Spotted: In Sub-Saharan Africa, almost 9 out of 10 children are unable to read and understand simple text by age 10. And, today, the cause of this learning gap is no longer enrolment, which has improved massively since the 1970s. Instead, the issue is the quality of education, with millions of children attending class but not learning effectively. This is often due to poor support for teachers and a lack of effective learning materials.
Edtech startup KAINO tackles this problem with a complete Early Childhood Development (ECD) mobile solution that leverages lesson guides, children’s workbooks, storybooks, and formative assessments that are aligned with a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) blended curriculum. These materials, which are targeted at early childhood education centres and parents, help children to learn how to read and write efficiently and can be delivered through mobile and web apps.
The company’s curriculum encompasses six distinct learning areas which are crafted to foster holistic development in children. A key feature of the organisation’s approach is that it eschews traditional educational paradigms to make learning not only effective but also enjoyable for every child. This includes a focus on encouraging children’s curiosity through hands-on learning that introduces them to technology in the context of their daily lives.
KAINO’s next steps include developing its content and technology integration, as well as completing pilot programmes, cultivating meaningful partnerships, and raising awareness of the company’s offering.
Springwise has spotted many educational tools aiming to help young people, like providing TikTok-style content to help young people understand finance or personalised online learning powered by generative AI.
A chair that can adapt over time and one fabricated with 3D-printed liquid metal are among the designs that students at MIT came up with for The Next 150-year Chair exhibition in collaboration with furniture brand Emeco.
In total five pieces were created for the exhibition, which was a collaboration between American furniture company Emeco and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to conceptualise sustainable furniture pieces.
Top: students were asked to design sustainable furniture. Photo by Jeremy Bilotti. Above: Amelia Lee designed a chair called The Wable. Photo by Amelia Lee
Called The Next 150-year Chair, the project was carried out via a course at MIT that guided students through a design process with access to Emeco’s manufacturing technology.
The prompt was based on Emeco’s 1006 Navy chair developed in 1944, which has a “150-year lifespan” according to the company.
“Today, a 150-year chair means making something that lasts a long time, which is a great thing to do,” said MIT associate professor Skylar Tibbits. “But the question is whether that will be the same for the next 150 years – should the goal still be to make things that last forever?”
“That’s one approach, but maybe there’s something that could be infinitely recyclable instead or something that’s modular and reconfigurable.”
The students took a variety of approaches to the prompt. Photo of Faith Jones’ Rewoven Chair
The students each took a different approach to answering the question, and the results featured a number of complete furniture pieces and components.
Masters student María Risueño Dominguez developed a furniture component based on longevity. Her research on furniture consumption and interviews with people involved in the furniture industry resulted in a concept called La Junta – a cast-aluminium joint with multiple different inserts shaped to fit a variety of components.
Plastics, textiles and metal were used for the designs. Photo of María Risueño Dominguez’s La Junta
Other designers took a materials-focused approach when addressing the prompt.
Amelia Lee, a student at Wellesley taking courses at MIT, developed a product made from a single sheet of recycled HDPE. Modelled on a rocking chair, the piece can be turned on its side to function as a table.
“This chair can last through childhood, from crawling around it to being able to turn it over and play with it,” said Lee.
Zain Karsan took a different approach by aiming to improve metal 3D printing technology for the frames of his chairs.
“This process is an alternative to the slow process rates of traditional metal additive manufacturing wherein molten material is dispensed at high speed in a bed of granular media,” said Karsan. “A series of chair typologies are presented as a proof of concept to explore form and joinery.”
The projects accounted for style as well as longevity. Photo of Zane Karsan’s Liquid Metal Design
Faith Jones wanted to create a product that did not sacrifice comfort in a search for sustainability. Her ReWoven chair is designed with an aluminium frame and a recycled cotton sling, weaving the fabric around the aluminium skeleton in a way that would allow for the removal and replacement of the cotton.
Finally, designer Jo Pierre came up with a product aimed at the changes that will likely come as cities grow and become denser. Called Enhanced Privacy, the product is a plastic partition designed for domestic spaces. The hanging sheet of plastic can be filled with water in order to block sound and diffuse light.
The students’ projects were exhibited at Emeco House, the company’s event space in Los Angeles in a converted 1940s sewing shop.
Other exhibitions that push the boundaries of sustainability and novel materials include one in Mexico in collaboration with Space10 with five uses for biomaterials.
MIT has released a number of conceptual designs addressing sustainability including a project that tests the capability of tree forks as load-bearing elements in architectural projects.
The photography is courtesy of MIT.
Project credits:
MIT: Jeremy Bilotti (Lecturer, Course Author), Skylar Tibbits (Director of Undergraduate Design), MIT Department of Architecture. Emeco: Jaye Buchbinder (Head of Sustainability, course lectures and reviews), Gregg Buchbinder (Chairman, course reviews). Exhibition design: Jeremy Bilotti, Jaye Buchbinder, Skylar Tibbits. Students: María Risueño Dominguez, Faith Jones, Zain Karsan, Amelia Lee, Jo Pierre. Course Support: Lavender Tessmer (Teaching Assistant), Gerard Patawaran (Photography), Bill McKenna (Fabrication Support)
A sweeping, tiled roof informed by the surrounding mountain ranges tops the Yong’an Community Hub in China, which has been designed by students from Tongji University in Shenzhen with architecture studio Archi-Union.
Referencing local structures and involving residents in its construction process, the rammed-earth, courtyard-style building provides a gathering space and residence for the Yong’an village’s more isolated upper area.
Shortlisted in the civic building category of Dezeen Awards 2022, Yong’an Community Hub forms part of an ongoing social welfare programme funded by Tongji University and led by Philip F Yuan, principal of Shanghai-based studio Archi-Union.
