Interior Design Commons^™

Shared Roots: An Examination Of The Interconnectedness Of Cultures And Nations Manifest Through Art And Design, Hannah Baldwin

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.— Robert L. Peters

The way that people influence their surroundings through art and design is a fascinating lens through which to view culture and history. Visual arts, including architecture, illustrate how cultures meld and shape one another’s histories and values as they come in contact. Pattern making, in particular, is found in every culture as a way of recording and making sense of the patterns of life. This project seeks to highlight the interconnectedness of cultures by examining the history and cultures of three European countries through the lens of …

Vacation Home Design, Megan Hall

Undergraduate Research Conference

A family of four requested a contemporary design for a 900 square-foot vacation home. Due to the husband’s limited mobility, the accessibility standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guided the design because the layout must accommodate a future wheelchair. The two sons requested a loft with a private bath for their sleeping quarters.

Paper Sculptures: Planes With Movement, Elizabeth Adams Thomas

P-12 Lesson Plans

In this art lesson for K-3 students will consider how flat planes can be combined to make interesting compositions in both two and three dimensions and practice building their paper sculptures from flat planes.

Undergraduate Educational Research Experiences In The Study Of Interior Design, Julia Virginia Pimentel Jiménez

Dissertations

Designers create social constructions (experiences and interactions) for human beings among themselves and with and within interior environments to enhance meaning in people´s lives (Poldma, 2011). Those social constructions are created through the design process developed by the interior designer; that process relies heavily on design research. Therefore, it is at the undergraduate level that the passion for research should start for interior design (ID) students. Faculty in ID programs need to encourage that passion by engage students in meaningful learning experiences such as how to ask questions about users, functions, activities, and aesthetics.

This study explored what types of …

Pattern Project - Emblems Of Colonialism - Thomas Day S-Curve, L.T Moon

Pattern Research Project

The Emblems of Colonialism project is a part of the broader Pattern Research Projects created by design history and design studio faculty members, Emily Smith and Dr. Sara Reed. Students in VCU Interior Design were asked to examine a pattern or motif used on a decorative object or surface during the colonial era in the Americas. During the 15th through 18th centuries, a period of colonialism forced new relationships between European countries and places in what is now known as North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. This project explores how colonial era patterns reveal power structures, othering, and the …

Pattern Research Project: Emblems Of Colonialism - Mudejar Bookcase, Hallie Gillespie

Pattern Research Project

The Emblems of Colonialism project is a part of the broader Pattern Research Projects created by design history and design studio faculty members, Emily Smith and Dr. Sara Reed. Students in VCU Interior Design were asked to examine a pattern or motif used on a decorative object or surface during the colonial era in the Americas. During the 15th through 18th centuries, a period of colonialism forced new relationships between European countries and places in what is now known as North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. This project explores how colonial era patterns reveal power structures, othering, and the …

Pattern Research Project: Emblems Of Colonialism - Lift-Top Chest, Emily Adams

Pattern Research Project

The Emblems of Colonialism project is a part of the broader Pattern Research Projects created by design history and design studio faculty members, Emily Smith and Dr. Sara Reed. Students in VCU Interior Design were asked to examine a pattern or motif used on a decorative object or surface during the colonial era in the Americas. During the 15th through 18th centuries, a period of colonialism forced new relationships between European countries and places in what is now known as North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. This project explores how colonial era patterns reveal power structures, othering, and the …

Pattern Research Project: Emblems Of Colonialism - High Chest, Stephanie Wilburn

Pattern Research Project

The Emblems of Colonialism project is a part of the broader Pattern Research Projects created by design history and design studio faculty members, Emily Smith and Dr. Sara Reed. Students in VCU Interior Design were asked to examine a pattern or motif used on a decorative object or surface during the colonial era in the Americas. During the 15th through 18th centuries, a period of colonialism forced new relationships between European countries and places in what is now known as North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. This project explores how colonial era patterns reveal power structures, othering, and the …

Hidden Gem: Realizing The Value Of Community In Healthcare Environments, Nicole Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Holistic approaches in healthcare address a problem from its root causes. The American healthcare model – both its treatment and distribution methods – is among the many issues that divides the nation. We have found ourselves with millions of uninsured people among a growing population where chronic illness is on the rise among adults and children, especially within low-income demographics (Goodman & Conway, 2016). Though this is a widespread epidemic, only recently has there been any effort to question and reform traditional healthcare.

