My Thesis aims to redefine the concept of assisted living by integrating long-term intergenerational living environments that foster connection, purpose, and community. This approach prioritizes spaces that enable older adults to age with dignity and autonomy while promoting meaningful interactions between generations. By merging care, community, and inclusivity, it enhances the well-being of all residents.These environments are designed to break down age-related segregation and encourage mutual support through shared spaces and activities. They leverage universal design principles and community-based resources to support diverse needs. Ultimately, the goal is to create vibrant, equitable living environments where aging is seen not as decline, but as a continued opportunity for growth, contribution, and belonging.

What are you drawn to in the city and why? This thesis applies an interiors lens to the built environment, bringing out qualities of place that foster belonging, create a comfortable and engaging atmosphere, and allow us to feel a sense of attachment. In particular, I am interested in spaces that serve as the backdrop to our everyday lives, whether we acknowledge them directly or not. Our experience walking from one place to another through the urban fabric is fluid, even between our typically defined borders of indoor and outdoor. Introducing interventions to sites around Philadelphia with existing atmospheric and social potential demonstrates how inherently simple elements can transform space into place. This thesis draws from theories of urban design, third place, place attachment, and atmosphere to explore what is extraordinary in the mundane.

This thesis explores the recent rise of American immigration to Mexico City. In response to shifting housing access and cultural displacement, this thesis proposes a transitional co-living space that supports both incoming American immigrants and Mexican locals through intentional community building. Drawing on J. Macgregor Wise’s concept of territorialization through habit, the project considers how built space can help new American immigrants establish routines, maintain identity, and develop a sense of belonging in a new cultural context. This space features rent-controlled units for locals and an American-style diner, designed to foster a shared experience, cultural exchange, and mutual respect. Food plays a central role as a familiar anchor and a tool for connection—bridging memory and place, and creating opportunities for interaction between residents and the wider community. Booths and Borders reimagines migration not as isolation, but as an opportunity to build lasting, place-based community.

As global travel experiences a resurgence, popular destinations increasingly face challenges from overcrowding, affecting both local communities and natural environments. This project proposes a sustainable hospitality model inspired by slow tourism, emphasizing thoughtful, sensory-rich experiences that reconnect guests to the landscape and local life. Northwestern Stables exemplifies this approach by prioritizing community-driven activities, environmentally conscious practices, and meaningful interactions. Through collaborative partnerships with local organizations and farms, the model fosters authentic connections and promotes responsible travel choices. The integration of wellness, local agriculture, and immersive workshops creates unique opportunities for visitors to pause, reflect, and engage more intentionally with their surroundings. By gently dispersing visitors into less-explored areas and involving community stakeholders directly in tourism initiatives, this approach transforms over-tourism’s challenges into opportunities. Ultimately, the project aims to benefit both guests and residents, enhancing quality of life, preserving local identity, and promoting environmental stewardship through conscious design.

As global travel experiences a resurgence, popular destinations increasingly face challenges from overcrowding, affecting both local communities and natural environments. This project proposes a sustainable hospitality model inspired by slow tourism, emphasizing thoughtful, sensory-rich experiences that reconnect guests to the landscape and local life. Northwestern Stables exemplifies this approach by prioritizing community-driven activities, environmentally conscious practices, and meaningful interactions. Through collaborative partnerships with local organizations and farms, the model fosters authentic connections and promotes responsible travel choices. The integration of wellness, local agriculture, and immersive workshops creates unique opportunities for visitors to pause, reflect, and engage more intentionally with their surroundings. By gently dispersing visitors into less-explored areas and involving community stakeholders directly in tourism initiatives, this approach transforms over-tourism’s challenges into opportunities. Ultimately, the project aims to benefit both guests and residents, enhancing quality of life, preserving local identity, and promoting environmental stewardship through conscious design.