Archi-Union worked with Tongji University to create the community hub
“The villagers from the upper village often suffer from inaccessibility to transportation, and are living in strained circumstances,” said the project’s team.
“The majority have no space to interact with one another other than their working space, therefore building a community centre for the upper village [became] the main goal of the volunteer activity.”
Bordered by stone walls, the main building sits at the north of the site, with a smaller toilet block on the opposite side of a large courtyard. Both were built using rammed earth partially made from the red sandstone found near the site.
The building features rammed-earth walls
A run of wooden doors allows the main building to be almost completely opened to the courtyard, while a thin, letterbox-style window in its northwest corner frames views back towards the village.
The steel-framed, curving roof contrasts these traditionally-built rammed earth structures, using parametric design methods to create an undulating arc around the courtyard and minimising the use of non-standard components to make construction easier.
This roof shelters what the team describes as a “floating corridor”, an area of covered seating space that provides an area to dwell, watch performances or take in expansive views of the surrounding valley landscape.
“While retaining the functionality of the interior spaces, we tried to maximise the open public space as much as possible… from funerals to weddings or even daily socialising, the openness of space becomes the top priority to [the villagers],” said the team.
“The ‘floating corridor’ became a continuous yet fluid element that held the spaces together…to accommodate the low height of the entrance the roof was lowered, forming a starting point that ends when it meets the mountain slope.”
An undulating canopy wraps around the centre
Other projects on the shortlist for the civic project category of Dezeen Awards 2022 include a hospital in Myanmar by German practice A+R Architekten, which also drew on materials and typologies local to the area for its design.
Spotted: As anyone who has tried to learn from videos knows, it can be difficult to search, extract, and summarise important information – all while bouncing back and forth between the video player and a note-taking app. In response to this, Hari Subramonyam, a research professor at Stanford and two colleagues, Yining Cao from the University of California, San Diego, and Eytan Adar at the University of Michigan, have developed a new app called VideoSticker which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help students take notes from video lessons.
The app uses AI to automatically identify and trim objects out of video lessons and place them into a note-taking area. In addition to capturing images, VideoSticker also pulls in key text, aligning it with the imagery. This way, students can easily manipulate images and text and supplement those elements with their own explanations. As a result, the app turns the passive experience of watching a video into an active one, helping students to better engage with the material and retain information.
A preliminary user test of VideoSticker’s effectiveness was conducted using 10 graduate and undergraduate students. During the test, the students completed a 75- to 90-minute note-taking session of a biology class. The researchers reported positive feedback from participants, with particular praise to VideoSticker’s flexibility in navigating between notes and video content.
Next up, the team will partner with other educators to further evaluate and improve VideoSticker before making the tool fully available commercially.
With more and more people turning to videos for educational content, apps like VideoSticker could help to make the learning process easier and more efficient. Other education-based innovations we have spotted recently include an edtech app that lets students upload maths problems through their phone, as well as a platform for students with learning differences and a tool that identifies struggling readers sooner.
An LGBT+ community centre that caters to Seattle’s queer population and a peace centre in Homs, Syria, are included in Dezeen’s latest school show by students at the School of Visual Arts.
Also included is a fermentation centre that explores the world of microflora and its relationship to our wellbeing and a design for a new bookstore in China that marries biophilic principles with traditional Chinese architecture.
“The interior design senior thesis year at the School of Visual Arts Interior Design: Built Environments department is the culmination of a year-long self-directed exploration. Each student has driven and developed an adaptive-reuse project from site selection through concept development, interior design, programming and furnishings.
“Every project is unique and tackles real-world issues such as a residence for the Harbor School on Governors Island and a centre for philosophers in Homs Syria.”
Oryzae Village by Chloe Hyun Jung Park
“Fermentation is an under-appreciated metabolic process that humans have embraced for thousands of years. It is responsible for a wide range of items we consume including beer, yoghurt, kimchi and penicillin. In this project, Oryzae Village is a fermentation centre that explores the world of microflora and its relationship to our health and wellbeing.
“It consists of farms, shops, residences and various engaging workshop areas. Fermentation experts and artisans lead the centre to create an environment for teaching, learning, sharing while creating products items using fermentation.
“Oryzae Village aims to revitalise the local communities by encouraging foraging, growing, investigating, and learning about microbial processes – helping people achieve healthier lives and wellbeing.”
Student: Chloe Hyun Jung Park Course: Senior thesis Email: chloehyun021@gmail.com
Harbor Residence by Iris Junhong Lin
“Being a high school student in New York’s award-winning Harbor School often means having to endure extremely long commutes from various corners of the five boroughs. Located on Governors Island, the school is accessible only by ferry. Harbor Residence is a student dormitory for these dedicated pre-college students committed to maritime studies, research and careers.
“In this project, Harbor Residence aims to be much more than just a place to live – it will be a continuation of the school’s maritime culture. Students will to able to live, socialise, learn, work at the residence – becoming a centre for the Harbor School Community.”
Student: Iris Junhong Lin Course: Senior thesis Email: jlin28@sva.edu
Cove by Stella Hanbyul Suk
“The pandemic has forced us to rethink travel. Urban dwellers with limited access to natural environments have been unable to travel long distances to connect with nature. Local travel may be the new normal in our post-pandemic tourism landscape.
“Cove is a wellness and activity centre that provides a tranquil and restful place in a natural setting within a relatively short distance from the major urban centres of South Korea. It is designed for people to unplug and reset their daily lives, improving both mental and physical wellness through high sensory involvement in a setting that connects back to nature.”
