Mnemonic Oasis: Interior architecture as a stimulus for wellbeing through sensorial experience

<p>In today’s society the priority of work and careers has resulted in highly stressful environments. In the twenty-first century the tendency of inflated urban centres has encouraged people to move to the cities and as the urban population increases, the quality of life, people’s wellbeing and overall life satisfaction, becomes a concern. Interested in the effect of human perception through spatial design, this thesis explores how sensorial experience can influence the design of interior architecture to promote productivity and wellbeing. This research aims to explore the implications of environmental stimuli and sensory experience to enhance an occupant’s behaviour and wellbeing within an interior space. Looking closely at the built environment that we inhabit and identifying how it impacts its occupants would aid in how we as designers could design spaces that benefit the occupant’s quality of life. This thesis asks how interior architecture may be utilised to enhance the sense of productivity, wellbeing and life satisfaction of the working class and city dwellers. In addition, this thesis aims to adaptively reuse a historic site in the Wellington CBD as the principal vehicle for the design component of this study. Overall the research suggests providing multiple opportunities for occupants to engage with the built and natural environment whereby interior architecture, through atmospheres and sensorial experiences, contributes to the solution in establishing a sense of productivity, wellbeing and life satisfaction.</p>

Mnemonic Oasis: Interior architecture as a stimulus for wellbeing through sensorial experience

<p>In today’s society the priority of work and careers has resulted in highly stressful environments. In the twenty-first century the tendency of inflated urban centres has encouraged people to move to the cities and as the urban population increases, the quality of life, people’s wellbeing and overall life satisfaction, becomes a concern. Interested in the effect of human perception through spatial design, this thesis explores how sensorial experience can influence the design of interior architecture to promote productivity and wellbeing. This research aims to explore the implications of environmental stimuli and sensory experience to enhance an occupant’s behaviour and wellbeing within an interior space. Looking closely at the built environment that we inhabit and identifying how it impacts its occupants would aid in how we as designers could design spaces that benefit the occupant’s quality of life. This thesis asks how interior architecture may be utilised to enhance the sense of productivity, wellbeing and life satisfaction of the working class and city dwellers. In addition, this thesis aims to adaptively reuse a historic site in the Wellington CBD as the principal vehicle for the design component of this study. Overall the research suggests providing multiple opportunities for occupants to engage with the built and natural environment whereby interior architecture, through atmospheres and sensorial experiences, contributes to the solution in establishing a sense of productivity, wellbeing and life satisfaction.</p>

Interior Architecture as Mediator of Experiential Influence: Establishing a Social Belonging for Disenfranchised Youths

<p>Over the last few centuries, studies have examined the fundamental relationships between architectural form and its effect on human emotion. Interested in the interplay between architecture and human emotion, this thesis explores how interior architecture can be designed to positively influence human behaviour. Sacred architectural typologies such as churches and memorials use scale, light and shadow, reverberation, materiality, et cetera to engage the occupant with an experiential response appropriate to the sacred objectives of the environment. The intent of this thesis is to challenge how such experiential influences can be applied within non-sacred typologies. This research proposes that boarding schools, prisons, and low-cost housing projects are architectural typologies that could potentially provide significant benefits to inhabitants, if interior architecture is constructively engaged as a mediator of influence. More specifically, this thesis challenges how interior architecture may be utilised to enhance the sense of self-esteem, integration, and social belonging of disenfranchised adolescent groups. In addition this thesis aims to revitalise an abandoned 'disenfranchised' school, providing the principal vehicle for the design component of this study. Overall the research suggests providing multiple opportunities for socialised engagement whereby interior architecture, through spatial relationships, contributes to the solution in establishing a sense of self-esteem, integration and social belonging.</p>

Interior Architecture as Mediator of Experiential Influence: Establishing a Social Belonging for Disenfranchised Youths

