Designing Awakening: Micro-Perceptual Shifts Through Projection in Domestic Space

Abstract

This paper investigates the spatial potential of projection-based image layers within architectural design, arguing for their reconsideration as spatial mechanisms rather than representational media. While projection technologies have been widely explored in urban contexts as tools of spectacle and communication, their capacity to reorganize spatial perception within everyday environments remains under-theorized. Addressing this gap, the study focuses on the domestic interior as a site of continuous inhabitation, where familiarity, repetition, and perceptual habituation shape spatial experience.Drawing on architectural theory, media studies, and research through design, the paper proposes a conceptual and operational framework for integrating projection into interior space. It develops five operative modes—spatial extension, perceptual disruption, atmospheric conditioning, temporal–narrative structuring, and responsive spatialization—through which projection can function as an active component of architectural design. These modes shift the role of projection from episodic visual intervention toward sustained spatial engagement, enabling interiors to operate through temporal variation and responsiveness.Central to the argument is the concept of “awakening,” introduced to describe the micro-perceptual shifts through which familiar environments are intermittently alienated and thus re-experienced. Unlike estrangement as a condition of sustained dislocation, awakening operates through calibrated and reversible deviations that reactivate attention without disrupting continuity. Through speculative design probes conducted in domestic settings, the study demonstrates how projection can reveal latent spatial potentials, foreground overlooked surfaces, and reconfigure the perceptual status of everyday objects.By repositioning projection-based media within the domain of architectural practice, the paper advances a shift from the production of static form toward the orchestration of dynamic spatial experience. In doing so, it contributes to ongoing discussions on media-integrated environments and proposes an expanded role for design in shaping how space is perceived and continuously reinterpreted.