Zahra Rezaei

Building Multicultural Community: The Role of Architecture in Connecting People to Space and Each Other Focusing on People’s Choices and Behaviors

Canada has been recognized as a vibrant and multicultural country since the influx of European immigrants in the early 20th century. Canada welcomes a large number of immigrants and newcomers, particularly international students, every year from diverse cultural backgrounds. The need to build communities and social interactions and engagements in such a diverse environment should be prioritized in architectural studies and urban planning in order to enhance the sense of belonging and ease the immigrant’s adaptation to the unfamiliar environment. 

With the aim of understanding the notion of an inclusive and intercultural design, the thesis research started by exploring human behaviors and choices in architectural spaces and the flexibility and adaptability of spaces. The goal is to find the various ways an architect can direct and predict people’s behavioral patterns, use of space, and movements through spaces providing choices. What are the commonly shared experiences and desired space qualifications for people with diverse cultural backgrounds? 

The research phase started with the examination of mazes, as simple architectural spaces letting the users create different moving patterns by giving them freedom of choice as well as restricting them with limitations for their movement circulation. As a result of the observations of labyrinths and mazes and exploring their historical rationale, and the study of people’s decision-making patterns, the research phase continued by exploring the environmental psychology and environmental behavior phenomenon. 

The proposed program is designing a novel, multicultural, inclusive, and affordable student residence on the University of Manitoba Fort Garry campus, due to the shortage of on-campus student accommodation. According to this aim, the history and evolution of dormitories and student residences has been researched. 

The research aims to understand how architecture and innovative design can foster community interactions and connect people to their inhabited environment and each other by integrating mutual behavioral patterns. Moreover, people’s psychological social interactions with their surroundings in diverse communal spaces are studied and will be used in the design of the project.