Sensory Design in Educational Buildings: Elementary School Inclusive for Children with ASD

dc.contributor.authorHariri, Leen Nazihen
dc.contributor.committeechairGartner, Howard Scotten
dc.contributor.committeememberJones, James R.en
dc.contributor.committeememberBecker, Edward Gentryen
dc.contributor.committeememberZellner Bassett, Paola A.en
dc.contributor.departmentArchitectureen
dc.date.accessioned2020-06-24T08:02:04Zen
dc.date.available2020-06-24T08:02:04Zen
dc.date.issued2020-06-23en
dc.description.abstractDesigning a school turned out to be far more enriching for me as an architect and as a person; it is a process that investigates the deep connection with one's childhood memories and helps in realizing how much impact the school environment has had on shaping the people we become. (In his book The Child, The City, The Artist) Aldo Van Eyck says: " In my beginning is my end … In my end is my beginning." The design of a school should be addressed as a place where childhood memories are created, where our understanding of play, social interaction, independence and awareness of ourselves and our architectural surrounding starts. It adds responsibility on the architect to make that space a perfect platform for learning, curiosity and creativity. As a child, going to school is a long process that may hold many obstacles. We can't imagine what it is like for someone on the Autism Spectrum. One to every 160 children in the world and one in every 59 children in the US are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD. This high rise in the number of ASD diagnosis should urge architects to think of providing the infrastructure for those children to grow and adequately engage in their communities. This group of schoolchildren have the ability to blend with other neuro-typical children if the school was supportive of this merge both administratively and architecturally. Coming from a country that does not have enough support for such children was a big motivation for my thesis. I felt that we as architects can play a major role in supporting them and even raising awareness about ASD. In my thesis I have designed a school encouraging the inclusivity of students with ASD where the architecture facilitates the co-existence of two groups of children that have different yet complementary capabilities. It is my firm belief that an architecture that can embrace the challenges of such a group of children enriches the social and intellectual growth of both groups simultaneously.en
dc.description.abstractgeneralThis project tackles the question of how architecture can help children on the Autism Spectrum interact with their social and built environment. The project is an elementary school that is designed taking into consideration sensory aspects like color, light, textures and sound. In my thesis I have designed a school encouraging the inclusivity of students with ASD where the architecture facilitates the co-existence of two groups of children that have different yet complementary capabilities. It is my firm belief that an architecture that can embrace the challenges of such a group of children enriches the social and intellectual growth of both groups simultaneously.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Architectureen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:26419en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/99095en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectAutismen
dc.subjectSensory Designen
dc.subjectInclusive Designen
dc.titleSensory Design in Educational Buildings: Elementary School Inclusive for Children with ASDen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineArchitectureen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Architectureen

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