Our physical environment affects our ability to function on a cognitive level. From sensory stimulation to light levels to a space’s ability to support a sense of community, our physical environment can either support our cognitive wellness or cause it to deteriorate. As we continue to scientifically advance as a species, or face more challenges of severe climate change, the rate at which we explore and encounter these extreme environments will continue to increase. This increase highlights the importance of understanding how to build and design environments that support people at the highest possible level. Whether it be space, the ocean floor, severely changed climates or, in the case of my thesis, the harshest land climate on our planet, the Antarctic, I believe designers have a unique opportunity to create spaces that allow people to not just simply survive, but to thrive. My thesis will explore how design can utilize research to create physical habitations that support cognitive function in one of the most extreme environments on our planet, Antarctica.

Discovering the emotional connections that people have to places can assist in creating habitats that people are drawn to and experience in a holistic way. Through research into rural community hardships, understanding how these issues may be mediated through place attachment, and emphasizing the specific experiential connection people have to natural surroundings, this thesis aims to enhance local commerce opportunities, bring awareness and positive experiences to the area, and incorporate connection to the land and surroundings. Utilizing local materials and resources helps realize the design intent to revitalize local architecture and highlight the beauty of historic structures.

Resettling into another country is never an easy task; how can we designers make displacement and the refugee crisis a design solution? This thesis proposes both temporary and permanent housing as part of a more robust, more sustainable solution. The Lake Van region of Turkey is a key area in the flow of refugees in the middle east, and this project proposes a combination of local materials and prefabricated units to provide housing and amenities for those on the journey to safety.

Working with a team of architecture, interiors, and real estate students, and collaborating with community stakeholders, this project focuses on expanding the capabilities of the mutual aid group, North Philly Peace Park. The site sits within a primarily Black and low income neighborhood and includes a community garden and rowhouse prototype for temporary housing. We wish to actualize the larger vision of Peace Park through architectural support in a way that meets physiological needs, invites commerce, allows knowledge exchange, and community healing so that residents can reclaim space, agency, and sense of place. The project would provide food, energy, shelter, Black self determination, and resilience that could hopefully be replicated throughout Philadelphia.

This project utilizes biodegradable and recycled materials in furniture design to reduce carbon footprints, while also addressing travel distances, manufacturing processes, and the forms of energy used for manufacturing. Additionally, information about the furniture elements and production processes will be made available in courses for the public, raising awareness for sustainable practices within furniture design.

Century-old buildings leave us to retell their stories through their materials, forms, and spaces. I created the phrase “perfectly imperfect” as a way of finding beauty when two materials and/or forms blend with existing materials to form a singular artifact that is perfectly imperfect. Using an estate of grand size and beauty, historic as it is, deserves a mission and purpose grander than its original one-family function. A “legacy of purpose” will be resurrected with this historic estate, honoring Helen Gould’s mission and values in how the estate should be repurposed, as a fashion and textile trade school for high school graduates. If she were alive today, she would want the estate to contribute to the greater New York City’s underserved youth in this way. Three beautiful buildings on this historic site will be greatly enhanced by these renovations and this relevant, contemporary mission.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.

Design of the Kiosk/Pavilion is generated at the intersection of 3 separate areas of work: 1) Biology, 2) Design and 3) Fabrication. The project explores use of Mycelium, Bacterial Cellulose with aluminum as the frame in a temporary structure.