Elvira Nordlund

“Tactile Conversations” explores how meeting rooms within social services are designed and how they shape interactions between people. The project is based on a number of meeting rooms in and around the Stockholm area, with a particular focus on environments where children and young people meet social workers. By analysing the function, design and atmosphere of these rooms, both common features and significant variations emerge, often shaped by local conditions and limited resources.

The children’s rights organisation Maskrosbarn describes how young people who have been in contact with social services often experience the physical environments as sterile, unsafe and impersonal, which can reinforce a sense of vulnerability rather than ease it. Instead, these young people share a desire for a warm and welcoming physical environment.

From an interior architecture perspective, this degree project explores how these rooms can be developed and highlights the value of clearer guidelines for these spaces. The project also investigates how tactile elements, the ability to touch something or rest one’s gaze on an object, can help reduce feelings of vulnerability during difficult conversations.