Fallows, Maya

My 10 words are dominated by two ideas: the authenticity of oneself and the how you feel about life as an individual. I want to be earnest and authentic in the work I produce in my lifetime. I also want my personal brand to be seen as someone who places a high value in being considerate of all people in my design, and finds adaptive solutions to issues through cleverness. I believe intelligence isn’t a talent, but something that is pursued and a way of thought. I want to be in constant pursuit of intelligence, and to constantly desire growing my mind and perspective of the world, along with broadening my knowledge. I want to delight in every aspect of my everyday life, the highs and lows. I want to be clever and never stuck in one way of thinking. More than anything, I want to have the audacity to pursue my life in a way that I find both authentic and delightful, and to be true to my values rather than constantly seek to please others. I’ve spent a lot of my life seeking outward approval, and unlearning that has been incredibly challenging but rewarding. Seeking inward approval has ignited a passion within myself and has completely changed how I see the world. Taking delight and pleasure in the mundane makes life more enjoyable, and is a pursuit that every person is worthy of.

Where do you want to work?

Camel Step Coffee Roasters Shop / Faris Alosaimi

Camel Step Coffee Roasters Shop by Faris Alosaimu is a coffee shop located in Ahab, Saudi Arabia. The mission of Camel Step Coffee Roasters as a company is to bring third wave coffee to Saudi Arabia, a movement that is based in an appreciation for the natural flavors of high quality coffee. This idea of connection to nature is reflection in the design of the shop. Just as Camel Step desires for its customers to be connected the natural aspects of coffee, the interior design of the shop aims to create a link to nature through the utilization of raw and indigenous materials. The geometry of the space’s form is simple, reserved, and minimalist. This is so to allow for a high appreciation of the materials, from marble to local woods, that compose the simple and clean space.

Desk for Office / Nanometer Architectur

The Desk for Office by Nanometer Architectur is located in Nagoya, Japan. The office occupies a former snack bar. The concept for the Desk for Office is that the workers of the company is sharing a continuous desk to suite their needs as small office. It allows for constant communication, ease of work flow, and a value of team work.

Where do you want to be treated?

Aeon Hotel / noa* network of architecture

Aeon Hotel is located in meadows and woods of Soprabolanzo, Italy. It takes inspiration from barns and farmhouses, and seeks to emulate a refreshed, modern, and exciting experience of the countryside. You arrive in the main complex of the building for check-in, and from there traverse an underground tunnel to be transported to your hotel room. In which, you will find stunning views within a luxurious stay.

The Urban Dentist - Studio Karhard

The Urban Dentist by Studio Karhard is a dental office nestled in the heart of downtown Berlin. The sequence of The Urban Dentist is highly focused on creating a customer experience that is refined, sleek, and luxurious. One enters from the street to be greeted by a standing reception desk. After check-in the guest may brush their teeth at a privat but open sink station, with a black geometric wall tile backing an oval sink and mirror. From there, the guest lounges on plush pink chairs until they are called back into one of the operating rooms. They check-out in the same place as check-in, and exit into the streets of Berlin once again.

Where do you want to live?

Homme Store / Maden Group

The Homme Clothing Store promotes the sale of fashion while simultaneously creating a cultured experience for its shoppers. The design of the store is sleek, utilizing industrial steel and silver motifs throughout the store. The space is brightly and evenly lit, clearly highlighting the soft clothing in contrast against the sharp setting. The sequence is multi-faceted, with elusive enamel-blue spiral staircase leading into the lower level to find a coffee shop and continued shopping selection. The coffee shop is effective in promoting shopping, as the sequence requires traversing the entirety of the clothing selection before reaching the bar.

FLOATING HOUSE MOS ARCHITECTS

Floating House by MOS Architects is located in Canada. Its facade and interior are completely masked in undulating strips of unstained pine wood. Its concept is that it is a full floating home that is only tethered to the land by two bridges, one on its upper level and one on its lower level. Because of this floating condition, its sequence is unique. One must traverse the bridge that appears to only be lightly touching the land it connects the house to. From there, one must enter the kitchen that serves as the mitigating space between the living room, office, and bedroom. On the lower level is storage, a washroom, and the dock that completely surrounds the expanse of the home.

