My project explores the impact of globalization on our sense of place and belonging. As our world becomes increasingly interconnected, places around the globe have come to look and feel the same, lacking a meaningful connection to their cultural and ecological context. This homogeneity, driven by industrialization, modernization, and standardization, has led to a sense of placelessness.

Inspired by Indigenous Indian philosophy, particularly the concept of nisarga, my project is aimed at re-establishing a connection to the land through materiality. In this approach, materials are viewed as inherently connected to their surroundings—a connection that promotes relationships of care and reciprocity between all life forms on earth.

My thesis challenges the traditional notion of nature as something separate from us, to be conquered by us. Instead, it proposes a framework for interior design practice that focuses on place-based material and spatial design choices rooted in the hyperlocal context. Departing from colonial extractive methods, the framework proposes the use of locally foraged materials in designing site-specific interiors for a cookie-cutter white box urban dwelling in New York. By using materials such as seaweed, post-consumer oyster shells, moss, and driftwood sourced directly from the surrounding environment, I aim to reintegrate humans into an ecological network and foster social, ecological, and cultural connections. Through daily interactions with these materials, inhabitants develop a relationship of care and reciprocity and come to appreciate the interconnectedness of all living things. The interior is envisioned as a living ecosystem, in which foraged materials are active participants, not passive components. This approach is designed to imbue impersonal, standardized domestic environments with a sense of connection to place.