Food brings people together—but the spaces where we gather to eat tell stories, too. This thesis explores the intersections of food, architecture, and sensory design, focusing on how dining environments can express regional identity and terroir. Terroir—often associated with wine—refers to the interplay of environment, tradition, and human craftsmanship that gives food and drink their distinctive character. It reflects how land, climate, and culture shape not only flavor but also the spaces in which food is prepared, shared, and celebrated. Drawing on research in foodways, regional architecture, and sensory experience, this project investigates the shared values of food and architecture—craft, materiality, and connection. It proposes that dining spaces should reflect terroir by embedding environmental and cultural narratives into their design. Through features such as sensory tasting rooms, edible gardens, and areas for preservation and production, the project envisions immersive environments that deepen our relationship to food and place—celebrating not only what we eat, but how, where, and with whom we gather.

Food brings people together—but the spaces where we gather to eat tell stories, too. This thesis explores the intersections of food, architecture, and sensory design, focusing on how dining environments can express regional identity and terroir. Terroir—often associated with wine—refers to the interplay of environment, tradition, and human craftsmanship that gives food and drink their distinctive character. It reflects how land, climate, and culture shape not only flavor but also the spaces in which food is prepared, shared, and celebrated. Drawing on research in foodways, regional architecture, and sensory experience, this project investigates the shared values of food and architecture—craft, materiality, and connection. It proposes that dining spaces should reflect terroir by embedding environmental and cultural narratives into their design. Through features such as sensory tasting rooms, edible gardens, and areas for preservation and production, the project envisions immersive environments that deepen our relationship to food and place—celebrating not only what we eat, but how, where, and with whom we gather.

While digital work culture can keep us tethered to enclosed indoor environments, working spaces emerge as a unique opportunity to reimagine the workplace experience. This thesis explores how indoor-outdoor architecture can be integrated into work environments to promote wellness, productivity, creativity, and foster a deeper connection to nature. By blending built environments with natural elements, the design aims to evoke the openness, calm, and restorative qualities we associate with the outdoors. Drawing on principles of nature-inspired design, this research investigates how elements such as daylight, greenery, water features, natural ventilation, and natural materials can shape more human-centered workspaces. The thesis proposes a coworking model that redefines the modern workplace—transforming it into a dynamic, inclusive, and rejuvenating ecosystem aligned with the evolving values of contemporary work life.

The dominant approach in contemporary design emphasizes standardization and efficiency. Sadly, this often overshadows or destroys the unique character and history of buildings. In contrast, this thesis proposes a design ethos that embraces the patina of wear and the feeling of material authenticity. Rather than erase imperfections or overwrite the past, it engages the tactile evidence of time: layers of paint, repairs and alterations made over time, strange patches and conjunctions of materials, and traces of age and use.  Intervention is not seen as a disruption, but as a continuation: a gesture in response to existing conditions. In particular, handmade materials carry the presence of their maker and enter into dialogue with the building’s embodied history, deepening the sense of place and presence. Tool marks, joints, brushstrokes - these become signs of life, not flaws to be corrected. By honoring these imprints—of both time and human labor—this thesis work resists the notion of a finished or perfected space. Instead, it celebrates the building as a living surface, continually shaped by time, use, and care.

In the face of escalating displacement, the global refugee population has surged from 117.3 million in 2023 to 122.6 million in 2024—a startling figure underscoring the urgent need for safe and inclusive environments. Refugees, particularly children, face profound psychological and emotional challenges as they navigate loss, uncertainty, and the demands of cultural integration. This thesis explores how thoughtful design can transform temporary shelters into spaces of healing, safety, and community, especially for displaced children. My thesis envisions environments that foster belonging, empowerment, and resilience through child-centered play areas, educational spaces, communal gardens, and cultural retail zones. By integrating sustainable materials, spaces for cultural expression, and opportunities for economic engagement, the aim is to create pathways toward hope and healing. This project investigates how architecture and interior design can support displaced communities, asking: How can design cultivate a sense of home and community for those who have lost both? And can these spaces serve as catalysts for healing and empowerment amid profound adversity?