MoLaS Woodland Classroom / in situ studio The Woodland Classroom is a learning space located tangentially with a series of related museum building at the edge of a woodscape. The building engages the surrounding context magnificently through the hierarchical prioritization of views, circulation, and spatial relationships. One approaches building through a path that directs them to a breeze way that connects the two classrooms within the building. The roof is perforated with a series of ceiling lights, casting an even, ambient glow across the concrete slab. Within the classrooms, one finds a minimally decorated space. This is to highlight the connection to the woods, as a large window seat adorns the room. One of the classrooms also holds a back door to the woods, creating a sense of peacefulness and seclusion within the safety of the trees.

Which space do you think best embodies equity, inclusion, and social justice?

85 Social Dwellings in Cornellà / Peris+Toral.arquitectes

85 Social Dwellings by Peris + Toral Architects is an experimental approach to social housing that leans heavily into ideas of equity of experience. Before one even reaches their dwellings, a poignant sequence must be traversed. First, one must exit the public street and enter into the shared court yard that connects all residents. Next, one must approach 1 of 4 stairs to reach their section of housing, then enter the shared space of their units. The kitchen must be passed through to reach dwellings, encouraging the deconstruction of gender. The idea of equality is built through shared experience, rather than hyper individuality. Each abode is layed out the same with cross ventilation and 2 views.

WINE SOCIAL / LAB404

Wine Social is a curated drinking experience in which a sommelier provides a select sampling of 5 different wines. The space, designed by LAB404, is meant to evoke the experience of a cave. The interior is monochromatic and and dimly lit, with brilliant LED lighting highlighting key features. The reflectivity of the black walls creates a sense of expansiveness, evoking other-worldliness within a minimal design. The black and white rooms provide contrasting experiences. The Black room is heavy and mysterious, while the white is light and solid. The space of Wine Social is elusive, tempting, and exclusive.

What is the space of your desires?

For my “desire space”, I chose to combine the axons of the Luis Barragan Chapel and the outdoor museum classroom. I think the Chapel has phenomenal human factors from its lighting to material usage. However, I think it could be elevated by using elements of the classroom by recreating it in the woods, simplifying the approach, making the space smaller to create intimacy, and adding a window to form a spiritual connection to the cycles of life represented in trees and to integrate the space with its landscape context. My sequence illustrates a day in which I work for a firm and take clients who are interested in making this vision a reality.

Designing Above and Beyond | Meaning, Aspiration, and Purpose Personal Statement

Introduction Humans are complex beings that desire fulfillment. Since the beginning of consciousness, humans have sought ways to organize, dissect, and understand their own complexities in search of achieving personal fulfillment. In the modern era, this has culminated in the formation of modern psychology. One of the most famous analyzations of personal fulfillment is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Maslow asserts that each human has a predefined path in which they must take to achieve their personal fulfillment in order to fully enjoy the benefits of each category, one must first f fulfill all categories beneath it. However, I disagree with Maslow. I believe that human needs and wants are simultaneous and are part of a larger sliding scale of fluctuation. I believe that as an Interior Designer, it is my responsibility to celebrate the wants of clients through their needs. I believe that meaning, aspiration, and purpose are created through beauty, community, and empathy.

Meaning and Beauty I believe that beauty is a need as much as it is a want for clients. In Roger Ulrich’s 1984 study, “View Through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery”, he found that patients recovering from surgery healed faster when they had access to a window that viewed nature. In contrast, patients who had a view of a brick wall healed slower. Humans need beauty in the spaces they occupy because intentional meaning should be incorporated into every space we occupy. Human-built spaces should feel humane. Beyond the bare minimum necessities that a client asks for, it is our duty as Interior Designers to advocate for meaning, depth, and quality design in every moment and detail.

Aspiration and Community As an Interior Designer, there are many things I aspire to embody in the designs I produce for clients. One figure comes to mind, and that is Jane Jacobs. In 1961, Jane Jacobs published a book titled “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”. In it, Jacobs describes how the quality of neighborhoods in the city can be measured by the presence of its people on the streets. This idea of community-focused Architecture and Design was revolutionary for me. As designers, we control the health of the communities in ways that social workers, teachers, and government officials do not. Quality design promotes society. If we fails as designers, the community occupying the space fails as well. I aspire to bring intentional tenants of communitybuilding into every space I design. I want the spaces I design to be contingent to social interaction, comfortability, safety, delight, and beyond.

