the later modifications by occupants. The research followed an ethnographical method to depict the lives and experiences of individuals. The research has identified significant changes in activity zoning and their pattern, thus creating a new spatial organisation of the house that is different from the original design. Activity analysis reveals that most spaces are …

Crafting Community: A Ceramics Center, Nadia Mechboukh

Theses and Dissertations

For artisans, being part of a community can facilitate engaging with the public. Networking and collaborating with peers are vital for building meaningful relationships that can lead to mutual inspiration and learning opportunities. By strengthening the connection between society and various forms of craft, we can weave invisible threads that link the stories that craft tells with the time and place in which they were created. Pottery is a craft that has existed for thousands of years. Ceramics and clay have carried the history of communities and their ways of living through centuries and have been used as identifiers of …

From Silence To Forte: Developing An Inclusive Space For Persian Musicians To Flourish, Sholeh Salimi

Theses and Dissertations

Music serves as a reflection of culture and conveys various emotional and intellectual states, such as a nation's perspective, social attitudes, and historical background. However, the Iranian revolution in 1979 led to the ban of music by the new regime, limiting the output and audience for Iranian music. In addition, the emergence of Western music accessibility through technology posed challenges for traditional Persian music, and the government's restrictions on music further compounded the problem. To support and advance the preservation and dissemination of Iranian music, this study aims to explore how an interior designer can create a space that enables …

Sconce Upon A Time: Evaluating Multimodal Methods Of Researching Period Lighting Technology, A Case Study Of Drayton Hall, Neale Elizabeth Grisham

All Theses

This thesis reviews several methods of researching light sources and lighting schemes from the “long eighteenth century,”[1] on a historical site. Despite the period’s cultural reliance on lighting as well as technological advancement in this era, there has yet to be published documentation on how to engage with evidence of lighting technology on historic sites for better understanding of the site’s relationship with lighting.

Using Drayton Hall in Charleston, South Carolina as a case study, this thesis outlines and demonstrates the process of five methods of investigating period lighting technology. These methods are: wall investigation, anchorage points comparison and …