Fourteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Since the Bauhaus, industrial design and production have been inherent aspects of the academic learning process. Today we call this system Teaching by Making, and it is intended to remove the design project from the conceptual vacuum of the studio in an attempt to reconcile intellectual design with the realities of the construction process. It is meant to encourage students to collaborate in teams, deal with conflict and learn to manage a project. Currently, we see this teaching methodology more in architecture schools than in interior design programs. Knowing of the success of some of these programs, in 2013 a decision was made to implement hands-on and design/build elements to the interior design curriculum at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. The new program had to start implementing hands-on projects early on in the programs curriculum. This together with furniture making classes allowed the second and third year students to develop the basic skills needed to culminate with a 1:1 design/build project on the first half of their fourth and last year at the university. In time the program evolved into a more interdependent set of courses that revolved around a better understanding of how things are put together to serve the ergonomic needs of the user which added to the program an understanding of structures, sustainability, and design ethics. This paper discusses details of the American University of Sharjah a highly effective interior design program, a top program in the Middle East.

Presenters

Juan Roldan
Student, MArch, ETSAM, Madrid, Spain

Camilo Cerro
Associate Professor of Architecture and Interior Design, College of Architecture, Art, and Design, American University of Sharjah, Ash Shariqah [Sharjah], United Arab Emirates

Daniel Chavez
Professor in Practice, American University of Sharjah