“Alive Books is a new bookstore design in China. More than just a place to buy books, it is a gathering place where people can learn, communicate and exchange ideas.
“Marrying biophilic principles with traditional Chinese architecture, Alive Books aims to become the future of book retailers that will co-exist and survive the online bookselling landscape.”
Student: Difan Yang Course: Senior thesis Email: yang_difan@163.com
The Aurora by Ramey Yixuan Chen
“The Aurora is a hotel designed to maximize experiences of the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights. Auroras result from disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by solar winds – resulting in otherworldly displays of atmospheric lights of varying colour and complexities.
“Located in Oblast, Russia, the Aurora Hotel is situated in the Arctic Circle with a relatively mild climate (due to the warm ocean currents crossing this seaside town).
“Because of its extreme northern location, visitors will be able to experience the ‘Polar Nights’ – when the night sky extends for periods longer than 24 hours – giving them unparalleled access to seeing the Aurora Borealis. The design of the hotel will focus on maximising the beauty of this atmospheric phenomenon while connecting visitors to nature.”
“Queer is the new LGBTQ+ centre in greater Seattle. Located adjacent to the University of Washington, Queer will cater to the vulnerable LGBTQ+ population and reflect core values of diversity, inclusivity and freedom of identity.
“Constantly under pressure and attack, the LGBTQ+ community needs a place to gather, grow, organise, support, heal, defend and celebrate queer experiences and identities. Now, more than ever, with trans people being ostracised, and the legality of gay marriage being questioned, Queer will be a welcoming and open centre for the entire Seattle community.”
Student: Yearin ‘Rin’ Park Course: Senior thesis Email: rinparkinterior@gmail.com
Bayt Al Kul Philosophy Centre by Fuad Khazam
“Bayt al-Kul (house of the all) is a philosophy and peace centre in Homs, Syria that aims to play a major role in healing a divided society by challenging beliefs through discussions and conceptual analysis. After a ten-year war that divided the Syrian people, Bayt al-Kul will give the people of Homs a chance to listen and share one another’s views through philosophical debate.
“For centuries, Homs was a cradle for philosophical education and the birthplace of many historical philosophers who contributed to the world today. By re-discovering the ‘world of ideas’ Bayt al-Kul aims to help rebuild the unity and cultural commonality among the Syrian people.”
“Al-station is a live and work community dedicated to art school students marrying art studios with living space. Students from the New York City (NYC) area art institutions will be able to use Al-station as a place to live, study, work, create, show, play and gather.
“The space will serve as a hub for creative university students – nurturing the next artists and designers who are so important to the continued growth and vitality of NYC.”
Student: Eason Yixuan Du Course: Senior thesis Email: easondu09@gmail.com
Social Commune by Yangkai Lin
“Over the past 30 years, the China Government has instituted a programme of poverty alleviation that relocated millions of scattered families living in rural areas, moving them closer to cities to provide social services such as healthcare and education. This caused thousands of villages across China to become empty, creating a landscape of forgotten places. Many of these abandoned villages – dating back thousands of years – should be preserved, reimagined and reused.
“Social Commune is an experimental design project that focuses on adaptive reuse of these forgotten places: transforming originally residential buildings into a series of public buildings that celebrate the unique characteristics of the local village and community.
“Through a mixture of preservation and modern design, Social Commune will breathe new life into these underutilised structures and will become a model for rehabilitating rural areas throughout China.”
Student: Yangkai Lin Course: Senior thesis Email: ykstv21@gmail.com
Noah by Ekko Tianjuan Zheng
“Covid-19 has changed the world. Wuhan China – with a population of over 10 million – is thought to be the epicentre of the virus. With its own virus spread quickly under control, Wuhan is in a position to become a centre for viral studies – to help prevent such an epidemic in the future.
“Noah is an institute of virology in Wuhan. Located in an abandoned factory, an extensive renovation will transform it into a high-tech, unique, state-of-the-art research facility. Incorporating biophilic elements and principles, Noah will be an environment where science and nature come together, creating a laboratory and science centre for the 21st century.”
An aquarium designed to protect marine biodiversity and a healing centre using horticultural techniques to help treat mental illness are included in our latest school show by architecture students at the Academy of Art University.
Other projects include a “public living room” that blends neighbourhood life with areas for privacy and a residential hub designed to enable economic self-sufficiency for residents.
School:Academy of Art University, School of Architecture Courses: M.Arch M.Arch2 B.Arch MA and BA Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim, David Gill, Nicole Lambrou, Sameena Sitabkhan, Eoanna Harrison, Philip Ra and Mini Chu
School statement:
“We are a progressive design laboratory of highly passionate students and a distinguished faculty of practising architects who work together to explore the boundaries of architecture. Our interactive onsite and online studio experience harnesses digital tools to mentor students throughout our rigorous curriculum.
“We offer an excellent design education by developing each student’s capacity to synthesise critical thought, architectural vision, and technical comprehension. Our programmes engage with current global issues, empowering students to be change-makers and leaders advocating for social equity. Our diverse international community enables us to propagate a unique cultural response to build a better world.”
Outer Mission Ramp Library – a knowledge connector for rapidly changing communities by Yi Hsien Rachel Wang
“The typology of library buildings has evolved throughout history, reflecting the changes in information systems and learning activities. By combining social, functional and environmental benefits, the thesis is projecting a new sustainable library typology as a prototype for a public learning infrastructure.
“The main conceptual idea is to design the library as a continuous ramp, connecting previously separated areas in the diverse local city fabric. The architectural intervention shortens the neighbourhood’s physical and social distances by combining pedestrian bridges, casual and formal learning infrastructure as a public living room for residents to gather, work, exercise and entertain.”
