Undergraduate - Interior Architecture

Undergraduate | Interior Architecture

About the Program
Whether it is as familiar and human scaled as a home or office environment or as dramatic and monumental as the design of an international airport, our surroundings have a significant impact on the way we live and on the experiences we have every day. Interior designers, recognizing the importance of this impact, focus their attention on ergonomics, anthropometrics, and the foundation elements and theories of design to create distinct, responsive, functional, and dynamic environments for living and working. As an interior architecture major at Ohio University, you can learn how these elements combine to meet the physical, psychological, social, and intellectual needs of people in a variety of settings. If you are sensitive to the use of materials and details in the built environment, are attentive to color, enjoy drawing, constructing, and organizing objects and spaces to form interesting and complex designs, interior architecture may offer a challenging and fulfilling career choice for you.

Transfer Students
It is imperative for students who transfer or relocate to Ohio University, Athens campus, who declare interior architecture as their major to speak with an Interior Architecture faculty member prior to or at the time of transfer or relocation. It is critical that a discussion regarding course selection occur between the student and an Interior Architecture faculty member prior to registering for courses.
Students who wish to transfer into the interior architecture major from another institution or regional campus students who are re-locating to the Athens campus must submit a portfolio of work for review by the faculty. Students with design work determined by the faculty to be equivalent to that of some or all of the portfolio review required coursework (as listed above) will be reviewed, for the purpose of determining admission to Phase II of the major, at the same time as all other portfolio review submissions, currently taking place at the end of the fall quarter. Transfer students admitted into the major must complete all major requirements determined to be missing from the student's academic design experience.

Equivalent Portfolios
Students with pre-portfolio review design work other than from the required eight courses (listed above) may submit portfolios for review, and be evaluated for admission into Phase II of the program if the work is determined by the faculty to be equivalent in content to the listed required minimum work.

Curriculum
The Interior Architecture Program at Ohio University is a professional program accredited by the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research (FIDER). The program is divided into four distinct phases:

Phase I: Design Foundations and Portfolio Review
In this phase students develop basic skills and knowledge through courses in design fundamentals and graphic communication. A course surveying professional practices and organizations provides an overview of the interior design profession. A portfolio review of each student’s work takes place at the end of this phase.

Phase II: Basic Environmental Design
Phase II includes in-depth design studio experience and study of design fundamentals, materials and construction systems, and two and three dimensional computer imaging and modeling applications.

Phase III: Professional Interior Architecture Studios
Phase III includes a sequence of interior architecture studios and seminars, lecture format classes in rendering and presentation techniques, lighting, history of interior design, materials and construction systems, interior finishes, and the production of contract documents.

Phase IV: Interior Architecture Studio and Senior Thesis
Phase IV includes a sequence of two interior architecture studios, a class addressing research, programming, and preparation for the senior thesis, and concluding with a spring quarter senior thesis studio.

Each phase consists of courses that offer the development of knowledge, skills and professional attitudes that prepare students for the following phase. The final phase prepares students for entry-level professional practice. In studio courses, a ratio of one faculty member to 18 students allows for faculty and students to have meaningful one-on-one interaction. The Interior Architecture Program provides students with instruction and opportunities for developing a high degree of skill in traditional designing techniques, such as quick sketching, hand rendering, and drafting, as well as in digital two- and three-dimensional imaging.

Course descriptions and program requirements are available in the Ohio University Undergraduate Catalog.

Portfolio Review
The program conducts a yearly portfolio review, at the end of fall quarter, through which eighteen (18) students are selected to advance in the program. The number of students selected is limited by accreditation standards, number of faculty, and physical facilities. To prepare for the portfolio review students are required to take nine designated courses (please see the undergraduate catalog for the listing of courses) and then assemble the visual work from each of those classes into a folio. The faculty of the program review the work contained in the folios at the end of fall quarter, and based on that review, select eighteen students to be admitted into the next phase of the major. Students denied admission through the portfolio review must identify another major.

Working with their academic advisor, a student may incorporate some of the Interior Architecture courses into a program such as the Bachelor of Specialized Studies (B.S.S.) that is administered in University College. This option provides for a special course of study, when nothing similar exists elsewhere at Ohio University. Through this option a student can create a major by combining at least two academic areas into a course of study.

Computer Requirement
Students who successfully complete the portfolio review process are required to provide and maintain a computer, meeting program specifications, for all studio courses. Currently the program uses software such as AutoCAD, Form-Z, Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, and Dreamweaver. Computer specifications are sent to students along with their notice of admission following the portfolio review process. The specification may change with every entering group of students as technology advances.

Internship Requirement
The program requires that each student complete a professional internship, that is typically served with an interior design or design-related firm. The internship is completed after Phase III coursework is finished.

Environment for Designing
Students who successfully complete the portfolio review process will be provided with a high quality workstation that supports traditional drawing and model making activities, as well as computer-based activities. This workstation is theirs for the entire quarter. This allows students to work effectively outside of class time, which is an important aspect of design education. The design studios in Grover Center are well equipped for working in a creative and productive mode, and provide ample space for the display of student work. Facilities include a resource room with materials for student projects and catalogs for student use, photographic equipment and a high quality digital printer.

Career Direction
For more than 30 years, Ohio University’s interior design program has been preparing graduates for successful careers in residential and non-residential design, as well as in related areas such as lighting, visual display, sales and showroom management.