The way that wellness is assessed in America has been detrimental to patient outcomes …

Dredge The Foundry | For Dirt And Era, Woody Stauffer

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Billions of years are past us and billions of years await. Shaping earthen material into sculptural abstractions is my way to sense and convey the lethargic natural progression of the planet. Fossilization, rot, dirt, plant growth, animal existence, and rust are aesthetics I endow with new perspectives and form through mold making and casting. The dichotomy between the eons of time behind us and the endless possibility of a technological future has inspired the addition of a science fiction aesthetic. To rust these computerized constructed geometric forms demonstrates how futuristic ideals will also wither away. In many ways we are …

Waterfall, Boen Dober, Lauren Mccraw, Damaris Brown, Anna Greenwood

Theory In Action 2020

In order to realize our concept, in the programming phase, we chose a wooden material as our stabilizing structure and a clear container to incapsulate the water and accurately reflect natural elements of a waterfall. Additionally we gathered faux greenery and rocks to create a lush setting for our focal point. During the schematic and design development phase, we sketched and proposed models for the overall construction. We then assembled the wooden structure with nails to provide a stable structure to support our continuation of floating wood stairs. Finally, a water pump inside the clear container of water ushered the …

Pinwheel, Caroline Berry, Mateo Umana, Erin Hodges, Grace Hubler

Theory In Action 2020

Once the movement portion of our project was determined, our team moved to the design development stage where we began to research and sketch out our ideas on paper until we came up with our final design. We decided to create a piece of work that would contain a considerable amount of different colored pinwheels made of construction paper that would attach to fishing wire hanging from a hula-hoop. Since the piece itself would take up a decent amount of space, we knew that we needed to have it in a space where there would be room to walk around …

Pop-Up Book, Rachel Eshbaugh, Nate Fisher, Grace Hansen, Samantha Carranza

Theory In Action 2020

For this project, we decided to implement the law of symmetry and continuity. We showed symmetry by choosing to have a book as our project, as a book has symmetry by opening and closing evenly on both sides. Another way we showed symmetry is by having a 3D symmetrical tree in the middle of the book when you open it. For continuity, we added handing yarn to the tree branches to show aligned elements perceived as grouped together.

Flower Bouquet, Ashley Powell, Krista Oskam, Sara Rye, Cassie Vangorder

Theory In Action 2020

When we started working with flower shapes, we realized we could work with Gestalt's principles of closure, continuation, and proximity. Starting with the concept of a flower vase this demonstrates Gestalt's principle of proximity. Starting with the concept of a flower vase this demonstrates Gestalt's principle of proximity. People group things together when they are close to each other and a flower bouquet is the perfect example of this. The second principle you see in our work is continuation. Continuation is the way our minds sees segments of a line as a continuous line. This is most commonly demonstrated in …

Dominoes, Morgan Rimmer, Amanda Mcnally, Alyssa Bausbacher, Jaedyn Werner

Theory In Action 2020

This project is inspired by the design of dominoes in the way they fall when they are knocked over. While this project is similar in the way they fall, we were able to make it in a more creative and fun way. First, the law of continuation is seen in the way the blocks are layered and continue in a straight path. Next, the law of proximity is important for our design to function correctly. Without close proximity with one another the blocks would not be able to fall as easily, nor would they be able to be pulled back …

Bell Tower, Jarod Sankar, Kathryn Crowder, Isabel Rivera, Zanna Trotter

Theory In Action 2020

In our project, we decided to focus and corner in on the laws of symmetry and figure-ground. We felt that these laws best fit our idea and look we had desired for our project based on our mind-map created at the beginning. The law of symmetry is the idea that we are compelled to group items together to create a symmetrically balanced design. The fascia and body of the tower is all symmetrical but has diffused light inside the glass tower that are not placed symmetrically. Our mind automatically sees the tower as symmetrical and disperses the unfocused light throughout …

Reclaiming Beercraft- A Sensory Experience, Zishan Zeng

Theses and Dissertations

The senses are mainly a source of arousal, enjoyment and pain and are of vital importance for the human body. They are also important because sensory perception is typical of many cultural artifacts and is given unique intensities and extensions, shapes and meanings through them (Heywood, 2017). As Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa stated, “architecture is the art of reconciliation between ourselves and the world, and this mediation takes place through the senses” (Pallasmaa, 2012). To make architecture truly meaningful, it should be able to awaken all the senses.

The way we feel, smell, and even taste is hard to capture. …

Design Hub: Activating Community By Design, Ed Williams

Theses and Dissertations

MOTIVATION

At the turn of the century, Robert Putnam (2000, 27) wrote “...a powerful tide bore Americans into ever deeper engagement in the life of their communities, but a few decades ago that tide reversed and we were overtaken by a treacherous rip current.” Putnam is describing a loss of “social capital” throughout American society. Research suggests that many of our contemporary issues are the result of a decline in “social capital,” or “community.”

This pervasive lack of community is thought to be detrimental to “educational performance, safe neighborhoods, equitable tax collection, democratic responsiveness, everyday honesty, and even our health …