Student:Yi Hsien Rachel Wang Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim
Self-generating Architecture: Pier 28 by Valeryia Haletskaya
“The design for a hybrid aquarium and research-development centre at Pier 28 on the San Francisco waterfront employs organic, metabolic and self-generating materials. Artificial organisms – protocells that in time grow into artificial limestone – help to decrease levels of carbon dioxide while reinforcing the existing structure and building its sea-wall reef, skeleton, and envelope.
“Researchers, students and visitors share spaces for learning, interaction, and collaboration. The scheme offers protection for marine species and enhances biodiversity. The living architectural intervention is aimed as a long-term solution for coastal cities and other areas at risk from storms surges due to climate change.”
Student: Valeryia Haletskaya Course: Master of Architecture Thesis M.Arch Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim
Outer Mix Investigating mixed-use development as a means to fostering a healthy year-round community on the Outer Cape by Christian Fish
“A lack of affordable, year-round housing has become an urgent crisis on Cape Cod, afflicting low and middle-income families depending on a largely seasonal economy. Outer Mix imagines a new residential, social and economic hub on a 10-acre area in the Eastham Corridor Special District.
“Organised into four blocks repeated throughout the site, 95 residential units are combined with nearly 30,000 square feet of economic and social programming. This includes artist studios, co-working spaces, cafes, a library, daycare and community greenhouse. This programme mix enables economic and sustainable self-sufficiency and a community for residents.”
Student: Christian Fish Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Nicole Lambrou
Eco-Tecture – Unifying Ecology with Architecture by Kevin Brady
“How can architecture enhance, improve and support educational and public awareness of the conservation and preservation of our local natural resources? Exposure and access to the elements of nature enliven the spirit, inspire curiosity, and encourages a ‘critical thinking’ response while promoting a healthy interactive lifestyle.
“This thesis seeks to determine how architecture could positively impact an ecological setting that strengthens community health, productivity, conservation and ecological awareness. This design approach engages user groups with the natural environment while preserving the ecological habitat.”
Student: Kevin Brady Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: David Gill
A Living Architecture by Aishwarya Naidu Bobbili
“This project is a healing centre incorporating earth and plants into its form and structure to create a holistic, sustainable space for wellness and rehabilitation. Farming, nature and architecture form a dialectic relationship. Horticultural techniques such as pleaching aid in the treatment of mental illness and serve as a therapeutic strategy.
“Located in Bakersfield, near Oil City in Kern County, California, the site is near the highest polluted city in the United States. The project aims to aid in healing people with a tranquil environment that incorporates sustainable and biophilic design.”
Student: Aishwarya Naidu Bobbili Course: Master of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Mark Mueckenheim
Unity Pavilion for Northridge Cooperative Housing by Naomi Rojas, Shunyi Yang, Dylan Ingle, Rhonuel Domingcil, Fabio Lemos, Corona Xiaohuan Gao, Malak Bellajdel, Kenta Oye, Jacob Delaney, Harikrishna Patel and Daniel Cervantes
“A design-build project by the B.Lab group, the pavilion fosters cooking, eating and storytelling within a community garden in the Hunters Point neighbourhood of San Francisco.
“Due to a lack of access to healthy, affordable food in the area, the pavilion integrates counters, benches, and a movable kitchen table for cooking demonstrations using produce directly from the garden, while a series of frames offer shade and a vista of the bay.
“The design was derived from several communities and youth workshops together with feedback from garden volunteers, and the pavilion was measured and tested on full-scale prototypes before construction.”
“The project investigates the relationship between the sacred and the political, and the role of the autonomous citizen therein. Sign-up sheets are simple yet contractual.
“Where public services are exchanged, they are activating devices bringing citizens together to achieve common goals. Sacred architecture has been a beacon of alternative governance by becoming places of refuge and political action.
“This thesis frames those events as distinct from the economic agenda of neoliberalism. Sign-Up Sheet reimagines the site with an urban sanctuary in San Francisco’s Tenderloin where non-profit staffs and community members live and work in a hub of collective activity.”
Student: Daniel Joonhee Lee Course: Bachelor of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Philip Ra and Mini Chu
Kid of Parts for the Bayview Commons Apartments by Adam Nuru, Markish Siojo, Dylan Ingle, Fabio Lemos, Xiaohuan Corona Gao
“Through a series of community events at the Bayview Commons Apartments, an affordable housing community in San Francisco, we learned that residents wanted an active, intergenerational, and flexible space that allowed for relaxation, interactive play and community events.
“Our final design incorporates a set of flexible, movable furniture that can be set up in different configurations. Intergenerational play, imagination, and socializing are emphasized through the design of different panels on the modular pieces. The colourful groundscape is coded to give clues for spatial use and provide a vibrant surface that complements the colours of the wall mural.”
“Urban planning in San Francisco has confined ethnic neighbourhoods to inhuman spaces. My ancestral heritage includes the repeated displacement of the Japanese community to unwanted or forgotten territories.
“The design reveals the lost layers of the site – where the first Japan town took root in 1900 – by activating the alleys, offering a cultural centre that borrows from museum and immigration centre programmes.
“The act of making was the catharsis that enabled this community to cope creatively. Ceramic, wood, and sewing galleries are paired with adjacent workshops, providing spaces to congregate, exchange ideas and share experiences through craft.”
Student:Kenta Oye Course: Bachelor of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Philip Ra and Mini Chu
Urban Living Room by Zoe Qiaoyu Zheng
“The project brings neighbourhood life into public space while blurring boundaries and creating conditions of privacy. Public programmes and varied open spaces blend traditional library and private spaces with adjacent buildings.
“The design responds to natural light, wind, and views but also create opportunities to block visual contact with adjacent residences. People are welcome to celebrate their time here, and the architecture makes invisible boundaries to protect their personal space as needed.