<p>Over the last few centuries, studies have examined the fundamental relationships between architectural form and its effect on human emotion. Interested in the interplay between architecture and human emotion, this thesis explores how interior architecture can be designed to positively influence human behaviour. Sacred architectural typologies such as churches and memorials use scale, light and shadow, reverberation, materiality, et cetera to engage the occupant with an experiential response appropriate to the sacred objectives of the environment. The intent of this thesis is to challenge how such experiential influences can be applied within non-sacred typologies. This research proposes that boarding schools, prisons, and low-cost housing projects are architectural typologies that could potentially provide significant benefits to inhabitants, if interior architecture is constructively engaged as a mediator of influence. More specifically, this thesis challenges how interior architecture may be utilised to enhance the sense of self-esteem, integration, and social belonging of disenfranchised adolescent groups. In addition this thesis aims to revitalise an abandoned 'disenfranchised' school, providing the principal vehicle for the design component of this study. Overall the research suggests providing multiple opportunities for socialised engagement whereby interior architecture, through spatial relationships, contributes to the solution in establishing a sense of self-esteem, integration and social belonging.</p>

Ownership and Sense of Belonging for the Displaced: Integrating Somali Refugees into Wellington City

<p>Having a sense of belonging to a place is important for everyone adapting to a new environment but especially more so for displaced refugees. This is important for raising confidence and self worth which gives refugees a better chance to understand and connect to the surrounding culture and immediate environment. Somali refugees first arrived in New Zealand as asylum seekers. They are discussed specifically in this thesis with relation to the issue of discrimination, methods of integration and its issues such as social depravation. As an ethnic group, the Somali refugees are very distinct in their culture and religious belief thus facing more challenges in the process of integration compared to other refugee communities. This situation is not further aided as they live on the peripheries of the city, in this case, central Wellington city and its outskirts, which impedes the chance of exchange between their culture and other cultures that inform this multi-cultural city. The central city represents a central cultural hub where culture is exchanged through a variety of trade predominantly through food and the arts and crafts. This research explores the importance of providing spaces within the commercial centre for the social and economic value for the Somali refugees that could play a big part in their integration process. The thesis discusses the history of the Somalis, methods of integration and social depravation, precedents of successful spaces for cultural expression, concluding with the final design proposal discussions and conclusion. As the thesis explores the prospect of giving ownership to the Somali refugees in Wellington city the design component of the thesis focuses on architectural interventions that would facilitate and support cultural integration. The study explores the personalisation of an existing inner city built space and the use for functional needs as a first step for the Somalis to partake in economic and cultural exchange, understanding and eventually through such means develop a sense of belonging.</p>

The Lost, Erased, Unseen and Forgotten: Translating into Architecture the New Zealand Wars

<p>There is a perception amongst New Zealanders that our country was forged at Waitangi in 1840 with a shaking of hands and pressing together of noses. However, in actuality it emerged from a drawn out war of fear and unrest; four million acres of land was confiscated and thousands died fighting on it. Hills, valleys, fields and plains were soaked with blood from Wairau to Kororāreka . Today these sites still hold the memory of those fallen, but the New Zealand Wars and their implications now seem a distant haze on our nations consciousness. The wars have become lost, erased, unseen and forgotten. The New Zealand Army Museum in Waiouru is the building on which I focus a critique of our past and present approaches to architecture. Creating an extension to this museum forms the design component of my thesis – the new building housing the museum's overshadowed New Zealand Wars collection. The methodology involved researching and choosing specific stories from the full spectrum of the New Zealand Wars. Concepts, architectural languages and elements are then translated and collaged into a new building. The hope for this synthesis is that it will reveal our untold and unseen history through architecture, that it might represent and communicate something of our past to us; helping to [re?] construct our national identity.</p>

The Lost, Erased, Unseen and Forgotten: Translating into Architecture the New Zealand Wars

<p>There is a perception amongst New Zealanders that our country was forged at Waitangi in 1840 with a shaking of hands and pressing together of noses. However, in actuality it emerged from a drawn out war of fear and unrest; four million acres of land was confiscated and thousands died fighting on it. Hills, valleys, fields and plains were soaked with blood from Wairau to Kororāreka . Today these sites still hold the memory of those fallen, but the New Zealand Wars and their implications now seem a distant haze on our nations consciousness. The wars have become lost, erased, unseen and forgotten. The New Zealand Army Museum in Waiouru is the building on which I focus a critique of our past and present approaches to architecture. Creating an extension to this museum forms the design component of my thesis – the new building housing the museum's overshadowed New Zealand Wars collection. The methodology involved researching and choosing specific stories from the full spectrum of the New Zealand Wars. Concepts, architectural languages and elements are then translated and collaged into a new building. The hope for this synthesis is that it will reveal our untold and unseen history through architecture, that it might represent and communicate something of our past to us; helping to [re?] construct our national identity.</p>

