Graduate Student Work

Danielle

Graduate, Master of Arts in Interior Architecture

Danielle received a BA in French from Michigan State University and spent five years teaching in France. While at Suffolk, Danielle was mentored by Deborah Berger of Maven Design. Inspired by urban design, both micro and macro, she loves the challenge of mixing drama with functionalism and believes design can change the world.

Thesis Project: The Coalition

Thesis Synopsis

The Coalition is a live / work incubator for urban wood and metal entrepreneurs. I set out with the simple intention of creating healthy cities through maintaining urban diversity. In the case of my thesis, this meant economic diversity by keeping middle income earners in the city. The Coalition does this by decreasing overhead startup costs through shared tooling for wood and metal workers. On an economic level, encouraging business ownership increases earning potential for this middle income demographic. On a social level, several population types are brought together to work with their hands. A symbiotic relationship congeals between the incubator’s residents and surrounding community, whereby the community is exposed to wood and metal education as the residents are exposed to potential clients. The design of the building is centered on this exchange, highlighting spaces that most foster this relationship. These spaces appear along a central crane path; combining the function of the building with the social capital of the building, while passing through the lunchroom (gathering), the motherboard (daily operations) and the think-tank (collaboration). These three moments are designed to encourage interaction with the space and with one another in the same manner that a bustling city street blends street vendors, CEO's, and artists, and families. It is an urban environment downscaled to a single building, designed to do what cities do best: fuel those with talent and work ethic to better themselves and their society.