How interior architecture creates inner peace

Pyramids and temples in Egypt are thousands of years old and still standing.

Ibrahim Diab, a Dutch-Egyptian who grew up in Cairo, was inspired to take the bachelor course Interior Architecture at ArtEZ Academy for Art & Design in Zwolle. Ibrahim: “This course taught me everything I needed to know about architecture.” His finals work is a new spatial design for the front entrance of the Groningen train station. In Ibrahims design, the space removes the rushed chaos from the station square and its travellers.

Eliminating chaos

“We live in two worlds: our inner world and the world we interact with”, Ibrahim explains. “In the past, the inner world was easy accessible. The main thing you had to think about was finding food. As time moved on, however, the outside world started gaining more ground. As a result, our life now mainly consists of doing things in the outside world, without paying attention to our inner world. I have been doing research on how to bring back the connection with one’s inner world.”

Groningen station square

The research led to his design for a new spatial layout of the station square. “It’s very chaotic: everyone is moving and mingling.” To mitigate this effect, Ibrahim came up with a creative solution.

When you’re walking, you see a sloping floor that requires your attention to step on, so instead of making obvious movements going from A to B, you really must pay attention. Doing so, the space and the body merge and you can reconnect with your inner world.

Image: Ibrahim Diab final project