DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/YPQF-8W73
Defense Date
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts
Department
Interior Design
First Advisor
Roberto Ventura
Second Advisor
Kristin Carleton
Third Advisor
Timothy Hamnett
Abstract
Relevance:
Personal Relevance: This project merges my passion for film photography and modern technology, aiming to create a design that bridges traditional and modern practices.
Local Relevance: Richmond’s rich historical context provides an ideal setting to illystrate that traditional arts like analog photography can be preserved while integrating modern digital technology.
Global Relevance: Globally, there is an increasing trend toward combining traditional and modern design approaches, particularly in architecture and interior design. Synthesizing analog and digital means is used to meet the balance between materiality and modern technology (Rose, 2014; Pelizzari & Scrivano, 2011). Designers balance tactile materials like wood and stone with digital tools to design spaces that honor tradition while embracing innovation.
Issues in Interior Design: Interior design faces similar challenges to photography, material experience is significant. Designers must be able to integrate modern technologies without losing the sensory engagement that traditional techniques achieve (Minniti, 2016). Photography studios and other adaptive reuse projects require a balance between materiality and innovation, which ensures that analog and digital elements can coexist within the space (Keightley & Pickering, 2014).
Research Question:
Design Conflict: Interior design can be used to fill the gap between the physical experience of analog photography and the accuracy of digital technology. Similar to photography, it is challenged to retain material richness in the face of changing digital demands and to reconcile sincerity with innovation.
Design Objective: This project explores strategies in the using contrasting materials, flexible layouts, and sensory-focused details to support both analog and digital workflows. The objective is to design a soace where material interaction and technological flexibility further enhance the creative process.
Method:
Literature Review: Source Keightley & Pickering (2014) will be reviewed for the role of materiality in analog and digital photography. Fackler (2019) provides insights into the resurgence of analog methods in digital spaces, highlighting the importance of balancing both elements.
Case Studies: Explore flexible and adaptable space designs that can accommodate both analog and digital workflows, informed by projects such as Minniti (2016), which investigates hybrid creative spaces.
Interviews: Engage with photographers who use both analog and digital techniques to discover their spatial needs in a studio setting. These interviews can offer insights into how spaces can be designed to support hybrid workflows.
Outcomes:
Reasons for Interest: Dematerialization refers to the reduction of physical, tangible experiences in virtual environments. In photography, it is evident in the loss of the tactile process of film development, which many designers and photographers are attempting to preserve (Fackler, 2019).
Outcomes: This project proposes a photography center integrating analog and digital modes through materiality and sensory engagement. Modular furniture designs and spaces will support shifting creative needs.
Contrasting materials, textures, light, and touch will enhance the user experience in an interactive environment that seamlessly merges traditional tactile with modern technological accuracy.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-5-2025