This interior design practicum explores alternative options for itinerant living in the twenty-first century with concern as to how unoccupied space is used more efficiently through questioning the way an individual identifies, inhabits and transforms unoccupied space into meaningful place. The designed solution emerges through case study research, photographic analysis and supportive space and place related theories as the guerrilla intervention of an adaptable, mobile interior unit. This micro dwelling challenges typical urban lifestyles and demonstrates that for individuals to form genuine connection and dependence on place, place must continuously reflect its occupant. This understanding of place and its subcomponents leads to a greater knowledge of user needs when designing alternative housing options within an increasingly itinerant society. Utilizing mixed methodologies and studying a 1:1 prototype, this practicum reveals an extended understanding of the potential unoccupied urban infrastructure has in providing rich environments to house temporal, versatile places to dwell and call home.

This practicum sets out to address several challenges faced by a multinational corporation operating within a globalized marketplace through the reconsideration of its workplace design. The aim is to achieve a balance between cultural adaptation and standardized corporate identity in the design for the hypothetical multinational management consulting company, Torrent. The balance is perused in order to support Japanese and Canadian national-work-cultures, the two cultures on which the practicum is based, while creating a strong, consistent, and recognizable visual identity across its different subsidiaries. The practicum’s overall objective is to demonstrate how both of these themes can be achieved simultaneously in order to create a balance that benefits both the multinational company as well as its host country. The practicum’s outcome involves two design solutions developed for Torrent based on a single workplace, one responding to Japan’s national work culture, and the other to Canada’s. A standardized corporate identity is achieved through the communication of a consistent company identity in both workplace designs.

This interior design project involves investigation into the philosophies of the Slow Food Movement and how they may inspire and inform the design of a social space that fosters a connection between local people, food and place. This socio-cultural connection is implemented through the design of a concentrated, local food centre within the urban environment of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Investigation into interior design strategies which foster social interaction, taste education and sensory engagement contribute to the design of a space where the local food culture of southern Manitoba can be experienced in its authenticity. By combining the public spaces of food which contribute to the contemporary streetscape, with those that exist within the interior environment, this local food centre design aims to promote local identity and facilitate multisensory social engagement that sustains relationships, community, and the environment over time.

For most people in North America, undergoing treatments for cancer occurs exclusively in a healthcare setting. All too often, this healthcare setting provides a backdrop privileging the technological requirements of conventional medicine over the well-being of the people who inhabit it. Conversely, this practicum project is founded on a different, more holistic approach to cancer care called integrative oncology. The project investigates how an integrative cancer treatment centre can be designed to be more than a technological backdrop, endeavoring to become an active entity that truly supports those dealing with cancer. The investigation includes an extensive literature review of theoretical and evidence-based sources that relate to fostering connections to nature on a variety of levels. Informed by this, a review of relevant design precedents and the functional issues of integrative cancer treatment, the investigation concludes with a design solution for an integrated cancer treatment centre and related findings.

The exploration of emerging trends in museum design and theory informs a redefined spatial realm for the design of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada (JHCWC). The JHCWC has been forced to respond to a growing immaterial culture as a result of the current digital revolution. As an institution they have experienced amalgamation and re-location, which has drastically reduced the exhibition and museum space at the Asper Jewish Community Campus. The design will explore a new museum paradigm that is facing technological and digital advancements. Through the exploration of the effects of a virtual culture, the dematerialization of the physical realm can become redefined with the introduction of new digital technologies and interfaces. The proposed design project explores the potentials of a hybrid space, where the virtual and physical spaces interact and come together. The project will also challenge traditional museum assumptions, while creating immersive and participatory experiences. A new spatial coding provides a narrative and representation of culture that is integrated throughout the museum. A spatial typology emerges that suggests inventive experiences of history, culture, heritage and tradition.

