In a world that faces global warming and other major environmental challenges, it is essential that students learn about the principles of sustainability so that they can apply these principles in their future lives and careers. This is particularly so in fields such as interior architecture and design, which will impact how well humans can move toward a sustainable way of life. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a participatory teaching approach for students of interior design that incorporates ecological thinking. It is particularly intended for use at universities and other places of higher education where such contexts are not currently available and, furthermore, where the teaching has been primarily of a didactic, teacher-centred form. The teaching approach was developed and tested through the involvement of students and staff at a technical institute in Kuwait – a country with severe environmental problems in which teaching at all levels has traditionally been rigidly didactic. A review was carried out of literature on learning theories, design principles, and sustainability paradigms that bore upon the research aim. Following this, a method was chosen, based on action research that involved running different types of workshops, in order to measure the impact of the teaching styles that are ideal to deliver ecological knowledge.

Zugl.: Karlsruhe, Univ., Diss., 2005 / CD-ROM enth.: Datenbank

I will build an argument utilizing the Hôtel de Soubise as a case study for the way in which the division between exteriors and interiors depicts the shifting cultural fabric of 18th-century French society.

In a time of growing consciousness around sustainability and an early paradigm shift when it comes to circular systems for furniture and interiors, as an aspiring designer, I need and must adapt accordingly within my field and creative practice. In this project, I have worked with the immense material waste that is going on, especially focusing on furniture and interiors, within the public and private sectors as well as in office environments, where this is a big issue. Guided by the United Nations Global Goal No 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production, I have experimented with, to me, new ideas for systems that deal with the upcycling and repurposing of “old” and/or discarded pieces of furniture and the material they are made from. To see what I can make of it to prolong the lifecycle and give the material a new purpose, function, and value. In my process I have acted both as an interior architect and a furniture designer but also as a sculptor and craftsman since the predetermined “waste” material I have worked with demanded a reversed design process than what a “normal” one would look like for a commercial project.    The result is a series of new furniture designed and made from waste material, revisioned by me through a mix of art and design, to see how I as a designer of furniture and interiors can develop and find my path in this and to help formulate the new design paradigm and aesthetics for future circular and sustainable furniture and interior solutions that is underway.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Commonwealth’s flagship campus, is home to several Brutalist buildings. Similar to other buildings of this genre, they have gone unrecognized for their importance to the campus and their prominent architectural significance. Additionally, due to the ravages of close to 50 years of exposure coupled with limited maintenance and, in some instances, neglect they are now at a point where restorative maintenance is critical in ensuring their future contribution to the campus. This thesis addresses the importance of creating a comprehensive, long-term plan for these buildings, by first looking to the University’s most prominent, yet neglected building, the Fine Arts Center designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Kevin Roche. The research and design hereafter is an attempt to address the current limitations that exist in relation to the building and to address necessary changes that pertain to the revitalization of the building to meet current University needs. A thorough investigation into best practices for concrete repair, cleaning, and protection are explored, as well as possible design interventions that may be implemented in the future. These design interventions aim to benefit the overall conservation of the building as well as maintain a sensitivity to the architect’s original design intentions. This thesis analyzes past design interventions that have been made, which lacked a sensitivity to the original design, and how this has had a negative impact on the building. Architectural explorations as part of this thesis are used to develop a framework for design thinking and to create a model approach. Investigations into necessary upgrades and alterations to meet current code requirements such as accessibility, fire safety, and energy use are all considered. These explorations are meant to merge into specific guidelines which can then become part of a long-term comprehensive plan. This thesis demonstrates that creating a comprehensive plan with a set of conservation protocols as well as architectural design guidelines will help ensure the building's future on the campus. It also serves as an argument that architectural design considerations play a larger role in the context of conservation. This thesis aims to serve as a case study for other buildings on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus, as well as other campuses around the United States and beyond. This study can be seen as a proactive measure to further prevent deferred maintenance and negate the use of unsuitable conservation methods through exigent repairs. It also serves as a means of preventing unsuitable design interventions, which ultimately compromise the building of its significance and authenticity.

This project explores vagueness in space and how it can help us train and sharpen our senses as designers and architects to adapt to the realities of scarcity and how to make less-extractive processes of creating space. Using ephemeral but recurring phenomena such as air flow, reflections, refractions of light and moist in architecture as inspiration, I seek to make everyday-spaces, such as underneath a wash basin, a radiator or behind a door, interesting again. With methods inspired by the land art movement to find new ways of seeing interior spaces, I use attentiveness and the idea to not destroy or disturb to observe already existing spaces. The project seeks to tell a story of neglected beauty in forgotten spaces and translating them into (im)material architectural spatial installations.  I hope this project can bring an understanding that protecting and appreciating what we already have is probably more sustainable than constantly changing and readjusting spaces to fit our wants and what we think we need. To train our senses and get new ideas of beauty and function in already existing interior spaces, brings what is out of focus into the light. This might be a way to partly slow down the industry of interiors and redirect how we work as architects and designers to understand that everything doesn’t need to change, but if we seek change, we can do it by immaterial phenomena, such as light through the interstices, that will occur as long as there is life.