Purpose and Empathy When I reflect on what gives me purpose as a designer, there is a range of things that come to mind. I design because I want to help people. I design because I want to create better spaces than the ones myself and the ones I love have had. I design because I believe design is both a human right and beautiful. The word that summarizes the purpose I put in my designs is empathy. The very first time I considered becoming an Interior Designer was watching the television show “Queer Eye”. In the episode, the staff Interior Designer helps the Hero of the episode, a man in a wheelchair, by gutting his entire house to make it wheel-chair accessible. The idea that so many people live in homes that are not built for them rocked me to my core. Architecture and Interior Design have long been utilized in the active discrimination of disabled persons, persons of color, queer persons, and women. The world is built for 6 foot, able bodied White men, and this is a travesty. When I design, I make every design choice to extend beyond what is simply needed, and give purpose to my work by extending empathy through intentional inclusivity and consideration.

References Jacobs, J. (1993). The death and life of great American cities. Vintage Books. Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality ([1st ed.].). New York: Harper. Ulrich R. S. (1984). View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science.New York, N.Y. Brown, Adrianne (2017) Black Skyscraper, Architecture and the Perception of Race. Baltimore. University of Chicago. Bush, George H. W. (1990) American Disabilities Act. Washington, D.C., Government of the United States

Introduction When designing, there are many approaches to achieving a clients needs and wants. A designer may begin with a concept, through which all design decisions be made. Other designers prefer to look at each element of a project through an individualized in-depth assessment of the client’s wants, needs, and thoughts. At the end of a project, the designer chooses a concept to tie together all these pieces into one. These differences in thought modality reflect the nuances of System Thinking.

System Thinking System Thinking is an approach to design methodology in which the design is considered not static, singular solution, but as a fluid part its ever changing environment and interactions. System Thinking applied to design methodology can be compared to the human body. Our skin could be considered to be only a part of the integumentary system. However, our skin still interacts with our nervous system, our immune system, is influenced by our brain, and takes in information from our physical environment. The same understanding can be applied to designing for clients needs and wants. When designing integrated, quality solutions, it is necessary to consider not only an object’s function, but the object’s relationship to its context. Take for example a chair in a living room. The performance of the chair is considered- what is the best material? Framing? Height? Cushioning? However, one must also consider the relationships of the chair. Is the chair for guests, household members, or a certain household member? Should the chair be by a window? How does its appearance relate to the aesthetic of the home? How can its finishes mitigate pets in the home?

All of these hypotheticals must be considered, because design is the accommodation of multi-faceted circumstances. Clients may only recognize the needs and functions of the design challenge they face. A client may simply shop for a chair that is in their budget and will look nice in their home because they do not have the expertise or training to anticipate and recognize needs that are not presently Infront of them. That is why they utilize the assistance of an Interior Designer. Interior Designers are presented with the needs of a client, and in return they give their needs and wants. It is in this way that Interior Designers form a more equitable, inclusive society. If there are such complex nuances of systems within a simple living room, then one can only imagine the weight of the systems that operate within the entirety of the built world that is occupied by eight billion people. It is the duty of interior designers to go beyond what are the needs presented by law to be inclusive, such as those stated within the American Disabilities Act. The goal of Interior design is to create a seamless world in which all systems of thought and function may be adaptable, accommodating, and celebratory of all people of all backgrounds.

Conclusion Interior Design necessitates the use of system thinking because it is our duty. Needs and wants of clients may only be accomplished when system thinking is utilized. While it may appear as a challenge on the surface, approaching such a task is simple. A strong Interior Designer only needs to look to those around them, and with empathy ask, “What do you need from a space, and what you want?” Interior Designers cannot know everything, but we have access to all the information we could ever need, because our specialization is people.

References Ada Bathroom Layout: Commercial restroom requirements and plans. ADA Bathroom Layout | Commercial Restroom Requirements and Plans. (n.d.). Francis Amagoh, & author, F. A. E. (1970, January 1). Systems and complexity theories of Organizations. SpringerLink. Alan Mountain Melbourne. (2014, July 9). 5 differences between complexity & systems thinking. BetterEvaluation. Dr. Marie Morganelli Mar 18, 2020, May 10, 2022 B., Apr 28, 2022 B., & Apr 27, 2022 B. (n.d.). What is systems thinking? Southern New Hampshire University. The Farnsworth House. Minnie Muse. (n.d.).