Artistic outlets act as mechanisms with the potential to provide transformative effects on a psychological, emotional, and physical level. Unfortunately, barriers such as inequality (Erickson, 2008, p. 345) and the economic initiatives of art institutions have provoked the emergence of boundaries, hindering the opportunities and desire to engage (p. 345; Tepper, 2008, p. 363, 368). This practicum project responds to these obstructions by presenting an artistic institution that expands access to the art-form of dance by celebrating individual expression, collaboration, and cultural heritage. The Collaborative Dance Centre embraces the notion of a participatory culture and artist collective by breaking down hierarchal structures to present the general public and amateur artists with the opportunity to engage with the professional dance realm (Jenkins & Bertozzi, 2008, p. 174; Cotter, 2006, p. 21). These notions allow participants to gain exposure to the technical aspects associated with each genre, as well as the various elements of performance. By exploring experiential learning, and post-museum theory this practicum presents an interior that repositions boundaries to encourage participants to engage in experiences that are often restricted from the general public and amateur artists (Brooks-Harris & Stock-Ward, 1999, p. 122-124; Bruce, 2006, p129). The intricacies of dance have also been used to direct design development by employing the ingredients of choreography to guide design principles and elements (Humphrey, 1983, p. 46). The resulting interior connects people from diverse backgrounds through the act of dance stimulating growth, passion and transformation.

This interior design practicum is the design of three floating houses located on Granville Island, Vancouver, British Columbia. They are spatially efficient and aid in human-nature connections through the manipulation of thresholds. The adaptation of small spaces is best accomplished through the use of multifunctional space, efficient storage, and manipulation of views. Linking of spaces and the blurring of thresholds is best accomplished through the use of implied axial linkage to the exterior and through the addition of ornament. The human-nature connection, or biophilic design, is best accomplished through the integration of direct, indirect, and symbolic experiences with the natural environment. This is accomplished through the variation of ceiling heights, linking internal and external views, integration of natural light, and use of natural materials that vary in texture and reflectance value.

Designing a culturally appropriate space begins by recognizing that culture affects us from the moment we are born. It plays a role in how a child grows up, how a person communicates, how a person perceives time, the beliefs and values of a family, as well as the way space is inhabited. These cultural characteristics inform how designers design space. However, what happens when the designer is not from the client’s culture? Knowledge about another culture is often gained by interior designers through client interviews, internet searches, and the occasional book. It is important to add community visits to this list. Cultural understanding is enriched when a person is able to experience the culture through smells, sights, sounds, touch, and taste. These sensory experiences explain answers to questions we, as interior designers, never even knew we had. This project responds to the gap that exists between the designer and the clients’ community. Through an exploration of the Nicaraguan culture and cross-cultural theory this project proposes a design for an art therapy centre that addresses Nicaragua’s culturally-specific needs. By examining trauma and its effects on children, the design can be child-specific while being sensitive to trauma-related symptoms. This will be done through the exploration of areas of knowledge related to sensorimotor theory, art therapy, and mind, body, space theory.

North American building design is predicated on the notion that there are only two sexes, genders, and sexualities. With the former presumed to be the biological determinant of the latter, male and female are constructed as anatomical, behavioural, and aesthetic opposites. Queer theory and gender studies literature, however, articulate embodiments, expressions and desires that are neither binary nor fixed. This design seeks to acknowledge these alternative inhabitations by appropriating an elite Winnipeg building, the Manitoba Club, for use as a gender diverse fitness club. Exploring concepts of the body, queer space, and deconstruction, this practicum design questions the dominance of binary discourses.

Interior designers require advanced sustainable strategies beyond the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system to expand their ecological accountability. Biomimicry is a biology inspired design (BID) methodology that is integrating into U.S. interior design (ID) curricula. This thesis research aims to identify the extent to which biomimicry is taught in Canadian post-secondary ID programs. Through a mixed-methodology research design, this study explored the strategies and lessons learned from North America interior design educators teaching biomimicry. Integrating a science-based problem-solving methodology into design education requires a transition strategy that includes both high-tech and low-tech teaching tools. This study discusses avenues to heighten biomimicry awareness, for Canadian educators, and addresses the challenges that weaving a complex multidisciplinary topic into interior design pedagogy will bring. Future research regarding biomimicry applications from interior design learner and practitioner perspectives would complement this study, and inform biology inspired design curricula development. / February 2016