Ownership and Sense of Belonging for the Displaced: Integrating Somali Refugees into Wellington City

<p>Having a sense of belonging to a place is important for everyone adapting to a new environment but especially more so for displaced refugees. This is important for raising confidence and self worth which gives refugees a better chance to understand and connect to the surrounding culture and immediate environment. Somali refugees first arrived in New Zealand as asylum seekers. They are discussed specifically in this thesis with relation to the issue of discrimination, methods of integration and its issues such as social depravation. As an ethnic group, the Somali refugees are very distinct in their culture and religious belief thus facing more challenges in the process of integration compared to other refugee communities. This situation is not further aided as they live on the peripheries of the city, in this case, central Wellington city and its outskirts, which impedes the chance of exchange between their culture and other cultures that inform this multi-cultural city. The central city represents a central cultural hub where culture is exchanged through a variety of trade predominantly through food and the arts and crafts. This research explores the importance of providing spaces within the commercial centre for the social and economic value for the Somali refugees that could play a big part in their integration process. The thesis discusses the history of the Somalis, methods of integration and social depravation, precedents of successful spaces for cultural expression, concluding with the final design proposal discussions and conclusion. As the thesis explores the prospect of giving ownership to the Somali refugees in Wellington city the design component of the thesis focuses on architectural interventions that would facilitate and support cultural integration. The study explores the personalisation of an existing inner city built space and the use for functional needs as a first step for the Somalis to partake in economic and cultural exchange, understanding and eventually through such means develop a sense of belonging.</p>

On-Design Component-Level Multiple-Objective Optimization of a Small-Scale Cavity-Stabilized Combustor

This work presents an on-design component-level multiple-objective optimization of a small-scaled uncooled cavity-stabilized combustor. Optimization is performed at the maximum power condition of the engine thermodynamic cycle. The CFD simulations are managed by a supervised machine learning algorithm to divide a continuous and deterministic design space into non-dominated Pareto frontier and dominated design points. Steady, compressible three-dimensional simulations are performed using a multi-phase Realizable k-? RANS and non-adiabatic FPV combustion model. Conjugate heat transfer through the combustor liner is also considered. There are fifteen geometrical input parameters and four objective functions viz., maximization of combustion efficiency, and minimization of total pressure losses, pattern factor, and critical liner area factor. The baseline combustor design is based on engineering guidelines developed over the past two decades. The small-scale baseline design performs remarkably well. Direct optimization calculations are performed on this baseline design. In terms of Pareto optimality, the baseline design remains in the Pareto frontier throughout the optimization. However, the optimization calculations show improvement from an initial design point population to later iteration design points. The optimization calculations report other non-dominated designs in the Pareto frontier. The Euclidean distance from design points to the utopic point is used to select a "best" and "worst" design point for future fabrication and experimentation. The methodology to perform CFD optimization calculations of a small-scale uncooled combustor is expected to be useful for guiding the design and development of future gas turbine combustors.

On-Design Component-Level Multiple-Objective Optimization of a Small-Scale Cavity-Stabilized Combustor

This work presents an on-design component-level multiple-objective optimization of a small-scaled uncooled cavity-stabilized combustor. Optimization is performed at the maximum power condition of the engine thermodynamic cycle. The CFD simulations are managed by a supervised machine learning algorithm to divide a continuous and deterministic design space into non-dominated Pareto frontier and dominated design points. Steady, compressible three-dimensional simulations are performed using a multi-phase Realizable k-ε RANS and non-adiabatic FPV combustion model. Conjugate heat transfer through the combustor liner is also considered. There are fifteen geometrical input parameters and four objective functions viz., maximization of combustion efficiency, and minimization of total pressure losses, pattern factor, and critical liner area factor. The baseline combustor design is based on engineering guidelines developed over the past two decades. The small-scale baseline design performs remarkably well. Direct optimization calculations are performed on this baseline design. In terms of Pareto optimality, the baseline design remains in the Pareto frontier throughout the optimization. However, the optimization calculations show improvement from an initial design point population to later iteration design points. The optimization calculations report other non-dominated designs in the Pareto frontier. The Euclidean distance from design points to the utopic point is used to select a “best” and “worst” design point for future fabrication and experimentation. The methodology to perform CFD optimization calculations of a small-scale uncooled combustor is expected to be useful for guiding the design and development of future gas turbine combustors.