Artist Biography
Yianna Buterbaugh is graduating in the spring of 2023 with a B.F.A. in Interior Architecture and a minor in Graphic Design. During her time at Endicott Yianna has continuously placed on the Dean’s List and has received several art-based recognitions such as the Presidential Art Scholarship and is now concluding her time with the program as a Thesis Award Nominee. Yianna has engaged in several multi-disciplinary internships as a design student throughout the course of her four years at Endicott; all of which have helped her create an eclectic knowledge base. In addition to Endicott’s required internship program, Yianna has had the opportunity to participate in further field experience through freelance projects like book illustration and logo design.
Yianna has sought involvement with numerous activities outside of the classroom while studying at Endicott. Participated in choir and dance as an underclassman and then proceeded to get involved with leadership activities around campus as she progressed through her education. Yianna has found a second passion in seeking leadership due to her participation, and later facilitation, in opportunities like Lighthouse Leadership Society, and Project Connect. She is a Global Ambassador for the Office of International Education and most recently, has become a peer tutor.
Following graduation, Yianna will be pursuing her interest in travel through a series of trips in the summer of 2023 to Scandinavia and Japan. She is bursting with excitement to engage with design through a global lens and looks forward to prioritizing travel throughout her career. Yianna’s interests lie in conceptual work and experiential design. After her travels, Yianna looks forward to pursuing a career that allows her to design spaces that encourage community, provoke wonder, and facilitate a suspension of reality.
Thesis Abstract
Fantasy acts as a healing tool for those struggling with mental health and well-being as it encourages a period of escape from stress-filled realities. While certain areas of the arts have clear ties with fantasy, it has yet to be explored in the built environment; furthermore, in a location that primarily services college students.
The fall was spent exploring the restorative qualities of fantasy and escapism on mental health, particularly pertaining to a collegiate population. My research seeks to answer my thesis question by including deep dives into several related categories. They include but are not limited to mental health in the collegiate sphere, the restorative qualities of fantasy, fantasy-driven architecture, place attachment, nostalgia, sensorial immersion, play, and a look into multi-medium fantasy applications.
For the practical portion of the thesis in the spring, I chose to implement my findings as a wellness center that serves students in Boston colleges through immersive and fantastical design. My site, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, is located centrally for ease of access by the majority of college students in the city. My design emphasizes the concept of leading the occupant on both a physical and mental JOURNEY through the space.
The museum’s original Palace houses a majority of the more traditional wellness programming: counseling and staff spaces, waiting areas, challenge zones to enable connection, and group meeting spaces. The addition, completed in 2012 by the esteemed Renzo Piano Building Workshop, houses the non-traditional programming elements such as multi-story omni zones, three distinct themed zones, playground amenities, a tea bar, and accompanying snack bars, locker spaces to encourage disconnection from external realities and private phone rooms among others. Combined, the site has several gardens, a greenhouse, and 8 floors, and amounts to approximately 130,000 sqft.