SENIOR THESIS

2022

These images serve as a synthesis of my current research and design speculation towards my Senior Design Thesis, "operative (work)space." I am a Senior Thesis Candidate at Harvard College within the History of Art and Architecture Department, pursuing a degree in Architectural Studies. This thesis is a culmination of my liberal arts and design education, exploring the behavioral and cultural dynamics of the built environment, how we are shaped by the spaces around us as much as we design and construct the built enviornment. My research looks to precedents of traditional Japanese building practice as inspiration for rethinking the modern workplace in a post-pandemic urban condition. The working culture has changed, and I look to make the design of office spaces more worker oriented, at the opertive scale of the Urban Worker. The narrative of my work follows five parts, as metered below each image, culminating in my current design speculations for how the interior space of exisiting office buildings can be reconfigured to reflect more hybrid forms of work.

Current design work is speculative and a work in progress, reflecting a semester of research and investigation. As work continues, design development will focus less on a translation of architectonic components of traditional Japanese building practice (such as geometry as informed by the tatami mat) and instead a reflection on the functionality of the built spaces. Therefore, the guiding question will be: "how can the functionality of the contemporary office be reflected and optimized in a reformed workplace layout?" and "can the 'ritual' of the office worker be translated into functional architecture"?

↑Back to Top