Public interior space is crucial to the development and support of communities. It supports civic engagement by providing spaces for connection, activity, and reflection leading to deeper belonging to and stewardship of one’s community. In public space, the transitional non-programmed spaces can create greater opportunity for a wide range of uses and interaction between diverse users. However, public space is unequally invested in. Socio-economic status, as well as race and gender have a huge impact on how public spaces are shaped. Public space should be equally accessible and supportive for all communities. I began this project considering my own experience of public spaces, and how they supported or failed to support me and my community. I am interested in how public interiors can be repurposed to support connection and activity, creating space that is approachable, inclusive, and can be community defined, supporting democracy and the fabric of our cities.

In today’s fast-paced world, many young adults entering a new stage of independence experience heightened anxiety and isolation from their surrounding communities. My thesis explores how interior environments can support this transitional period by fostering emotional well-being and a sense of belonging. Focusing on post-college adults, my design prioritizes comfort and familiarity by drawing on residential cues that evoke the feeling of home. This approach creates a gentle, welcoming atmosphere that reduces the psychological barriers often associated with social spaces. Rooted in the principles of slow architecture, the design encourages users to move at their own pace, absorb their surroundings, and engage mindfully. Flexible zones accommodate varying comfort levels, offering options for solitude, casual interaction, or deeper connection. By creating spaces that feel safe, nurturing, and intuitively navigable, this project aims to bridge the gap between isolation and community and support mental health through thoughtful, human-centered design.

When one emigrates to another country in search of better opportunities, it often comes with a sense of loneliness and anxiety, as they must start from scratch, leaving behind their friends and family, and adapting to a new culture with minimal support. In such a context, having a strong, united community becomes essential to help immigrants navigate the difficult initial months and adjust to their new reality. Latinx immigration has increased in recent years, doubling the number of immigrants between 2000 and 2022, growing from approximately 130,000 to 252,400. As a result, 22% of Philadelphia’s population is Latinx (Philadelphia Research and Policy Initiative, 2024). Despite this growth, there are few spaces where the Latinx community can come together, connect with their roots, and create meaningful interactions that foster a sense of belonging and cultural pride. As a designer, I am motivated to address this gap by focusing my work on helping create a consolidated and united Latinx community. My goal is to design spaces where immigrants can feel at home and find support, allowing individuals to connect with their emotions, strengthen their identity, and feel supported as they adapt to a new country and reality.

Tourism in cities has increased worldwide, leading to cultural commodification and the displacement of local residents due to increased living costs and a saturation of short-term rentals. How can cities cultivate spaces that serve their residents while also allowing travelers to visit more mindfully? Drawing inspiration from Albergo Diffuso, an Italian concept which disperses hotel accommodations and programming throughout a small village, this project aims to create a new model for hospitality and urban planning. Using Charleston, South Carolina, as a prototype, tourists are integrated into the city's fabric through homestays with locals, keeping long term residents, now also homeowners, within city limits. This hospitality model integrates local businesses and accommodations within a one-block radius, so locals can stay local, and tourists can experience a curated authentic visit. Through this approach, my thesis presents a scalable framework for cities facing similar challenges, ultimately reimagining tourism to actively support locals rather than displacing them.

Black oppression is spatial, as it has always involved exposing us to harmful environments or denying us spaces for healing. To express ourselves, to take up space, and to move freely—to be, in whatever way we choose—is to resist that oppression. In response, Black leaders throughout history have created meaningful spaces that sustain our communities. These spaces often subvert traditional architectural limits, instead pursuing healing, liberation, and joy through their own design logic.

Sound and movement are central to these spaces, giving them vibrancy and expanding their meaning beyond their structural limits. In pursuit of Black joy, this project examines the sounds, motions, and creativity that shape Black spaces, and re-imagines them as architectural elements. In doing so, it transforms the built environment for our community's benefit.

