My Interior Design Master’s Thesis (Part I)

Good Saturday everyone! If you live in the northeast, I hope you’re able to get out and enjoy this incredible break from the consistent heat waves we’ve had all summer! Everyone who is in the middle and western parts of the country, I’m so sorry. I hope you all have AC. The weather during summer the past few years has been pretty unbearable (we’ll cover this and much more about climate change later on) which makes it so difficult to enjoy summer activities that aren’t water-based. I don’t know about you, but when it’s over 90 degrees I lose all of my motivation for being alive, and sitting on the couch is about as much as I can handle.

Herein lies the theme for this week’s blog post! I’m posting an excerpt from my portfolio down below, because I want to introduce you to my thesis project from my MFA program. Presenting work that’s already complete is always a nice break ;)

For those of you who are only interested in home renovations, this may not be an exciting post. The school I attended (New York School of Interior Design) was highly commercial oriented, meaning we learned how to design large scale projects like business headquarters, public libraries, and healthcare facilities. I’ll probably share some of my other work from the program down the line because I think it’s important to show the wide range of projects interior designers are able to tackle. Despite what HGTV might have you believing, there is so much more to interior design than gorgeous living rooms!

In the future, interior design will become more important than ever before, because we are finally starting to realize that knocking down buildings is extremely harmful to the environment. It’s not budget friendly, and it so often results in the loss of treasured architecture. Our lives are changing rapidly due to the pandemic, and we’re going to have completely different needs for our homes, works, and public spaces. Interior designers will play a huge role in the reshaping of our society through the built environment. It’s an exciting challenge, but also a heavy burden. Choices made will affect people on a large scale, and designers have to be vigilant about staying up to date on best practices and new research.

All that said, I think that interior design and architecture are two of the coolest jobs around, and I want to share all about it with anyone who cares to learn! It always starts with a problem - your job as a designer is to lay out clear steps to solve it. We began by picking a building anywhere in the world, and “gutting” it down to exterior walls and columns. The building I chose is located in Sweden, and it was roughly 80,000 square feet. Over the course of an entire year, I researched, analyzed, planned, and drew. I’m extremely proud of where it ended up, and loved the absolute freedom of expression that comes with a fictional project.

I basically did not sleep for a month and a half to get this baby finished on time. Hershey’s nuggets were my only sustenance for about two weeks, and I cried a bunch at 3 AM while watching the Bob Ross channel on TV. Read on if you want to see the final product! I’m breaking this up into 5 parts to make it more digestible.

Pranayama

For centuries, yoga was utilized as a tool for spirituality, to nurture our connections with our bodies, our minds, and the universe. It began in Indus-Sarasvati (Northern India) and was religious in nature.. Over the past 5,000 years it has experienced cycles of change. The yoga we are familiar with today is but a part of a much larger discipline. Poses (asanas) are the main focus of these yoga classes, while the other facets are largely ignored. The goal of Pranayama is to reunite the asanas with the rest of their whole, to create a deeply spiritual experience. It strives to bring these ancient principles into the modern day with respect and care, so that we may use them to seek out our greater purpose.

To accomplish this, Pranayama will focus on the following:

1. Nourishment of the mind-body-spirit connection.

2. Exploration of the consciousness through meditation

and guided thought.

3. Easing physical stress through massage, restorative

yoga, Reiki, and craniosacral therapies.

5. A strong sense of community and

shared experience.

4. A peaceful and solitary atmosphere, so that guests

may become reacquainted with themselves.

6. Gentle education from many fields and

religions, aiming to identify a personalized belief

system for each person.

7. Affordable and sponsored stays to promote accessibility.

8. Support for local artisans through the small shop.

Lovely Location

Brunstorp apartment building in Sweden. Designed by Arrhov Frick. This is the building I chose to renovate!

Built in 2018, Brunstorp (Arrhov Frick) is currently used as apartment housing near the city of Jonkoping, Sweden. It is located between a small forest reserve and Lake Vattern, one of Sweden’s most famous lakes. Occupants enjoy daily sunrises over the forest and magnificent sunsets over the lake. Sweden’s long, freezing winters and short, sweet summers were driving forces behind the design of Pranayama. The entirety of the flat roof was utilized as outdoor space, enjoyable in the summer and accessible with sustainable heat lamps and warm dressings in the winter.