How mindful home design fosters social connection

A refugee from Cyprus, Tasoulla Hadjiyanni, Ph.D. uses her design profession to help create communities where everyone can thrive. By researching the ways the design of the built environment intersects with culture and identity, she sheds light on how physical, mental, economic and social costs associated with displacement can carry on for generations. In her most recent book, “The Right to Home,”, Hadjiyanni uses the stories of Hmong, Somali, Mexican, Ojibwe and African American families in Minnesota to explore how the design of residential interiors can support or suppress peoples’ ability to thrive. As the founder of Culturally Enriched Communities, Hadjiyanni advocates for built environments that help eliminate health, income, and educational disparities. Her award-winning teaching pedagogies as a Professor of Interior Design at the University of Minnesota have been used to decolonize design education and nurture global citizens.