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Merel Fentener Van Vlissingen

Interieurarchitectuur
Master
Merel Fentener Van Vlissingen
Merel Fentener van Vlissingen

Ambiosati

Throughout my life, I have always been interested in being a researcher, gaining new information and testing its limits, and asking questions. After finishing my bachelor's in Spatial Planning and Design (RUG), I wanted to research more on the connection between the body and our surroundings. This interest was the main flow of my two years at ArtEZ. By following the master's Interior Architecture from CorpoReal, I experienced the freedom of experimenting with my interests, finding new methods, and (un)learning how to do research.

My graduation project shows how to engage with the space and experience all of the fundamentals within one space. The project itself has taught me a lot more than I expected, learning not only about the concepts and experiences but also a great deal about myself and how I work as an architect. It has shown me that I am not only an architect but also fulfil the role of artist.

How to manipulate time?

Ambiosati

My research started with my interest in mindfulness and how my generation is having problems with stress, burnout, mental health, and coping with modern society. Wondering whether this concept can be integrated into our everyday surroundings is the main drive of my research. I invented the key term Ambiosati to make a clear definition of what this ‘feeling’ is.

The first translation of ambiosati into a space

 

“The surroundings (ambio) are creating and fostering the experience of mindfulness (sati), which normally a person would need to practise from within, but with Ambiosati, the influence of the surroundings is stimulating mindfulness in itself”
- Merel Fentener van Vlissingen (2024)

The goal of my research was to slow down time and its stressful impact, so the first question that arose is “How can time be manipulated?”. I used new methods and started trusting more in my expertise on the topic and the art of sculpting. The question was answered with three fundamental abstracts:

  1. Time realisation
  2. Pressure points
  3. Detachment

Detachment represented in a model

These fundamentals combined are the tool to research and design Ambiosati. After all, mindfulness and architecture are strongly connected, as mentioned by Y. Kawai.

 

“Our mind is an integral part of our body, and our body is a part of the physical environment” 

- Yoko Kawai (2018)

Using the idea that our minds are in the environment, it becomes logical to use architecture as a medium to help reduce stress levels. With my project, I aim to create a tool that is applicable to all and any spaces for people to integrate and use. In this, I hope to create a solution to the downsides of modern society in which people have the freedom to experience a destressing state.

Deze pagina is voor het laatst gewijzigd op 24 juni 2025

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