University of Technology Sydney

C10271v4 Bachelor of Design in Interior Architecture

Award(s): Bachelor of Design in Interior Architecture (BDesign)
UAC code: 602060 (Autumn session)
CRICOS code: 071631C
Commonwealth supported place?: Yes
Load credit points: 144
Course EFTSL: 3
Location: City campus

Overview
Course aims
Career options
Innovation and Transdisciplinary program
Course intended learning outcomes
Admission requirements
Inherent (essential) requirements
Applications
Assumed knowledge
Course duration and attendance
Course structure
Course completion requirements
Course diagram
Course program
Honours
Professional recognition
Other information

Overview

The Bachelor of Design in Interior Architecture helps students to re-imagine interior environments and public spaces in local and global contexts. With a strong emphasis on people's experiences of spatial design, this degree equips students with the critical skills required to interrogate and transgress the traditional boundaries of commercial interior design.

Students learn to engage with public and urban spaces alongside internal environments. Contemporary societies and city environments are changing rapidly, and this course promotes the ability to adapt to this change and shape the way people experience interior and public spaces.

Through a strong emphasis on practice and research, students develop the ability to think conceptually and understand the complex contexts in which they are designing. Through intensive collaborative design studios, students work to develop, discuss and debate ideas as they would in industry. With skills in analogue and digital design and fabrication, they are able to tackle real-world projects in the studios as well as through competitions with stakeholders such as the Art Gallery of NSW, Object Gallery, the City of Sydney and Zumtobel Lighting.

International connections and focus encourage recognition of UTS graduates abroad. UTS academics lead yearly international design studios in cities such as Berlin, Hong Kong, Athens, Prague and Venice. International guest lectures and workshops, as well as a wide range of exchange opportunities, enrich students' learning and expose them to different cultures of design.

Course aims

Through their study, students develop spatial intelligence and excellence in design practice. The program fosters a creative and explorative attitude towards the design process, underpinned by reflective and critical engagement. Students generate a cohesive design approach where research and practice are consolidated in design outcomes.

The course has:

  • an emphasis on creative, innovative spatial practice and international networks
  • practice-oriented and research-integrated learning regarding specific projects
  • engagement with innovative and creative technologies
  • an emphasis on emerging design practices
  • close links with creative practitioners.

Career options

Career options include commercial and residential interior design, adaptive re-use design, interactive and responsive environment design, museum and exhibition design, production design for film and television, theatre and performance design, and visual and spatial branding.

Innovation and Transdisciplinary program

Transdisciplinarity and Innovation at UTS

All UTS students have the opportunity to develop distinctive capabilities around transdisciplinary thinking and innovation through the TD School. Transdisciplinary education at UTS brings together great minds from different disciplines to explore ideas that improve the way we live and work in the world. These offerings are unique to UTS and directly translate to many existing and emerging roles and careers.

Diploma in Innovation

The Diploma in Innovation (C20060) teaches innovation, supports personal transformation and provides the hard skills needed to support the inventors and inventions of the future. Students come out of the Diploma in Innovation, with the hard skills to create and support sectoral and societal transformation. Graduates are able to fluently integrate ideas, across professional disciplines and are inventors of the future.

All UTS undergraduate students (with the exception of students concurrently enrolled in the Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation) can apply for the Diploma in Innovation upon admission in their chosen undergraduate degree. It is a complete degree program that runs in parallel to any undergraduate degree. The course is offered on a three-year, part-time basis, with subjects running in 3-week long intensive blocks in July, December and February sessions. More information including a link to apply is available at https://dipinn.uts.edu.au.

Transdisciplinary electives program

Transdisciplinary electives broaden students' horizons and supercharge their problem-solving skills, helping them to learn outside, beyond and across their degrees. Students enrolled in an undergraduate course that includes electives can choose to take a transdisciplinary subject (with the exception of students concurrently enrolled in the Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation). More information about the TD Electives program is available here.

Course intended learning outcomes

A.1 Ability to take autonomous responsibility for actions and decisions
A.2 Ability to develop and establish an informed and ethical understanding and/or position toward social, technical and environmental practices
A.3 Ability to recognise cultural diversity, including Indigenous, gender and multicultural perspectives
C.1 Ability to work cooperatively as part of a team, initiate partnerships with others, take a leadership role when required and constructively contribute to peer learning and critique
C.2 Ability to communicate ideas effectively, including oral, written, visual, analogue and digital presentations (2D and 3D)
I.1 Ability to apply experimentation in thinking and practice as a means toward developing an individual design approach
I.2 Ability to understand and generate design propositions across a diverse range of design scenarios and negotiate final propositions with multiple stakeholders
I.3 Ability to initiate and execute meaningful self-directed iterative processes
P.1 Ability to apply and utilise appropriate communication techniques, knowledge and understanding to enable practical applications in spatial design
P.2 Ability to rigorously explore, apply and extend multiple representational techniques
P.3 Ability to apply and deploy disciplinary learning, with a continuing commitment to professional development
R.1 Ability to independently select and apply appropriate research methodologies to carry out investigative study
R.2 Ability to analyse, formulate and synthesise complex ideas, arguments and rationales and use initiative to explore alternatives
R.3 Ability to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of interior and spatial design precedent and to contextualise one's work within the extended discipline
R.4 Ability to reflect on, challenge and interrogate theoretical speculation

