An exploration of the decline of human empathy and whats aspects are important to include in design in order to see social change.
This creative project book details a year of research and design projects centering portrayals of asexuality in fiction, culminating in a virtual reality senior exhibition. It addresses how current popular media desexualizes and alienates asexual characters, and details ways that we can start to change this by crafting better media role models. Interspersed in this discussion is a reflection on my senior graphic design experience, putting on events in a virtual environment.
Invasive species are non-native plants or animals that harm the environment, economy, and even human health. These species are introduced to new environments where they have no natural predators or competitors to keep them in check. As a result, they grow and reproduce quickly, outcompeting and displacing native species. Invasive species can also damage crops, infrastructure, and property, leading to significant economic losses. Moreover, some invasive species can carry diseases that can affect human health. As the leading cause of biodiversity loss according to the IUCN Red List, controlling and preventing the spread of invasive species is critical to protecting biodiversity and maintaining a healthy environment.
This dissertation examines Nightingale’s contributions to the development of the nascent field of healthcare interiors by: identifying major developments of healthcare interiors through the centuries; investigating Nightingale’s life, work, and principles on the healthcare environment; and examining whether certain contemporary hospital design approaches support, expand upon, or negate her principles. The research integrates material culture analysis of extant objects and content analysis of documents within the framework of a case study of two healthcare facilities in Tucson, Arizona.
Findings show that the Nightingale era was seminal in the evolution of the healthcare environment, with key developments towards healthful interiors for the sick. Wide adoption of hospital design guidelines suggested by Nightingale—emphasizing physical elements such as ventilation, natural light, view, sanitization, and ambiance—occurred in various types of healthcare facilities, including military and tuberculosis sanatoria around the world. Additionally, analysis of the case study shows just how welcoming and supportive a 1920s healthcare facility, like the Desert Sanitarium, can be. The facility successfully adapts Florence Nightingale’s principles to the local climate and context, including indigenous pueblo architecture, traditional
Southwestern materials, Native American artifacts, desert views, and even the traditional courtyard plan used by Spanish colonial settlers. This successful adaptation suggests that Nightingale’s principles may be valuable to and relevant within different places and times, even today.
Thus, Nightingale contributed to the emerging field of healthcare interiors by: 1) functionally organizing the built environment affecting patients’ healing, 2) preventing healthcare-associated infection in the physical environment, and 3) supporting psychological health with aesthetic amenities. The findings advance interior design scholarship, education, and practice; and further the documentation and explication of Arizona’s history in the healthcare environment.
Place and memory are strongly intertwined based on the human experience. So what can a new place become in the mind of an individual who has garnered distressing perceptions of one’s current environment due to trauma? How can the environment support or facilitate periods of transition caused by a traumatic event? The aftermath of abuse that occurs in romantic relationships of late adolescence leads to a rocky crisis stage that often results in isolation, loss of identity, and social stigma. It is a period of transition in which recovery can be a long journey. This is where concepts of acceptance, mental alleviation, and appreciation of the present moment evoked by a nonjudgmental architecture can come into play. A space with the purpose of evoking a mental and emotional respite is of great need, especially when considering the current severity of today’s fast paced society. An architecture of this nature holds relevance and importance on campuses of higher education when considering the specific demographic. In order to reverse the perception of one’s surroundings as tarnished spaces and override the sensations to which distrust and exhaustion have claimed ownership, this center of healing should be integrated into an individual’s life as a facilitator of comfort. In short, it should provide the ability and opportunity to take a breath.
The Intermission is a healing space located at Arizona State University in Tempe, specifically where Forest Mall and Orange Mall meet. Abuse in intimate relationships is the most prevalent amongst college-aged individuals and those of late adolescence. This architecture exists specifically for the survivors of this particular traumatic experience, but welcomes all of the student body. It takes into consideration the general sensory overload placed on today’s youth who are existing in a specifically stressful and challenging developmental phase of life. The intention lies in eliciting a reprieve through the use of nature as an enclosure and an undulating platform as a labyrinth, which ultimately offers up a positive form of both a sensory and traversing experience. It offers the discovery of stimuli that users are able to easily adapt to and appreciate. It allows for and calls one to take part in deceleration. The goal is to bring the users to the awareness of themselves, their surroundings, and that of the present moment through spatial means. With this, the environment is able to support and facilitate a period of transition through the re-building of identity and memory. Ultimately, The Intermission is architecture as pause from a harsh and sometimes unforgiving life. It is an in-between moment for the in-between individual— an alternate, but necessary route (as well as pit stop) in the loop of daily life.