An award of the University of East Anglia and the University of Essex.
The information contained within this course specification is correct as at 18 March 2010.
UCAS Course Code / UCS Course Code: W261
Course Summary
The BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Design course at UCS will offer a multi-disciplinary approach to interior architectural environments. Students will be introduced to a diverse range of creative techniques and technical skills, supported by a developing awareness of professional and contextual issues which will inform their designs. The project based work offers creative challenges and encourages strategies for re-defining design outcomes, providing students with a growing awareness, confidence and ability to develop and resolve interesting and informed design solutions. The final of the three years of the course provides the freedom and responsibility for each student to pursue their own individual design projects, often in collaboration with external agencies and/or with students from across the design portfolio, which ultimately develops and informs a personal portfolio of work. The course is not recognised by the RIBA as an architecture degree.
Entry Requirements
200 UCAS tariff points for 2010
Flexible entry requirements for ‘mature’ applicants over 21 who in the absence of traditional entry qualifications need to demonstrate that they have the necessary ability and skills.
Students may be called to attend an interview and /or provide evidence of their suitability for the course in the form of either written, drawn or film/video work.
As general aims, the BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Design course will:
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Educate the interior architects that our society needs as responsible stakeholders of the human place and encouraging consciousness about the rich architectural culture that supports present ways of life.
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Be interdisciplinary, versatile and aware of the rapid changes of society’s architectural place, being able to anticipate and encourage positive changes for the future.
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Be progressive and experiential, allowing a learning by doing as part of a gradual pedagogical journey from the simple to the complex.
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Consider students as individuals with memories, perceptions and projections to be expressed in their work, valuing and making them aware of their tacit knowledge.
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Develop the students’ critical and research skills through a consideration of analytical frameworks and the development of investigative and reflective practice.
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Develop the students’ practical, technical and expressive design skills in order to create exciting and challenging architectural work.
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Embed the development of professional skills across all modules within the course.
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Integrate and develop key skills, including personal and social skills, both explicitly and implicitly within the content of the course.
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Enable students to become self-managed learners and practitioners capable for employment expectations and demands or undertaking further studies.
Course Aims
As specific cultivated and encouraged aims, the BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Design course will:
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Consider the discipline of design as a form of knowledge in its own right offering significant learning experiences.
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Contribute to knowledge and move forward of the practice, being rooted in real practice, involving reflection and critical analysis of work experiences without hindering innovation.
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Be practical in emphasis, with practice enhanced through theoretical underpinning, and creative relevance being a criterion in the setting and assessment of assignments.
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Stimulate creative design abilities, founded on the use of imagination, to perform at professional level.
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Encourage theoretical and critical knowledge and understanding, result of reflection and evaluation, of the historical, philosophical, psychological and sociological implications of the contemporary discipline.
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Initiate, train and master production techniques and processes at the industry standards.
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Develop abilities and tools to represent through sketches, formal drawings, schemes and virtual and physical models the progress of design processes at professional level.
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Provide holistic knowledge that considers the products of the discipline as integrated by elements and belonging to more complex contexts.
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Explore intersections between key issues in interior architectural and design research and scholarship and their manifestation in professional practice.
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Focus on the development of imagination and original thinking through an emphasis on ‘learning by doing’.
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Develop an understanding of historical and contemporary contexts and the key theories, philosophies and perspectives that will inform and challenge the making and perception of the interior architecture and design
Learning Outcomes
These course aims are broken down into sets of related skills, which are known as learning outcomes.
A. Knowledge and Understanding
By the end of the course you should be able to:
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Form considered judgments about the spatial, aesthetic, technical, social, economical and historical qualities of a design within the scope and scale of a wider cultural environment
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Reflect upon and relate their ideas to a design and to the work of others
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Research and discuss on academic form about historical, social and economical issues about architecture and design
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Exercise informed and reflective judgment in the development of sustainable design
B. Mental or Cognitive Skills
By the end of the course you should be able to:
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Work collaboratively within an interdisciplinary environment
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Respond to a broad constituency of interests and to the ethical, cultural, social and economical concerns of the subject
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Research, formulate and respond to programmes or briefs that are appropriate to specific contexts and circumstances
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Produce designs that demonstrate the integrative relationship of structure, materials and constructional elements
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Produce designs that demonstrate an understanding of the integrative relationship between climate, service systems and energy supply
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Use a range of visual, written and verbal techniques in order to communicate architectural designs and ideas
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Listen and engage in informed dialogue
C. Subject Specific and Practical Skills
By the end of the course you should be able to:
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Conceptualise, investigate and develop the design of three-dimensional objects and spaces
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Create architectural designs that integrate social, aesthetic and technical requirements
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Conceive architectural designs on a specific site within the broader landscape and context
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Construct appropriate study and definitive models that demonstrate and test the design intentions
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Draw and conceive the true geometry of the architectural objects and spaces
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Use the conventions of architectural representation
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Select and use various media in order to communicate to the intended interest group
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Select and perform design using design-based software and multimedia applications
D. Key Skills
Key Skills, also known as graduate key skills, transferable skills or general skills, comprise communication, information technology, problem solving, numeracy, working with others and improving own learning.
