Summer studio 20’

Project Brief

2020 was nothing short of a whirlwind. Many of our lives changed dramatically as COVID emerged across the world. Suddenly, our world was overcome by fear and uncertainty. The days of being close to others and freely navigating through schools & universities, popular restaurants & bars, and even places of work quickly came to an end. The lives we had once known so well changed in an instant.

This new way of life - social distancing & masks - was unlike anything we had ever seen before. Although COVID itself was a lot to grasp, the impacts of the virus proved to be even more troublesome. Such impacts included the rapid increase in domestic abuse. With many stuck at home, life with abusers became even more difficult. Therefore, the basis of my capstone was set to revolve around this huge issue.

The first key component of understanding this capstone is understanding the issue. After discussions with my professor, I was encouraged to hone in on a more specific component of domestic abuse. Doing so would enable me to make my design that much more specific, as domestic abuse itself is a large issue with many different paths. Therefore, I narrowed my target group to be victims of Intimate Partner Violence.

In summary, Domestic Violence (DV) can occur between a parent and child, siblings, or even roommates.

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) specifically occurs between a partner or spouse.

The first part of the research process began with taking a better look at the statistics surrounding Intimate Partner Violence. First, I researched overall IPV statistics to get an sense of how prevalent the violence is in our society today. The findings were shocking to say the least.

From there, I took a deeper dive into the statistics surrounding the issue, such as looking at what gender is most impacted, regional impacts, how many victims receive medical care after violence, etc. Each of these findings propelled my desire to address the issue even more.

A tremendous focus of this capstone was determining what question I wanted to answer in relation to IPV. As noted by my professor, it would be impossible to solve the issue of partner violence itself, so I had to address which of the many variables fueling abuse to tackle. With COVID in mind, I decided to focus specifically on how to provide medical care while addressing necessary components of the virus—social distancing and stay at home orders. The idea behind this question is to address how we can offer support for these individuals in future pandemic like instances.

In order to answer the how might we question, I needed to fully grasp who I would be designing for and what they would need in a healthcare facility.

As our professor stressed, identifying the pains & gains of the design user (in this case, the victims) would aid in creating meaningful, helpful solutions and proposals. Reading through their stories and identifying their needs, as well as the limitations that prevented them from fulfilling those needs, was incredibly insightful.

Next step: identifying the site. My professor provided the class with various sites in which we could use around the Cincinnati area. From there, it was up to us to do the research and determine which of those sites would work best with our ideas.

After researching three different sites all located Downtown, I finalized on 1801 Elm Street. After performing a SWOT analysis, this site rated the best. Above are a few key components that helped in making this site the suitable for my design.

The last part of the research process was to create a rough draft of the design. A rough rendering provides insight into the thought process of space. In this case, means of protection, both around the patient bed and around the visitors, establishes distance and control. The goal was to emphasize a new way of thinking when it comes to our healthcare facilities. With COVID, we have seen how crucial maintaining distance and protection is. Therefore, my design will have the goal of answering how we could possibly do that.

With the design in mind, I researched CDC recommendations and determined which applied to my space. From there, I formulated ideas on how to address those recommendations both on a physical and digital scale. It is the hope that the physical solution will cater to pandemic needs, but the digital solution can further supplement and address any needs not met.