Date of Award
Spring 6-2-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master in Interior Architecture [Adaptive Reuse]
Department
Interior Architecture
First Advisor
Markus Berger
Second Advisor
Stefano Corbo
Third Advisor
Jongwan Kwon
Abstract
The digital revolution has greatly affected the way we engage with each other.1 We choose virtual friends over real life ones as we go through our daily lives.2 According to the 2016 Nielson report, the average American spends four-five hours a day using social media, with teens spending an additional three hours a day.3 This is an average of 28-56 hours a week dedicated to Twitter posts, swiping on Tinder, Snapchatting, checking Facebook, or liking on Instagram, the equivalent to a part time job. According to countless studies, the digital age has made it hard for teens, young adults, and even adults who grew up before the digital age to communicate in the real world, forcing us to cling more to our ever-present glowing rectangles, rather than engaging with the people and spaces that surround us. 4,5 Interaction in public spaces has been replaced with virtual connections. As the world continues to evolve with technology, architecture must be adjusted to overcome our diminishing desire to communicate directly with each other. We must design architectural elements that give us the opportunity to reconnect with ourselves and each other. The ruined façade at 35 Weybossett in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, stands between two streets where people are constantly moving. This is a perfect location to create an opportunity to disrupt this technological parasitic relationship, by inviting individuals, if only for a moment, to reconnect with their senses and engage with one another.
Recommended Citation
Bennett, Mariah, "Creating connection in a digital society" (2018). Masters Theses. 227.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/227
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.