My research focusses on the belonging of international students as foreign identities living in Scotland. By situating my research on the communal areas of international student accommodation spaces, I sought to explore the possibilities of international student flats as spaces of multicultural socialization and cultural transition.

Through case studies, literature research and collage experiments, I discovered the representational position of painting in different cultures. And consequently, I clarified the way to achieve my research goal by constructing an initial connection with some elements of the space and then gradually expanding to constructing a connection with the whole space. I extracted paintings that are characteristic of four countries, and I also divided the Scottish cultural life necessary for international students into four parts to present in the space, combining their elements with local Scottish interior space elements for modelling and collage experiments.

The result of the research is to create a cultural social space in the international student’s flat for free exploration. Using the elements of painting as a way of making initial connections and the elements of Scotland as a tool for international students to understand and familiarize themselves with Scottish life, a cultural transition was achieved through international students exploring and interacting in the space thus allowing the international student community to gradually adapt to life in Scotland.