What effect does campus outdoor space have on students’ quality of life?
I began this project as part of a class called “How People Work With Things.†The course served as an excellent opportunity to combine my love of being outside with my desire to understand the world from a special and ethnographic perspective.
I built models, administrated surveys/mood collages, and bribed my fellow students with candy in order to better understand how students interacted with their outdoor environment. Through this research I was able to identify a number of easily implemented solutions (more seating, better lighting, landscaping) as well as a few design opportunities that would prove a bit more difficult to tackle (the average 4+ inches of rain per month, cold winters and hot, humid summers for starters).
I prepared a document outlining student attitudes towards these spaces; student needs regarding outdoor spaces in general; suggested improvements; and additional research findings.