Roia Alghamdi

Over the past decade, Saudi students in the United States have been the victims of numerous hate crimes, including murder. My project is aimed at creating a supportive residence for students and a center to promote understanding social and cultural exchange between Eastern and Western communities. The goal in designing the residence is to promote students’ psychological and physical wellness by providing a space in which they can offer one another support and share experiences while studying abroad. The center is designed to allow visitors to educate one another about traditional daily rituals—eating, playing games, making and listening to music—as a way of fostering better relations between cultures.