“This is not just a library or another place to hang out; the proposal also provides opportunities for people to safely interact in acceptable proximities.”
Student: Zoe Qiaoyu Zheng Course: Bachelor of Architecture Thesis Tutor: Philip Ra and Mini Chu
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the Academy of Art University. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
Twenty interior design students at New York City’s Pratt Institute present their final projects in Dezeen’s latest school show.
From a building that could purify contaminated floodwater to analysing how to improve user’s airport experiences, these projects by undergraduate and postgraduate interior design students at Pratt Institute explore how interiors affect our environment and behaviour.
“The Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Interior Design at Pratt Institute has consistently ranked as the top interior design programmes in the United States and are considered to be some of the most prominent and influential. The courses prepare students to engage in critical inquiry and exploration – skills that establish them as innovators having an impact on the profession, the discipline and research on the interior environment.
“The programmes are architecturally oriented with emphasis on spatial articulation. They are designed to guide students in generating creative solutions by understanding craft, light, colour, and material research. Through theoretical and applied research, the curriculum addresses emerging and innovative technologies, interdisciplinary collaboration and sustainable practices. Both degrees focus on larger issues of ethical and social responsibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion through an understanding of global cultural history and its context.”
Solitary Living and Social Interactions in Urban Community by Bingyu Hu
“With different scales, functions and degrees of transparency, interior spaces serve as containers to protect privacy, stimulating communication and participation. As a result, they respond to individual’s lives while fostering community interaction.”
“Activating Boundaries addresses the way generic airport experiences have become passive due to the overwhelming amount of stress placed on users throughout their journey. The effects of these emotions leave the user searching for entertainment from the consumerism offered post-security check.
“Based on research, the stress users undergo are elevated in periods of waiting and delays when the presence of large lines appear. Is there an opportunity to repurpose these boundaries? Can stressors be transformed into a sensory experience? How can we transition from the independent isolation of travelling to experience the journey of travelling together?
“This thesis allowed me to investigate the future of design amidst a global pandemic that has altered the way we perceive space and people. It investigates reconnecting people with each other.”
Harvesting Water: Reimagining Environmental Waters as Constructive Materials in the Resilient Coastal Interior by Kats Tamanaha
“By 2060, an estimated 13 million Americans will be displaced due to rising sea levels and coastal flooding. This thesis explores the possibilities of tidal, flood and stormwater as ‘materials’ in our built environment. Here their potential is shifted, from substances that destroy to resilient tools used to manage flooding.
“Water within the built environment is hidden, hyper-controlled through intricate plumbing systems and filtered for use. Water within the exterior is uncontrolled and often feared. Floodwater is contaminated, picking up traces of where it has been and what it has touched. As sea levels rise, areas formerly at risk for 100-year floods will soon be submerged at high tide. How can the interior adapt to embrace the new reality of water rather than avoid it?
“My project embraces the future of permanent tidal flooding. The building passively phytoremediates toxic water while creating an adaptive form of the interior. It explores possibilities of tidal, flood, and stormwater as tools for long-term, in-place resiliency in coastal communities facing an increasing risk of flooding.”
“Fragment / Reconcile addresses the complexity of living in a post-conflict, economically deprived community that struggles under the burden of the past. Following the events of the troubles and the death of a dominant industry, an entire generation is coming of age in Derry who have to navigate insurmountable unemployment rates and forge a path to peace with little to no outside support.
“To help mitigate the most pressing issue for youth in Derry, I proposed an incubator and teaching facility to build community resilience through a network of small businesses. The centre would provide the resources currently lacking to retain their workforce and make upward mobility possible within the city.
“Growth is made possible by the incubator’s interactive and reflective practices. It engages with the community on a macro scale while also encouraging individual healing on a micro scale. As the user moves through space, it transitions from a collaborative environment to a self-reflective one. An archive becomes the basis upon which to preserve and reflect the collective memory of the people it serves. By being informed by the past, they can move towards the best version of their future.”
“This project puts forward new ways to inhabit in-between space. By breaking down interior elements one by one, a layering of interior and exterior space emerges and reinvents traditional spatial constructs.”
“This thesis focuses on the home as a ‘central agent of change’ in response to the remittance between the Salvadoran-American transnational identity. Here, remittance signifies the value of a cultural currency by forming a multi-generational landscape of retraced rituals and reassembled emblems.
“At the beginnings of a discourse, there is an agency in how the home responds to generational, cultural, psychological and environmental issues to constantly shape, design and re-examine contemporary living.”
“The Nest is a didactic and prototypical full-time detention centre designed for male adolescents who have committed minor crimes. It is a critique of the current antiquated prison form in New York City. It explores educational, healing, and therapeutic spatial relationships and rethinks surveillance in order to reform negative behaviours and support mental health issues.”
“Moments of Movement investigates how interior space can directly affect one’s bodily awareness and interactions with the environment. Rather than habitually moving through space, space can be designed to heighten our awareness of our body and its relationship with the material world.
“The intention is to bring more awareness and appreciation to those small, everyday events that we often perform on auto-pilot. Although we tend to seek out spectacular events, life often happens in those everyday moments in-between. Rather than rushing past them, the users are prompted to slow down and experience those moments.
“The thesis proposes that the body will be part of a network where interactions and movements through thresholds directly affect the environment. By augmenting thresholds within a parking garage and adding screens, mirrors, enhanced lighting, walls and monitors, body movements will be figured as the form-making material of the project. As the body moves within and between various garage zones, it becomes part of a network and explores the relationship between the environment and agency.”
