Anhad Viswanath
Anhad Viswanath
Meditation Map and Guide
Meditation Map and Guide
Supervisors: Kathleen McPeek Fry, Therese Nugent and Alan Pranther
Designing a Meditation Map and Guide for the university campus is a self-driven project that was pursued over Summer 2021. The purpose of the project was to design a Meditation Map that presents beautiful and interesting spots on campus that can be great for meditation exercises, such as mindfulness, breathing exercises, and observation meditation. The project offered opportunities to apply the skills related to AutoCAD and technology to create a map that is visually appealing and interactive to users in the community. In addition, the project provided an interdisciplinary approach in terms of research findings that connected with the psychology of individuals' needs and the topic of mental health and wellbeing.
Some goals and objectives for the project are:
Goals:
To increase awareness on meditation and its importance in maintaining good mental health and wellbeing
Explore design elements in areas of campus suitable for meditation and breathing exercises
Facilitate an environment on campus for meditation as a part of daily life and through which students, faculty, and others from the community can benefit from.
Introducing the meditation spots and assisting users in navigating them through campus
By making a meditation map that will locate the spots on the campus base map and include some creative meditation theme.
Objectives:
By creating a meditation guide that gives instructions and information about the exercises recommended.
By finding out information about the trees in the spots and other design features and amenities that contribute to good wellbeing. Additionally, perspective renderings would be prepared to offer an insight into the space.
The perspective renderings can include human figures to present how users can make use of the spaces for meditation. Moreover, one will be able to access the meditation guide by scanning a QR code using an electronic device.
Final Meditation Map:
https://bealbotanicalgarden.msu.edu/visit/meditation
Chosen campus landmarks for meditation:
Beal Botanical Garden
Meditation Exercise - Walking Meditation
Brody Hall
Meditation Exercise - Breathing Exercise
Birch Road
Mediation Exercise - Walking Meditation
Kalamazoo Street
Meditation Exercise - Observation of Natural Surroundings
Sanford Forest Area
Meditation Exercise - Walking Meditation
Shaw Hall
Meditation Exercise - Mindfulness
Holmes Hall
Mediation Exercise - Breathing Exercise
Akers Hall
Meditation Exercise - Mindfulness
North Shaw Lane
Meditation Exercise - Observation of Artwork
Human Ecology
Meditation Exercise - Breathing Exercise
Music Building
Meditation Exercise - Observation of Artwork
Benefactors Plaza
Meditation Exercise - Observation of Artwork
MSU Main Campus Map and Steps in Creating the Meditation Map
The map was used as a template to trace from the base map.
Taken from https://maps.msu.edu
Base Map boundaries modified on Autodesk AutoCAD.
The AutoCAD file can be accessed below:
Meditation Map on Vectorworks
The base map from AutoCAD was imported into VectorWorks and then was traced using the poly line tool.
The traced base map was then color rendered,using the polyline properties. A blue and green color scheme was chosen because it personally appeared to be a really appealing color scheme to present the theme of meditation.The positive connotations of blue and green represent the tranquility and serenity that meditation brings to the mind and even the beauty of the natural surroundings.
A legend was created to associate each meditation spot with the type of meditation exercise that they can offer the space for.
Making an Interactive Map and Guide on Microsoft PowerPoint
The PowerPoint is an initial draft with the map and guide together and how they could look as an interactive resource.
To download the PowerPoint, use the URL below:
Draft on Microsoft Sway
Meditation Map on AutoCAD
AutoCAD File
Annuals Project
Annuals Project
The view of the winter wonderland on campus from the study lounge in Akers Hall, Michigan State University. Taken in February 2020.