Experience: Where Interiority and Technology Coexist

Our world is ever-changing, and thus, design changes with it. Technology reigns supreme in our society, and as both evolve, our world is transforming to become temporary, especially in terms of the built environment. The coalescing of built space and technology are spilling over into various cultural outlets to create interactive environments in places such as museums, festivals, events, and even retail shopping. As technology continues to evolve, its influence on interior design continues to grow and morph from place to experience. More specifically, creating experience through non-permanent built spaces is especially interesting because it shows the power of design through the impression it leaves; spaces are able to affect viewers in mere seconds. This study will explore the development of experience through the intersection of technology, temporary installations, and interiority.
Through the research of the temporary built environment, technology and experience, in addition to the relationship between the three, a better understanding of how the interior design can shift to accommodate our changing society and desire for ephemeral experiences were developed. Pop up installations and events were studied to understand not only how they are designed and built within existing environments, but also to learn about the impressions they leave on viewers. Furthermore, social media trends in relation to the temporary environments have been observed to understand their influence on design. This means of communication has added a layer of complexity to these experiences and how they are now inherently connected to cater to the desires of Millenials and Centennials. Technology-based research will be necessary to then explore in a creative project how both interiority and technology relate to create experiences.

Ultimately, two creative projects were developed, which demonstrate the relationship of technology and interiority in the creation of experiential environments, by constructing two interactive design-build pieces. This was done through the combination of theory and creative project, or praxis, which highlighted existing research and explored new applications for use in the world of interior design.

The research in this thesis has two main components: the study of interior environments, especially those created as pop-ups, and also the study of technology along with its relationship to the built environment and human interaction. For the technology component, different interactive technologies have been explored by learning how to write code in order to use an Arduino system and python language to manipulate light, sound, and projection. As a result, two interactive light pieces were created which harnessed the power of technology to transform the built environment into a memorable experience.