An initial unspoken disconnection occurs in society as a result of social boundaries that people set for themselves as a defense mechanism against uncomfortable or new events and strangers. But people are creatures of connection. Spaces are designed for bring people together in one place and to be experience together. The simple act of cooking and dining performed every day may be a way to bring all cultures together without hesitation. This thesis investigates the idea of linking people together through different types of programmatic overlap within the interior to break through “social boundaries” that exist in space psychologically and visually.

The proposed location is the center of Union Square Park, where people from different backgrounds gather together spend time at the park, the playground, or the Green Market and using the 14th Street/Union Square Station for transportation. Social disconnection and the rise in food insecurity in New York is addressed through a program of combining a cooking class as well as a restaurant that also functions as a soup kitchen in the morning and educational classes in cooking to serve the food deprived. The programs are connected as a way to dissolve the solid social walls by creating a sense of “ being in touch” visually and physically through connecting people’s minds, interests to come together through interior design.