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ERIKA DUNCAN Interior Design 25 ymzk.dncn@gmail.com • (206) 265-9591
i Erika Duncan, a curator of chaos, designs environments that ignite dialogue, inviting each visitor to leave with their own answer Erika’s work challenges conventional notions of space, blending unpredictability with intentional design. Every environment she creates encourages exploration, reflection, and engagement, allowing visitors to experience contradiction and curiosity firsthand. By leaving interpretation open-ended, Erika fosters a personal connection between the individual and the space, transforming each encounter into a unique journey of discovery.
pg i pg ii pg iii pg 01 pg 17 pg 19 pg 29 pg 31 pg 39 MISSION STATMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS DESIGN MANIFESTO 1 烏合の衆:トー横塒 1.5 MANIC Magazine 2 RESONENCE 2.5 Product Illustration 3 CULTURAL ARCHIVE 3.5 Materiality ii
iii Curated Chaos At this point, society is moving so fast that we no longer have the time to fully flesh out our creative visions. An algorithm can only take you so far before it begins compressing originality, optimizing for speed, pattern, and familiarity rather than meaning. This is where people begin to notice the disconnect from work. Where algorithms aim for the smoothest and cleanest outcome, humans are messy and contradictory. We need this sense of imperfection to make things feel real. Within that imperfection lies our final remaining form of agency: feeling. Feelings allow us to distinguish ourselves from the masses. My role as a designer is therefore no longer to produce the easiest or most efficient solution, but to sense beyond it. I aim to create environments that invite dialogue rather than deliver fixed answers. By embracing unpredictability and contradiction, I design spaces that encourage exploration, reflection, and curiosity. These environments resist the pressure for clarity and instead allow multiple interpretations to exist at once. To design in this way is to act as a curator of chaos, introducing friction where algorithms seek smoothness, and openness where systems demand resolution. My work challenges conventional notions of space so that each person encounters it differently. In doing so, the space becomes a catalyst for discovery, allowing human experience to push back against the flattening force of algorithmic life.
Good design: Is ergonomic Is tactile Makes you think Invokes emotion, wanted or not, good or bad Is kind Is intimate Has something to say Is functional Is sturdy Betters the community it's situated in Is not overt Is designed for every body Is not to everyone's taste Utilizes multiple senses iv
Toyoko egura 烏合の衆:トー横塒 spring — 2026 01
02 This installation stands as a third place created as a safe haven, bridging the experiences of youths in the Toyoko Kid community, everyday people, and Corvus alike. The space is designed with a women-only refuge, discreet health resources, communal spaces, and an underground photo gallery and darkroom for self-expression and reflection. These structures are connected by a tensile canopy, translating the social tensions experienced by youth into physical tension while maintaining moments of softness and openness.
03 Cinecity Square Demographics International Tourists Domestic Tourists Local Nightlife Patrons Subcultural Youth & Nightlife Workers Minors: ages 12-17 (peak ages 14-16) Young Adults: ages 18-24 Women Unhoused / Marginally Housed Host / Hostess Street-level Sex Work Unemployed ( 45% ) ( 35% ) ( 12% ) ( 08% ) ( 55% ) ( 45% ) ( 70% ) ( 80% ) ( 40% ) ( 35% ) ( 25% )
Cinecity Square 1 Chome-20 Kabukicho, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0021, Japan Cinecity Square is a commercial and entertainment complex located in the heart of Kabukichō, Shinjuku, functioning as a major pedestrian and social hub within Tokyo’s dense urban environment. Anchored by the Toho Cinemas complex and the prominent Godzilla head landmark, the site attracts a diverse mix of tourists, shoppers, nightlife visitors, and local residents throughout the day and into the night. Its surrounding streets are characterized by intense commercial activity, illuminated signage, narrow pedestrian routes, and a strong contrast between entertainment-oriented public spaces and the more private or hidden spaces found within the surrounding urban fabric. 04
トー横キッズ ‘Toyoko Kids’ is the name given by the locals to the marginalized youth that populate the area around the Shinjuku Toho Cinema in Kabukicho, Tokyo. Their population consists of minors (ages 12-17) who have runaway from home from either sever domestic abuse, school bullying, or poverty; gathering to find community in the shared experiences and sense of belonging. Though, with the proximity to the underbelly red-light district of Tokyo, there are many that fall into exploitative situations and start destructive relationships with each other, older individuals, and substances. 05
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07 The gallery and darkroom are positioned underground as a space for reflection and self-representation. The gallery documents and displays experiences from the Toyoko Kid community, while the darkroom provides a more intimate environment for creating and processing photographs.
SUBSTRUCTURE: Gallery/ Dark Room 08
GROUND LEVEL 09
10 Inspired by the idea of a crow’s roost, the ground floor creates a shared territory where people can gather, linger, observe, or simply exist without being assigned a specific purpose. The tensile structure loosely defines this territory, translating social tension into stretched surfaces and suspended forms while maintaining moments of softness, shelter, and openness.