By the end of the course you should be able to:
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Work in an interdisciplinary environment and collaborate with others
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Communicate effectively with other people using visual, graphic, written and verbal means
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Work autonomously in a self-directed manner, thereby developing the practices of reflection and of lifelong learning
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Work in teams
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Manage time and work to deadlines
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Use digital and electronic communication techniques
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Analyse problems, and use innovation, logical and lateral thinking in their solution
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Be flexible and adaptable in the approach to and development of an issue, problem or opportunity
Module Framework
Level 4
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Theory and History of Architecture and Design 1 (20 credits)
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Design Studio 1 (60 credits)
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Model Making (20 credits)
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Representation (20 credits)
Level 5
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Theory and History of Architecture and Design 2 (20 credits)
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Design Studio 2 (60 credits)
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Advanced Production (20 credits)
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CAD and Digital Imaging (20 credits)
Level 6
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Seminars on Aesthetics and Science (20 credits)
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Professional Studies and Dissertation (40 credits)
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Design Studio 3 (60 credits)
All modules are mandatory
Teaching, Learning and Assessment
Teaching and learning methods include:
Assessment methods include:
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Group and individual practical tasks
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Group and individual presentations
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Group and individual tutorials
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Viva voce
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Essays
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Written reports
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Visual illustrations in the form of panels, pictures, photographs and/or diagrams
The nature of the assessment proposed for each module will reflect the level of that module and its theoretical and practical content.
Timetable
The teaching is divided into three years corresponding to Level 4, Level 5 and Level 6, running from September to June. A full time student is expected to take four modules each year during Level 4 and Level 5, and three modules during Level 6. A part-time student will take two or three modules each year. Students can expect to have to attend the School for four to five hours per module for the twenty four weeks of the year and to spend at least an equivalent amount of time per week in independent study. Students will be provided with timetables when they join the course.
Course Delivery
The course is mainly delivered in the School of Arts and Humanities, Campus North, R Block where the Interior Architecture and Design studio is located, as well as in the computer labs and workshops.
Placements / Work Based Learning / Work Experience
The students are encouraged to look for placement opportunities in a relevant organisation and to write a report about aspects of their learning during the placement as part of their learning experiences.
Tutorial and Study Support
Each student is offered four twenty minute tutorials per academic year. Group tutorials are offered to raise awareness of issues and strengths of the individual student intake and of the course.
Individual tutorials generally take the form of pastoral or academic support. In relevant cases, students are guided towards the support offered by Student Services. Courses offered by the Library and Learning Support are advertised on Wolsey, with information also posted on course notice boards.
Academic tutorials cover queries concerning assessment, offer feedback on assignments, and discuss progression on the course. A reading list is often the result of this discussion. Each year group has a lecturer assigned for tutorial support, with the course leader being kept informed of any issues. Student confidentiality is respected.
The services available are raised and highlighted in the induction week programme.
Opportunities on Completion of the Course
The proposed degree provision covers not only the core and specific abilities of the discipline of Interior Architecture and Design but, through progressive learning, offers a range of transferable skills including: written, oral and physical communication; confident management of individuals and groups; ability to select and employ appropriate research methods; project design; reflection, analysis and evaluation measured against external or internal criteria; target setting and management, among others. These core, specific, vocational and transferable skills can be applied to multiple paths of employment in which, subject to adequate experience, postgraduate specialisation and selected career paths might include: interior architect, interior designer, space planner, architectural assistant, architectural technologist, architectural technician, environmental advisor, building assistant, planning, tourist or cultural advisor, built environment teacher, curator, library work or local government, the voluntary sector.
Beyond these areas of work lie the less direct opportunities where the skills gained on the BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Design degree are increasingly relevant. For example, the practitioner has a great advantage as a teacher, manager or advocate in a range of employment situations. Well-developed organisational skills, combined with creative ability and knowledge about the interior architectural context equip a graduate to tackle a variety of spatial projects varying in size and complexity.
All interior architecture and design graduates will emerge as creative, knowledgeable, motivated, flexible and self-assured individuals who are ready for the challenges of a variety of workplaces. Moreover, successful graduates will also be qualified to progress onto a range of postgraduate courses, including MA or PGCE.