Sarah Rifqi and Abdulelah Bukhari, two Interior Architecture & Design graduate students from Saudi Arabia, will be completing their master’s degrees in December 2021. Rifqi and Bukhari are dedicated and passionate designers pursuing their secondary degrees to further their careers and knowledge and insight in the field.  

Rifqi is an adjunct instructor in the Department for the fall 2021 semester, teaching the Design Foundations 1 class.

Her thesis research presentation was accepted into the Interior Design Educators Council national fall symposium, which addresses the role of furniture in supporting women’s dignity within domestic violence shelters.  

 “I was able to discover many research interests that I didn’t have a chance to explore during my undergraduate study,” said Rifqi. She is passionate about helping traumatized populations such as domestic violence victims, and pursuing a master’s degree in interior design was instrumental in helping her to accomplish this goal. Rifqi also achieved a lifelong goal of studying abroad and experiencing American culture through her time at FSU.  

Rifqi said she was particularly impressed with IAD’s faculty, as well as FSU’s resources and campus. She spoke highly of her experience working with IAD faculty, saying they are highly qualified and committed to helping students achieve their educational goals. 

Bukhari is working as a teaching assistant for professor Stephanie Sickler in the fall semester with the Materials and Methods course instruction and preparation. This past summer, he successfully defended his Master of Science graduate project that explored residential design for young Saudi Arabian professionals. Bukhari was able to attend the IAD graduate program after receiving a scholarship through an outside agency. 

Bukhari says that he had many reasons for pursuing his master’s degree in Interior Design, but it all comes down to passion, practice, and opportunity. “While getting my bachelor’s degree, I felt that I learned a lot in the last years but was it enough?” said Bukhari. “I’ve always admired famous architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Zaha Hadid, Luis Kahn, and many more, and I felt that I wouldn’t be as half as good as them at the undergraduate level. Therefore, I decided that I have to improve myself and learn more.”  

While working in a small architecture firm for seven months, Bukhari began to realize his interest in small interior spaces and projects. “Small and exciting coffee shops started to attract me, well-designed restaurants, houses, galleries, and spaces began to gain my attention,” he explained.  

 Bukhari was drawn to the graduate program at FSU for similar reasons as Rifqi, including the events and activities that are provided by graduate clubs and communities, as well as the architectural aesthetic of FSU’s campus. 

“The department has excellent faculty who have participated in many events, achieved many awards, and published many books, articles, and papers,” said Bukhari. “There’s also the high ranking that the department of Interior Architecture and design has.” 

 After graduation, Rifqi plans to apply for a Ph.D. in Interior Design program to investigate potential solutions for excessive energy consumption in her home country of Saudi Arabia. She also desires to expand her research skills, prepare to effectively engage in teaching careers, and serve her community.  

Bukhari said he is considering several options for his career after graduation and is considering a teaching appointment through the same agency which provided him with his scholarship. He said he would also like to work for a local architecture firm in Tallahassee to gain more practical experience. Ultimately, Bukhari says, he would like to own his own architecture firm. “Having my own architecture firm was always one of my dreams because seeing my own designs and leaving my mark in the world is one of my goals,” he said.  

Homelessness and the Built Environment: Designing for Unhoused Persons. Routledge 2021.

 

Homelessness and the Built Environment: Designing for Unhoused Persons by IAD faculty members Jill Pable and Yelena McLane and graduate student alumnus Lauren Trujillo provides a practical introduction to the effective physical design of built facilities that assist unhoused persons. Arising at a time of emerging design-specific empirical studies in mental and behavioral environments to approach people’s needs, the book highlights the positive impact intentional design can have on human perception and how design influences people’s choices and actions.

“The presence of a growing body of research findings from psychology, environmental psychology, social work and other areas is starting to make clear the significant impact that built environments have on people’s perceptions,” says Pable.  The publication focuses on the inspiration behind the positive impact that physical design can have on people’s experiences. “Those perceptions can also include how people feel about themselves and other people. That seems particularly important if people have experienced a crisis or trauma recently, such as loss of one’s home.” 

“This book was written to introduce readers to the complexities and current practices of designing built environments to meet the needs of homeless persons,” says McLane. “It offers an historical overview of the subject and practical analyses of recent projects from North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, which, in differing ways, assist unhoused person.” Within each chapter are also learning materials for educational use.  

The work addresses four main objectives: 

1. Document architectural responses to homelessness in multiple countries, providing a means to effectively share approaches and ideas.
2. Provide interior/architecture design practitioners a way to become informed and make decisions on applied building projects.
3. Provide information to support organizations and policy makers confronted with the need to accommodate their municipality’s burgeoning unhoused population, describing practical strategies that support an effective architectural response.
4. Inform design researchers and students who engage with this issue, providing necessary orientation and citation knowledge to leverage their work.

When asked how the book can help other professionals and students with their perspective in the design industry, McLane described that “we examined a range of design considerations including space planning, circulation and wayfinding, visibility, lighting, and materials and finishes within shelter, permanent supportive housing, and day centers. We hope that the book will become a reference for design students and professionals interested in this important social issue.” 

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Jill Pable is a professor and chair of the Interior Architecture & Design Department at Florida State University. Her research focuses on the design of environments for people experiencing trauma and she leads Design Resources for Homelessness, a non-profit research communication organization at designresourcesforhomelessness.org. 

Yelena McLane is an assistant professor in the Interior Architecture & Design Department at Florida State University. She explores relationships between interior configurations and users’ experiences within spaces, and social influences upon these relationships. Her recent scholarship focuses on resident perceptions of community spaces in permanent supportive housing. 

Lauren Trujillo holds a BS and an MFA in interior design and has served as an adjunct instructor in interior design and art history at several colleges. She is a licensed interior designer in Florida and is a LEED GA. Her research interests include intercultural design and education. 

Homelessness and the Built Environment: Designing for Unhoused Persons was published by Routledge in July of this year, and is currently available here.