The project Hope of the Remains deals with urban development from a spatial design perspective, using the Lövholmen area in Stockholm as a starting point.  The project’s purpose is to create a dialogue, to better understand and improve urban development. Also, to question what my responsibility with expertise in interior architecture is and to explore what resources the interior architect possesses.  Lövholmen bears an industrial history while also having a prominent art and design identity. The issue at stake is whether to demolish or preserve remains of the industrial period. The project may be a way of appreciating historical values, questioning environmental imprints, but also creating a nesting spatial experience for people. Like how animals seek a smaller, comfortable, and safe space to settle down. And by that, I mean spaces for people to gather to work, have conversations, have a meal, or just stay in while reading a book, which is mostly the smaller existing spaces or the smaller newly built interior rooms. However, public space is important to be preserved within the future of Lövholmen as a residential area. To create a vibrant neighborhood with coexistential values.  Hope of the Remains contains a concept and idea that are developed for the future of industrial properties that are currently empty. The idea is based on the property Nitrolack designed by the architects Nils Tesch and Lars Magnus Giertz for AB Wilh. Becker's paint factory, that was built in 1943-44. My master’s thesis investigates ​nesting as a phenomenon and its significance in these types of large spaces that hold qualities and challenges. How void and mass can be formed by color and shape. The project Hope of the Remains reflects our time, a debate about the urban growth and our responsibility for how we develop the city and how we can make use of remains, history and culture in the future. The design proposal is aimed to encourage commitment and interest. It is a way to create a conversation and inspire new visions for the development of Lövholmen and similar areas. The vision is intended to encourage dialogue. The design proposal within the project is a vision of a future in relation to what already exists on Lövholmen both historically, today and taking care of the industrial modernist remains for a new future. It is a way to increase the value of the existing structures, both a historical and environmental impact, but also the possibilities of the existing spaces as an asset for what can be developed here.

In my thesis project, I am questioning how we, as interior architects, can design and use material in a creative, sustainable and sensory way when the common workflow of our practice is becoming increasingly more digital and distanced, when quality and prices are being pressured by the consumer system and when production, to a great extent, has moved to developing countries. I believe that when we distance ourselves from the practical knowledge and process of making, we are also distancing ourselves from understanding how our bodies inhabit the world. How are we to design meaningful and multi-sensory spatial experiences, create something to connect and care for, when we are working from a distance, far away beyond the horizon? In my view, all spatial experiences are multi-sensory, meaning that we experience them through more senses than our gaze. Therefore, I believe it is important to practice as an interior architect through embodied methods of making, not limiting our understanding of space to two-dimensional representations such as computer models or drawings. Through tactile, slow and repetitive hands-on practice, I learn about the material wood and its sensory qualities and let the material guide me in my process. My project shows my collection of embodied memories from that learning process in an archive of wooden pieces and three pieces of furniture. All telling a tactile story of their own to be experienced with our senses.

A wall might appear as basic, a clean surface without an identity of its own, nothing but a clean slate upon which to leave any impression. Though the walls surrounding us are all but anonymous. They are built with a structure making them stand tall and strong. They are filled with insulation to keep us warm and sheltered. They are hard and they are soft. They can allow us to isolate ourselves from each other or they are fragile enough to let us know someone is on the other side. They cover the basic necessities of our houses, and we in return cover them to make our spaces less anonymous. There is softness hidden in your walls mainly aims to highlight the textile components of architecture which we usually never see. While we tend to view textiles mostly as decoration, they constantly perform in a lot of various ways all around us. In this project I have worked with prefabricated building materials that according to me have textile qualities, but they aren’t viewed as textile. Or I have tried to adapt textile techniques to non-textile materials to test them in new ways. The wall as the leading actor has first and foremost been used as a conversation partner for the material exploration and contextualization. The main material used is wool sheep insulation though many other materials have been put to the test throughout the process.

Tellus cinema and café is situated in the heart of Midsommarkransen. It’s been an independent establishment since the 1920’s and is one of very few local cinemas in Stockholm that hasn’t been shut down or taken over by a larger cinema chain. One of Tellus’ many strengths, in comparison to more commercial establishments, is that they can offer a more dynamic and broader repertoire which gives its visitors a sense of experiencing something unique. In this project I would like to redefine the spaces within Tellus, whilst curating the very essence that these rooms possess. I wish to highlight the importance of this cultural establishment and its continued existence as a natural place for people to gather, regardless of their background. I will be studying the cinemas spatial attributes in it’s historical context to see how I can contribute with functional and aesthetical qualities, that diligently enhances the already existing identity of this cinema.