This thesis proposes a new model for affordable housing that supports long-term financial growth by allowing residents to pay reduced rent while advancing their careers. The design prioritizes economic mobility, giving tenants the time and space to focus on professional development and save money—ultimately enabling them to leave the housing program with higher incomes than when they entered. The project is built on three key principles: first, that people should be able to prosper financially without leaving their home communities; second, that affordable housing must provide comfortable, spacious living units to support resident wellbeing and foster community; and third, that amenities should not be viewed as luxuries, but as essential responses to resident needs. Amenity spaces are intentionally integrated throughout the design to offer meaningful support and enhance quality of life. This model reimagines affordability as a foundation for upward mobility, not just as a measure of cost.

Individuals experiencing homelessness exist in a dichotomy that is enforced by stereotypes and manifests in a limited scope of services, even in major metropolitan cities like Philadelphia. Homeless vs. Housed – it is a distinction that dictates the types of environments people can, or should, inhabit. For individuals experiencing homelessness, shelter is not the only solution. Spaces for the in-between, that are designed for a population in transition in order to help them heal, establish stability, and create networks within their communities, are missing. This project aims to bridge this gap through the design of an interconnected network of third spaces designed to support and empower individuals experiencing homelessness at three scales: individual, group, and community. Spaces that treat all people with dignity and respect, meeting people where they are currently instead of waiting for them to navigate crises alone, is an essential first step to fostering stronger, healthier, and more inclusive communities for all. 

As society gradually emerges into a post-pandemic world, the significance of third places and their absence within communities has become increasingly evident. These spaces, separate from the first place of home and the second place of work, play a vital role in providing sociability and a sense of security for individuals seeking respite from their daily routines. The demand for spaces that cater to creative professionals or foster simple hobbies has risen, as they have been proven to have positive impacts on people's overall well-being. Moving forward, how can we adapt cities and bring back the valued third places that may have closed during the pandemic? Can this be achieved through the inclusion of accessible creative spaces, such as rehearsal studios or music rooms? Or is there a way to bridge the gap between creatives and the surrounding community through residency programs that provide safe environments to foster collaboration and mutual growth? Conceptualizing these spaces and implementing them on various scales throughout the city, showcasing the diversity from towering skyscrapers to initiate rowhomes, can help reflect on the distinct characteristics and needs of different neighborhoods within the urban landscape. By embracing these approaches, cities can revitalize third places, promote community connections, and nurture a thriving creative ecosystem that benefits individuals and the city as a whole.

Empathy is the action of understanding and being aware of others' experiences. The word empathy directly translates from German as "in feeling." This definition of empathy is the process of projecting into another person to understand them fully. This is the starting point for empathetic design. Empathetic design is a design strategy that aims to understand the lives and experiences of users through immersion and then apply that understanding of the user throughout the design process.

This thesis employs empathetic design practices and strategies for well-being by focusing on spaces that enhance feelings of connection, comfort, and belonging. The Nest is a community center for mothers that utilizes these concepts. It is a nurturing environment for mothers that aims to bring mothers together in a healing environment that gives them space to focus on their well-being.

Throughout our lifetime we encounter and participate in a variety of different communities. As children, we often formed our relationships through where we lived and went to school. Young adults, in their choices about college and early career, often for the first time are faced with questions about how to find meaningful communities. These choices are challenging, especially if they involve moving to a new city, working remotely, or otherwise stepping out of familiar situations. I am interested in bridging the connection to community between childhood and adulthood. Roger Hart said, “When children have the freedom in space and time to play with one another, they find ways to pass on their culture to peers through games, song, and dance, but also to transform it…Play with peers is extremely important to social, moral and emotional development. In free play, children learn to understand others and to develop skills of cooperation, sharing and caring.” This suggests that play is an important component in building community even as we grow older. My thesis aims to reimagine the meaning of play in a community that values hybrid work, through the exploration and implementation of third places inspired by the culture in Philadelphia, for Generation Z within a vertical community. The spaces strive to support the new and unique lifestyle while considering how it might be facilitated to aid young people in learning the interactions that shape community.