Pandemics, climate crises, and sociopolitical upheavals disrupt traditional structures, leaving individuals and communities in prolonged states of uncertainty. Emotions are heightened, perceptions are altered, and memories may be distorted. These are moments of uncertainty, when past identity may not serve, and future identity is yet to be realized. In these moments, civilians rely on frontline workers for support and refuge. While they offer unwavering support to us during the crisis, who are the ones taking care of them? As frontline workers deal with multiple crises during their lifetime, they are in a constant state of liminality - caught between processing past experiences and confronting new challenges. Despite their critical role at the time of crisis, frontline workers frequently encounter substantial obstacles in accessing mental health support. The thesis explores how existing liminal spaces can be designed to offer a therapeutic environment to help frontline workers adapt to change, regain stability, re-discover their identities, and provide a space for the community in anticipation of future crisis events.

 Omnipresence means being in multiple places simultaneously. Screen-based tools are reshaping presence and embodiment by blending physical and digital realms; humans now exist in a phygital state. The digital age has absorbed many everyday embodied activities into virtual interactions, and in turn, people are bringing those virtual interactions into physical spaces. Historically, design has defined human activity within the physical environment—offices, for instance, facilitate work. Today, a smartphone can transform a desk into a retail store, a doctor’s office, or a family gathering. This thesis explores the omnipresent condition and examines how interior design can support phygital existence. Through a series of site and programmatic prototypes, it investigates design strategies that enhance the ease of phygital embodiment. Drawing from cinematic references, the thesis develops a material, aesthetic and detail approach that reflects today’s screen-based omnipresence and considers how interiors might better accommodate the fluid, multispatial nature of contemporary life.

Focusing on environments that support families undergoing long-term medical treatment, the project explores how spatial design can provide the structure necessary for stability during disruption while fostering warmth through materiality, sensory interaction, and emotional security. The idea of structure offers support and a sense of order, essential for families navigating complex and life-altering circumstances. Warmth, meanwhile, extends from material and color choices to encompass the emotional and psychological impacts of space, comfort, trustworthiness, and creating an environment conducive to healing and wellness. By merging these elements, the design aims to create a space that offers both practical support and emotional solace, contributing to a sense of rejuvenation and optimism.

Art is both an individual and social practice. Individual, in that privacy allows the artist to reflect, focus, and experiment freely. Social, in that shared spaces like galleries, studios, and performance venues facilitate interaction and connection. A balance of these two environmental conditions is the crux of optimizing creative flow. Artists will always create despite limitations; however, this thesis examines how refining access to live-work space can benefit artists and musicians, with a focus on integrating communal areas to foster stronger connections with neighbors, and flexible private studio spaces that prioritize artists’ individual needs. Through considered porosity of views and customizable furniture kits, the design strategy aims to create thresholds that encourage informal exchange and lateral learning—where ideas are shared across disciplines and experience levels. These design decisions promote a culture of collaboration and a sense of belonging, establishing the foundation for a vibrant and connected creative community

Addiction is not merely a personal struggle; it is shaped by environmental and social forces that often lead to isolation and weakened community connections. In recovery, fostering social relationships is crucial, as shared experiences encourage openness and lasting bonds. Digital communities also play a vital role, enabling individuals to build meaningful connections across distances while expanding support networks and perspectives. This thesis introduces a new model for addiction recovery centered on community, connection, and healing. By integrating inpatient and outpatient care, it fosters stability and continuity, helping individuals build lasting relationships while easing transitions between structured support and independent living. By integrating technology and thoughtful design elements—fostering familiarity, safety, and a sense of control—this model creates environments that feel hopeful and empowering, reshaping recovery spaces into places of growth and optimism.

Children's hospice care is dedicated to providing compassionate and comprehensive support to children facing life-limiting illnesses with a prognosis of six months or less. This thesis proposes a groundbreaking design concept for children's hospice care, prioritizing individualized care and emotional support through the integration of nature, flexible spaces, vibrant aesthetics, and holistic sensory elements. By creating a sanctuary where children can rediscover the joys of childhood, even in the face of serious illness, the design aims to nurture the well-being of every child while providing unwavering support to families and caregivers. The proposed concept seeks to transform hospice care into a place of joy, comfort, and positive memories for both children and their families, emphasizing holistic sensory wellness, community engagement, and compassionate design principles.