Building Within Memory: Strengthening Place Identity in Deteriorating Environments by Claire Riordan
“Place-identity is defined by a person’s cognitions about the physical world around them. At their core are a person’s environmental past, made up of places, spaces and characteristics that have shaped their biological, psychological, social, and cultural needs.
“This thesis analyzes how the changing built environment can be used as a tool to reveal layers of place-identity. The mutual experience of change over time will inform the connection between the physical body and the spatial body, resulting in a stronger sense of self-identity.”
“Through the theory that performance exists every day, stage fright occurs in domestic, banal settings. In this project, customers in a retail furniture store become performers during their perusal of the staged vignettes by subverting social thresholds and design standards, new social and physical relationships form, alleviating the stigma of stage fright.
“Set in the theatrical and historical furniture showroom – ABC Carpet and Home – the staged sets which aim to present a home setting are critiqued as performative. Hired performers act out different domestic activities and shoppers find themselves crossing the threshold from audience to performer. In their attempt to look at the furniture, test it and imagine it in their own homes, they become part of the performance.
“An open floor plan allows for programmes to cross over, as a bed becomes a seat in a dining setting. Some toilets are for show, while others have working plumbing. The sets have spotlights, curtains and a fly system that allows for changing scenes, as furniture flies overhead, adding a theatrical quality to the performance.”
“This thesis explores a shared harmonic environment for residents and tourists. It uses performance rituals to create a prototypical system for cultural interaction and social harmony in creative cities of music evaluated by UNESCO.
“Spatial devices create new relationships between tourists and residents, combining with daily events such as dining or lounging, and cultivating cross-cultural understanding through the universal language of music and integrating it into the celebration of rituals such as holidays and food.
“The rituals will create a specific spatial quality by increasing culture experiences by controlling the sound transparency and visualizing the vibration of sound.”
“Curating Urban Wormholes explores the city through a new lens: by inserting cinematic experiences in sidewalk freight elevators that connect invisible, disparate moments in the cityscape. The elevators function as portals to parallel universes providing a social and cultural exchange between program and user.
“The project was inspired by the loss of authentic cinematic experiences due to the pandemic and the heterotopic quality of underutilized niches in the city.
“The network of temporary cinematic installations in sidewalk freight elevators reengages the city by activating unused, ‘other’ spaces, unlocking the city’s true potential. The curated serendipity of the wormholes invites the rediscovery of the urban landscape.
“These wormholes have a nodular quality that gives them an existence of their past the time of their installation, allowing them to leave behind traces in the urban fabric that add to the layered experience of the city.”
Beneath the Surface: An Inquiry into Boundary as a Didactic Threshold to Promote Awareness by Nella Gray
“Beneath the Surface explores ways to create tension within layers of interior design to provoke awareness and empathy for evasive issues.
“This project questions the separation of people from systems of production and waste as it enables apathy towards the concealed relationship of consumption and environmental degradation.”
“Borrowing existing materials inherent to the New York City subway station, such as the 3×6 tiles, the project will manipulate the surfaces of the City Hall Station to become an interactive, acoustical field of sonic densities. This experiential-interactive installation intends to address the notion of speed by making the acoustic field and the different paces of the city visual. In other words, rendering auditory data points visible to understand the functioning of NYC.
“The exploration is towards creating an interactive instrument activated through the movement of the users and the train in relation to the parallax effect.
“City Hall Station is underneath the City Hall Park, and the entrance is through the park. It is a loop station for Train Six: The station has existing skylights to the park’s surface.
“The project will be taking a material inherent to the subway station and recreate exposed surfaces in a different function, colour, and densities of tiles to highlight the notion of speed which could be experienced visually and acoustically.”
Pools Under Pavement by Michael Antonio Warren (MFA Interior Design) A Void: Rising Sea Level by Seung Heon Lee (BFA Interior Design) Implicit Bias by Xinxiao Hui (BFA Interior Design) Weaving Connectivity by Xiaoke Li (MFA Interior Design) Breathing Rules by Yang Pei (MFA Interior Design) Haptic Therapy Centre by Honghao Chen (BFA Interior Design)
The portfolio and thesis presentations of the Pratt School of Design MFA and BFA Interior Design Class of 2021 can be found on Pratt Institute’s website.
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and The Pratt Institute. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
A clothing store that imitates an art gallery and an animal hostel designed to increase adoption rates are among the interiors projects presented by undergraduate students at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in our latest school show.
Other designs include an indoor park, a meditation space that uses the play between shadow and light to encourage meditative moments, and a micro-hotel designed to connect visitors with Colorado’s mountainous environment.
“The undergraduate Interior Architecture (BFA) programme at the George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington, DC, offers students a unique opportunity to study, learn and create within a creative environment at a major research university.
“Our programme is the only Council for Interior Design Accreditation-accredited programme within DC and one of 10 interior programmes located at universities that rank in the top 70 of US News and World Report’s list of national research universities.
“Through our studio-based curriculum – the core of our programme – students learn to design three-dimensional environments through the use of dynamic concepts, cutting-edge materials, and innovative methods and techniques.”
Altitude Micro Hotel by Sophia DeNezza
“Altitude Micro Hotel is a luxury ski-in, ski-out boutique micro-hotel. It is designed to create a luxurious yet practical vacation experience while connecting the interior spaces with the resort’s mountainous environment.
“Altitude will provide a comfortable stay away from the typical touristy resorts and will give guests a chance to unwind through the many accessible amenities on-site. The design revolves around the concept of altitude, which reflects the Colorado landscape and the feeling of movement while skiing.
“By utilizing the site’s existing architecture and creating a contemporary, conceptual and practical design, Altitude Micro Hotel is designed to provide guests with a luxurious and unforgettable experience.”
