Thesis Preparation Guide: Selecting Your Thesis Topic

At this time, you should have at least one or two strong ideas for a project you would like to undertake. Your project should engage a user group, help with a social or cultural issue, or provide a built solution to an area of need. In other words, it should be more than just designing a beautiful hotel or spa, and should pass the "so what" test.  Examples of past thesis projects have included: 

• Cultural centers for nationalities
• Museums about specific topics
• Schools for certain types of students
• Assisted care units, shelters or temporary housings for groups with special social, economic, or health needs. 

You should make your project realistic by:

• Giving your project a name
• Identifying a potential client of the project, i.e., who will pay for the project? 
• Stating the primary, secondary, and tertiary occupants/users of that space? (E.g., for a learning environment, the students and teachers are the primary and secondary users of the space, whereas the cleaning staff or vendors providing supporting services and occasional visitors are the tertiary users.)
• Analyzing its building type: Is it a new or existing building type, or an interior environment of mixed uses/building types?
• Identifying any potential design challenges. Will your design serve as a catalyst for change? E.g.:
  • How can an environment be designed to help children learn?
  • What is the nature of video art and how can non-traditional art be exhibited in a space?
  • What elements do aging members of an immigrant community need in an assisted care facility to feel at home?

Cover from: Chen, Jessie Tzu-yi. MTV Hotel: Branding and Interior Design. MFA thesis. New York School of Interior Design, 2014.

Prior to your research and design processes, you should brainstorm any potential questions, issues, or design challenges associated with your thesis project. A good research topic tends to be real, controversial, and sometimes even multi-disciplinary. It may be related to a wide range of associated issues or concepts, or may even contain multiple building types and uses.

"Building Community." Asid Icon, vol. 12, no. 2, Mar. 2010, pp. 36-37. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asu&AN=55121003&site=ehost-live.

For example, to design a child advocacy center (a multi-disciplinary agency that conducts investigations and provides services for child victims of sex abuse and severe physical abuse), you may need to conduct research from the following three perspectives:

1. The subject matter itself (not related to any potential building types nor any interior/architectural design elements): For the child advocacy center, potential research topics related to the project may include: Abused children and their behaviors, child sexual abuse, domestic violence or violence against women (children are often victims of domestic violence as well), neglect and psychological abuse, violence and physical abuse, etc. A verified reference source, such as CREDO, and an authoritative book providing a general overview of the subject matter will help you to understand the potential issues surrounding your subject or facing your user group. Occasionally, you may need to consult both local and national statistics/census for a more realistic and comprehensive picture of the issue. This may apply to housing projects for certain demographic groups, healthcare environments for patients with particular diseases/illnesses, or even transportation hubs/centers for certain commuting patterns/modes of transportation, etc. The "Research Your Topic" tab on this research guide will give you step-by-step instructions/tips to conduct your research on related subject matters.
2. Primary and related building types and potential interior/architectural design issues and topics: What is the primary building type of your thesis project, e.g., housing, educational environment, healthcare, retail, workplace, etc? Is it a mixed-use project with multiple building types, or a new prototype combining two or more building types? What are the potential design or architectural issues or challenges associated with the project? Again, using the child advocacy center as an example, the primary building type is community/social center for children. However, as it is a multi-disciplinary agency, the center may contain spaces for law enforcement uses, psychiatric/counseling facilities, or even medical supplies and equipment. Apart from the issues surrounding security and confidentiality, design topics and elements related to healing spaces/environments and trauma-informed design may also be applicable. The "Building Types & Case Studies" tab of this library guide will help you to conduct your research in these areas.
3. Evidence-based design issues related to your project: Although evidence-based design has been widely studied and applied in the healthcare environment and interiors, there have been growing applications in other building types and environments, such as learning environment, or even residential, retail, office and hotel spaces (Whitemyer). The "Evidence-Based Design" tab of this library guide will show you the resources and strategies for conducting your research on evidence-based design issues/findings pertaining to your project.