Exploring the relationship between humans and the environment by combining reflective materials and immersive design. This project focuses on how architectural/interior designs use reflective surfaces to transform spaces and explores the growing prominence of reflection in the human experience.  These surfaces' symbolic and illusionary aspects blur the traditional boundaries between internal and external characteristics. It can bridge the gap between the occupants and the surrounding space and is a spatial phenomenon that allows people to observe themselves in their surroundings. Moreover, reflective materials in interior spaces create engaging and immersive user experiences by taking advantage of our embodied cognition. These materials aid in the physical body’s complete immersion in its environment. By designing intuitive interfaces responsive to our physical experiences, we can create more dynamic spaces that reflect our embodied experiences. 

Clinical healthcare settings now place an emphasis on restorative and healing environments as a desired mode to curative care. This can be achieved through the incorporation of three foundational principles which promote healing within curative environments. The three foundational principles to achieve this include human connection to nature, place identity, and user-controlled experience. To successfully create curative and healing environments that help supplement conventional approaches to medicine, healing, and human well-being, is the direction I have explored in my Interior Design thesis. My thesis aims to define the opportunities behind creating a patient centric and patient controlled environment that promotes holistic approaches to medicine by bridging the gap between conventional medicine and alternative therapies. This investigation seeks to promote a curated and self-guided journey for both the patient and their support teams while carefully considering the treatment paths that each patient experiences. It is my goal to embrace the human connection to nature and the utilization of patient-controlled experiences to create a positive journey to healing.

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.

Is a life without anxiety possible? Many of us have grown accustomed to waking, working, and sleeping amidst anxiety. How can we shift from a constant state of anxiety to one where we occasionally experience anxiety but are mostly happy? Achieving a life without anxiety is possible when we liberate ourselves from the compulsive pursuit of specific goals and the sense of belonging they offer. It is important to understand who we are, cultivate a consistent sense of peace, and build genuine self-confidence. Nature plays a therapeutic role in promoting mental health by reducing activation in the amygdala, the stress-related brain area, and preventing mental disorders like anxiety and depression. My thesis will explore the possibility of a less anxious life by leveraging the therapeutic effects of natural environments and practices such as yoga and meditation. It will delve into how architecture, when embedded in the natural environment, can foster a closer bond between individuals and nature. This bond, supplemented by mindfulness practices, can alleviate anxiety, improve psychological well-being, enhance self-esteem and self-efficacy, and ultimately increase our happiness index, leading to a peaceful return to daily life.

Modern hospice care design is currently made up of four building typologies, including a wing within a hospital, a building connected to a hospital, an independent facility, and at home care. These current typology designs are deficient in the care of both their patients and their patients’ families and caregivers. There is a current culture of silence around death that can be read in these typologies and instead of making people feel at home, they produce undue stress, anxiety, and isolation. My thesis project challenges the current hospice care building environments by using architecture and design to improve end of life care experiences. My design will seek to enable and allow patients to live their life to the fullest through the engagement of the senses, creating a sense of home and community, and creating spaces that metaphorically and physically assist and guide patients and their families through this final journey.

While the benefits of access to nature for humans are well studied, our built environment instead tends to exploit and poison natural ecosystems. Regenerative design offers a solution by incorporating whole-systems thinking to restore, renew, and revitalize the resources and processes of our environment. This thesis utilizes regenerative design to create an Environmental Education Center that is beneficial to all stakeholders, especially the natural ecosystems in which a building lives.

Loneliness affects people of all ages, ethnicity, genders and occupations. It is a growing global issue, and has negative impacts on health and wellbeing. This thesis proposes to counteract loneliness by creating attachment to place through scent. By using scent to provoke memories of experiences, we can restore place attachment, which provides a sense of security and comfort. Designing for olfactory experience helps to cue vivid memories. Memories of scent are emotionally rich. The goal is to restore connections in design through scents, and create moments that evoke memories and nostalgia to alleviate loneliness.

Understanding the process & experience of recovery for substance abuse disorders, and how to design and visually represent an atmosphere of comfort, healing, and connection to nature in a rehabilitation facility.

Isolation and disconnect in cities and neighborhoods has been shown to decrease community engagement and cause a rippling effect that contributes to communities' economic instability, social issues, and environmental challenges. How can public community spaces bring people together to strengthen social bonds, encourage civic engagement, and promote the wellbeing and overall sustainability of neighborhoods?

This thesis explores the idea of place identity and its role in communities that have a focus on place-experience such as Disney or professional sports venues. Aspects to explore include the formation of community through social bonding and shared experiences, how narrative and storytelling help shape a community, and how these communities provide a healthy sense of escapism from everyday life through immersive experiences.

This thesis project will explore the relationship between light and aesthetics, comfort and mood. I aim to work with light, including temperature and luminosity, to enhance mood and create a sense of comfort in different spaces and times. I am especially interested in empathetic technologies that allow for dynamic adjustment of light based on individual preference and need.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.