Propinquity in Dormitory: Social Support for International Students Living

Abstract

This thesis discusses the reasons loneliness occurs among international students and how to reduce it by architecture. As the number of the international students grows significantly in Auckland, the psychological problems of foreign students have been paid more and more attention. These students leave their families and social networks when they go across national borders for their education. It results in a negative emotion: international students’ loneliness. Student accommodation, as an environment which students spent most of their time in, does not only provide a place to sleep but helps those newcomers meet their social need. Thus, the proposed research question is: how could student accommodation help international students reduce their feeling of loneliness? After analyzing several preliminary types of investigations and articles, this thesis treats building the new social network and providing the sense of belonging for international students as two principal directions to answer the question. The design focuses on how to draw people to gathering spaces without disturbing privacy to increase the possibilities of meeting, seeing and hearing people – which is the lowest contact form between strangers. Compared to the traditional dormitory, the new accommodation has a stronger connection between the residents and new students. The mixed use of the space programme and the overlapping of the personal contact could make a dynamic, attractive, safe and healthy environment both for international students and the surroundings of the residences.