“With fast-fashion retail stores having a hold on many people’s shopping habits, in recent years the world has seen soaring amounts of textile waste generated. Clash aims to break these bad habits and offers a limited selection of curated clothing pieces that behave in the store like art does in a gallery.
“The process of creating garments is an art form. Clash aims to showcase each piece, emphasising the clothing’s construction and quality, aiming to spark conversations about consumer overconsumption through the store’s design.”
Student: Victoria Gogick Advisor: Karen Gioconda Course: Studio 5 – undergraduate Email: vgogick@gwu.edu
Ikhaya Women’s Shelter by Alexa Greig
“The Ikhaya Women’s Shelter provides a place of refuge and a support system for women and their children escaping domestic violence. The shelter aims to create an inclusive community by using an indoor/outdoor canopy that intersects with all of the 13 buildings on-site.
“The outdoor canopy provides a sense of connection between the buildings and partial shade from the hot South African sun, while the indoor canopies influence the layout and flow of the interiors.”
“Luna Meditation Hall is dedicated to creating an environment where people can come for an energetic reset. The hall is made up of a meditation hall, private meditation enclaves and classrooms. It is designed to encourage people to turn inward, either alone, in connection with others or with guidance.
“The project takes reference from phases of the moon. The space focuses on layering and the play between light and shadow to reflect the journey inward during meditative moments.”
Student: Jana Khalil Advisor: Kristin Carleton Course: Studio 5 – undergraduate Email: khaliljana99@gmail.com
Movie Theatre and Film History Museum by Caitlin MacGregor
“The Movie Theatre and Film History Museum is designed for people to see parts of film history in the museum while also viewing new movies that could be a part of that same history someday.
“The site for the project is the Car Barn in Georgetown, D.C. The aperture of a movie camera inspired the main concept. The theatres are tucked away from sunlight, like film in the exposure compartment of a camera. But they are lit up by the screens inside the theatre, similar to film when exposed to light coming through the aperture of a camera.”
“Farm Stay promotes slow food through an immersive retreat in Middleburg, Virginia. Guests learn sustainable farming practices and follow the path of produce from planting to cooking to eating. The life cycle starts in the main house, where cosy guest rooms cradle visitors as they begin their journey.
“Just as a plant grows into a seedling, the garage promotes growth and provides an opportunity for visitors to soak up new ideas. Finally, when the plant is fully grown and harvested, the guests dine at the restaurant and enjoy the feast. The life cycle continues when guests sow the seeds of knowledge with others.”
Student: Salli Mandel Advisor: Karen Gioconda Course: Studio 5 – undergraduate Email: sallismandel@gmail.com
Books and Beyond by Sibyl Frances Natad
“Books and Beyond is designed for learning, socialization and a sense of community. The design is a dual concept of a bookstore, café and bar. The programme includes a writing centre for aspiring authors, a space for gatherings, and a communal work area.
“During the digital age, when information is easily accessible through the tap of a finger and people have a rapid lifestyle, it is fitting to create a space that is meant for an individual to slow down and enjoy perusing books leisurely. Books and Beyond is the best place to immerse oneself in literature and connect with others with a similar interest.”
“RE.turn aims to utilize design to initiate cultural change around death. It looks to develop an experience that allows mourners to grieve in the ways best for them, erasing the standard of a quick ceremony and moving toward a multi-day process of renewal.
“By providing the facilities for an extended stay, RE.turn creates an environment in which friends and family can gather, grieve, and extol life. It looks to answer: What power does architecture have to initiate mass culture change? Does design have the ability to diminish the long-standing stigma around death and mourning in the United States?”
“Inspired by DC’s impressive array of parks and lively street culture, 14th & U Street is a public indoor park. With bike parking, short-term lockers, restrooms, and various fixed and unfixed seats, the indoor park caters to the heavy pedestrian and cyclist traffic.
“On the first floor, the resource area situates users and directs them to the functional programme. Connected through an atrium space, the second floor doubles as a reservable community space and social seating floor. Finally, the third floor is the most removed from the energy of the streetscape, featuring tranquil plant life and patio seating.”
Student: Morgan Richmeier Advisor: Karen Gioconda Course: Studio 5 – undergraduate Email: mvrichme@me.com
The Animal Hostel by Alaina Willard
“The Animal Hostel is a shelter focused on helping improve adoption rates by providing a safe, wellness-focused environment designed to enhance connections between the community, individuals, shelter staff and animals.
“Through the concept of unity, Animal Hostel incorporates interior and exterior design elements that encourage natural interaction between pet and potential owner and establish a connection to the neighbourhood, generating a positive outlet for residents, business owners and consumers.
“A central glass core unites the building’s verticality, providing natural light that is critical to the wellbeing of the animals and evoking a feeling of openness, freedom and transparency.”
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at the George Washington University. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
In this school show, masters students at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design present interiors projects including a comforting dental office and a retail experience that encourages people to repurpose old clothes.
“The Interior Architecture Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at the George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts & Design in Washington, DC, is the only Council for Interior Design Accreditation-accredited programme in the United States’ capital.
“It is designed for students who pursued a bachelor’s degree in a field other than interior design, interior architecture or architecture and are looking to follow a studio-based curriculum that will teach various aspects of interior design, theories and technicalities. We believe in fostering a community that encourages creativity and pushes the boundaries of design with an emphasis on conceptual thinking and the design process.”
ADHD Childcare and Community Centre by Edewede Akpesiri-Odia
“Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, often have difficulties with hyperactivity and self-control. This project aims to create order and organized activities for children with ADHD while also offering fun and wellness benefits.
