Professionalization of the discipline of interior architecture: Development of a ‘ready to use concept’ to intertwine research and education

Abstract

Professionalization of the discipline of interior architecture Development of a 'ready to use concept' to intertwine research and education Katelijn Quartier 198 Within the discipline of interior architecture, this paper takes the example of the specific domain of retail design to illustrate the interrelatedness between research and education at our faculty. We will elaborate on how we came to develop a 'ready to use concept', containing design guidelines and tools, that support students in making informed design decisions. As such, based on several workshops and an extensive literature review, eight tools were developed alongside 127 design guidelines. The tools and guidelines are inherently part of the retail design studio which is taught by a practitioner and an academic trained designer in order to be able to teach the mix of practical and academic knowledge as well as possible. We teach our students to be critical thinkers from the start and to apply scientific knowledge alongside their design skills while designing. Indeed, these students ultimately end up in the professional field and form a driving force for the professionalization process of interior architecture.