11 FIRST FLOOR: Community Space
12 The community space provides an open and flexible environment for eating, working, resting, and gathering. Varied seating arrangements allow users to choose between being alone, sitting alongside others, or actively participating in the space.
The informational space provides discreet access to resources surrounding sexu health, mental health, and overdose awareness. Pamphlets, posters, and other materials are integrated into the environment so information can be accessed privately, without requiring users to identify themselves or ask for help 13
SECOND FLOOR: Informational Resource 14
15 THIRD FLOOR: Woman-Only Space
The women-only space creates a protected environment separated from the often male- dominated and unpredictable conditions of Kabukicho. Incorporating showers and support spaces, the refuge provides both immediate physical needs and opportunities for rest and recovery. Its separation and controlled access are intended to establish a sense of privacy, safety, and agency, giving young women a space where they can temporarily remove themselves from situations in which they feel vulnerable. 16
17 MANIC M magaz man
GAZINE ine ic spring — 2025 MANIC Magazine is a publication dedicated to the art of styling, functioning as both a visual portfolio and cultural platform for MANIC Agency’s stylists. The inaugural issue showcases their work across fashion, music, campaigns, and editorials, positioning styling as creative authorship. It also introduces The MANIC Minute, a fast-paced challenge where stylists create a complete look from over 200 garments in just 60 seconds, capturing the instinct, spontaneity, and creative problem-solving behind the finished image. 18
reso nance RESONANCE fall — 2025 19
20 A community hub designed with non-hearing and hard-of- hearing individuals in mind encompassing experiences from congenital deafness to late-deafened. Rooted in DeafSpace principles, the hub balances educational and social programming through open classrooms, flexible lounges, and wellness areas that support both learning and community. By integrating visual clarity, spatial openness, and sensory comfort, the space becomes a living framework for dialogue, empowerment, and belonging across generations and abilities.
21 Local Deaf Spaces Manhattan Middle Upper Queens Brooklyn Staten Island ( 03 ) ( 03 ) ( 03 ) ( 01 ) ( 01 )
The Paragon Building 2100 49th Avenue, Queens, NY, 11101 Paragon is a seven-story, 130,000-square-foot commercial building located in the heart of the Hunter’s Point neighborhood of Long Island City at the southeast corner of 21st Street & 49th Avenue. The tenant-only rooftop amenity space offers indoor/outdoor seating and breathtaking 360 degree views—unparalleled views of Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. The soaring 13-foot to 17-foot ceilings provide an open work environment. Expansive, open floorplans allow for customizable layouts suited to fit your needs. The building is adjacent to high-traffic arteries, providing visibility to millions of commuters annually. 22
DeafSpace The DeafSpace Design Guidelines outline five core principles -- Sensory Reach, Space and Proximity, Mobility and Proximity, Light and Color, and Acoustics -- each addressing how design can enhance visual connection, comfort, and inclusion. DeafSpace Design is an architectural framework that responds to the sensory and cultural experiences of Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. Originating at Gallaudet University under architect Hansel Bauman, it redefines how space can foster communication, safety, and community through visual and tactile awareness. 23
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PRODUCT ILL peod An exploration of illustration of care organic and inorg material was rend focusing on its un qualities, depth, c visual character. T emphasizes obse representation, tr qualities into deta imagery through c texture. 29
USTRATION uct exture through the fully selected nic materials. Each ered in full color, que surface mposition, and he study vation and nslating tactile led two-dimensional olor, shading, and fall — 2024 30
arch ive ARCHIVE fall — 2024 31
32 An immersive atmosphere for cultural exchange that transcends language barriers, celebrating the universal emotions and experiences that unite us all. Through the use of moving images, still images, and auditory stimulus, a cultural hub emerges. A sharing of experience within another culture without the viewer needing to know or learn a different language.
33 Ethnicities and How Many Neighborhood They Occupy Asian/ Asian American Chinese East & Southeast Asian South Asian Italian American African American Latino / Latin American European Jewish ( 03 ) ( 04 ) ( 03 ) ( 02 ) ( 02 ) ( 03 ) ( 04 ) ( 04 )
National City Bank of New York 415 Broadway, New York, NY 10013 415 Broadway, New York, NY 10013 is a 1927 Art Moderne building designed by Walker & Gillette as the headquarters of the National City Bank of New York, one of the world’s largest financial institutions at the time. Its restrained stone façade and monumental Broadway entrance—marked by sculpted eagles—introduced a modern architectural language that contrasted sharply with the surrounding cast-iron buildings of Tribeca. While the interior has since been adapted for new uses following the bank’s departure in the 1990s, the exterior remains largely intact, preserving the building’s historical and urban significance within Lower Manhattan Hudson Square SoHo TriBeCa Little Italy/ NoLIta Chinatown Civic Center 34
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Multiple handle concepts were developed using different materials, considering how each influenced comfort, function, and appearance. This project explored the desig door handles through the study and materiality. 39 MATER mat
of ergonomic of form, grip, IALITY ri The final design was translated into an orthographic projection drawing, documenting its form and construction through precise technical representation. 40 spring — 2024