“The existing building is located in a dense residential area of Arlington, Virginia. Within the building shell, a grid enables order and structure. Each programme block will have activities shifting the grid, creating movement and fluidity while maintaining its volume. Activities will encourage and strengthen neural networks in the brain and enable kids with ADHD to practise self-control.”
Student:Edewede Akpesiri-Odia Advisor: Christina Filipescu Course: Studio 5 – graduate Email: ede.odia@gmail.com
Remembrance Crematorium by Yi-Chen Chang
“Distinctive cultural responses to death inform how we process loss. Mourning rituals reflect the nature of the relationship with the deceased. As the solid stick fades to smoke, we connect to the sacred. We are reminded of the fragility of life and the importance of seizing the day.
“In this project, ruins of the McKinney homestead in Austin become a focal point for a crematorium complex. The symbolic omnipresence of death encourages us to cherish life and live deeply. References to death, burial, permanence/impermanence and the eternal are captured throughout the sequence of spaces providing quietude for reflection.”
Student:Yi-Chen Chang Advisor: Christina Filipescu Course: Studio 5 – graduate Email: changyichen@gwu.edu
U.commons: A physical place for virtual learning by Aileen Kim
“With higher education leaning deeper into digital technologies, academic satellite sites can serve commuting and online students by providing practical resources and social support, leading to student success and equity.
“The interplay of physical and virtual realities is explored through the overlap, where the context of one reality may be expressed more dominantly over the other. At times, the overlap is a threshold, encouraging users to become aware of moving in and out of spaces designed for digi-centric or physi-centric programming. These portals guide inhabitants through areas for individual focused work to spaces for collaboration and social connection.”
Student:Aileen Kim Advisor: Christina Filipescu Course: Studio 5 – graduate
Suzuki School of Music, NYC by Taylor Oosting
“Classical music education for K-12 students comes with proven developmental benefits, but unfortunately, arts education is often among the first programmes cut from a public school’s budget. This project envisions an after-school Suzuki Education Center for strings. It aims to bring accessible music education to urban communities and lower entry barriers to classical music education and enjoyment.
“Located in one of the most diverse communities in the nation, a New York City borough, this project serves as a blueprint for future accessible music institutions. Conceptually, the project is based on the practice of Kintsugi, a Japanese method of repairing broken pottery by mending the broken areas or reattaching cracked pieces with gold lacquer, embracing the damage as an opportunity to find beauty in the imperfections.”
Student: Taylor Oosting Advisor: Christina Filipescu Course: Studio 5 – graduate Email: tayloroost@gwu.edu
Peirce Mill: A Celebration of Food and Community by Brynn Jacoby Orban
“The Peirce Mill is a food-focused wellness centre featuring a garden-to-table restaurant, cooking classes, and a health and wellness coaching clinic. These facilities strive to celebrate food as a resource that nourishes the body and brings the community together.
“Inspired by the transformative process of grain’s movement through a mill, the site plan and architecture of the mill will highlight spaces of learning. With the use of the existing grids of the historic mill and barn, situated askew from each other in their idyllic forested, creekside setting, a shifted grid will be employed to highlight these transformative spaces of growth.”
Student: Brynn Jacoby Orban Advisor: Christina Filipescu Course: Studio 5 – graduate Email: jacobybrynn@gmail.com
The Steady Beat Recording Studio by Hannah Shafer
“In music production and recording, women are often hindered by pay gaps, with limited mentorship and promotions opportunities while also confined to certain genres. The Steady Beat is a recording studio and artist social club in Washington DC designed with these limitations in mind – a space supportive of female excellence and collaboration.
“Inspired by sound waves, the space features undulating brass rods – a nod to musical instruments of the same material. As users cross the threshold where the historic building was once split into two, the waves become increasingly dynamic and the spaces more collaborative and creative.”
Student: Hannah Shafer Advisor: Christina Filipescu Course: Studio 5 – graduate Email: hannahcshafer@outlook.com
Dental Office by Vanessa Spencer
“It is estimated that 61 per cent of people have dentophobia, or fear of dentists, worldwide. This fear usually generates from past negative experiences or oral health concerns. To promote wellbeing, this project mimics nature’s process of protecting.
“A dental office is designed to bring comfort and a feeling of protection to the user by creating forms that are wrapped barriers of protection. These protected areas wrap around the spaces where the user might feel the most vulnerable. Biophilic tools are used throughout the design to connect the user with nature during their visit.”
Student: Vanessa Spencer Advisor: Christina Filipescu Course: Studio 5 – graduate Email: nessa31.vf3@gmail.com
Upcycling Retail Experience Store by Mengjiao Wang
“The fashion industry is the second-largest polluter in the world. Textile production requires significant natural resources, and the decomposition process produces greenhouse gas and leaches toxic chemicals into groundwater and soil.
“This project aims to increase people’s attention to this urgent environmental problem and to encourage people to participate in the process of upcycling clothing. Here, the old garments can be reinvented and start their new life. Drawing ideas from using ‘entropy increase’ to express the flow of time, the store will show the clothing’s journey and provide opportunities for customers to visit and join in.”
Student: Mengjiao Wang Advisor: Christina Filipescu Course: Studio 5 – graduate Email: mengjiaowang@gwu.edu
Education Co-op by Aidan Young
“In the current education system, undue emphasis is placed on academic content and standardized testing, leaving teachers with a substantial burden that consumes their mental bandwidth.
“To address the issue and to work toward a solution, this education centre will focus on one main reason students report dropping out of high school: a lack of positive peer and mentor relationships. The Education Co-op will provide students educational support in a space that cultivates and celebrates warmth and connection.”
Student: Aidan Young Advisor: Christina Filipescu Course: Studio 5 – graduate Email: young.aidan2015@gmail.com
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