Admission requirements

Applicants must have completed an Australian Year 12 qualification, Australian Qualifications Framework Diploma, or equivalent Australian or overseas qualification at the required level.

UTS: Design, Architecture and Building may consider applications based on the results of the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT) if students lack academic qualifications but have extensive professional experience. The STAT is conducted through the Universities Admissions Centre.

Students must refer to the inherent requirements for all degrees offered by Design and Architecture in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building.

Non-current school leavers are selected on the basis of academic merit or on the basis of portfolio and interview rank.

Students must refer to the portfolio eligibility for the faculty’s consideration in order to get a place.

The English proficiency requirement for international students or local applicants with international qualifications is: Academic IELTS: 6.5 overall with a writing score of 6.0; or TOEFL: paper based: 550-583 overall with TWE of 4.5, internet based: 79-93 overall with a writing score of 21; or AE5: Pass; or PTE: 58-64 with a writing score of 50; or C1A/C2P: 176-184 with a writing score of 169.

Eligibility for admission does not guarantee offer of a place.

International students

Visa requirement: To obtain a student visa to study in Australia, international students must enrol full time and on campus. Australian student visa regulations also require international students studying on student visas to complete the course within the standard full-time duration. Students can extend their courses only in exceptional circumstances.

Inherent (essential) requirements

Inherent (essential) requirements are academic and non-academic requirements that are essential to the successful completion of a course.

Prospective and current students should carefully read the Inherent (Essential) Requirements Statement below and consider whether they might experience challenges in successfully completing this course. This Statement should be read in conjunction with the UTS Student Rules.

Prospective or current student concerned about their ability to meet these requirements should discuss their concerns with the Academic Liaison Officer in their faculty or school and/or UTS Accessibility Service on 9514 1177 or at accessibility@uts.edu.au.

UTS will make reasonable adjustments to teaching and learning, assessment, professional experiences, course related work experience and other course activities to facilitate maximum participation by students with disabilities, carer responsibilities, and religious or cultural obligations in their courses.

For course specific information see the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building Inherent (Essential) Requirements Statement.

Applications

International students

International students (excluding those studying in an Australian high school) must submit an application to UTS International (in person, by mail or online) or through an accredited UTS representative.

International students with an ATAR up to five points below the minimum cut-off must submit the following material:

  • a six-page digital portfolio in PDF format (landscape) of their work; this may include images, animation or video (max. size 5MB)
  • one of the pages must be a 150–200-word written submission that selects and identifies one of the submitted pieces of work, and addresses the aim of the work and why it succeeded (to enable this PDF to be easily viewed, text must be supplied in 16-point Helvetica font, with 1.5 line spacing).

The faculty reserves the right to request a portfolio from applicants.

Assumed knowledge

Any two units of English.

Design and Technology, Visual Arts are recommended.

Course duration and attendance

The course is offered on a three-year, full-time basis. There are generally up to 20 contact hours a week. Lectures and studios are on campus during the teaching period.

Course structure

Students must complete 144 credit points comprising 120 credit points of core subjects and 24 credit points of electives.

Course completion requirements

STM91203 Core subjects (Interior Architecture) 120cp
CBK90823 Electives (Interior Architecture) 24cp
Total 144cp

Course diagram

Course diagram: C10271

Course program

An example program is provided below.

Autumn commencing, full time
Year 1
Autumn session
86004 Design Studio: Foundations in Interior Architecture   12cp
86008 Communication and Construction: Representation   6cp
86006 History and Theory 1   6cp
Spring session
86007 History and Theory 2   6cp
86005 Design Studio: Inhabitations   12cp
86009 Communication and Construction: Generative Methods   6cp
Year 2
Autumn session
86530 Design Studio: Knowledge Spaces   12cp
86114 Communication and Construction: Material Futures   6cp
Select 6 credit points of options   6cp
Spring session
86113 Communication and Construction: Technologies   6cp
86529 Design Studio: Scenographic Spaces   12cp
Select 6 credit points of options   6cp
Year 3
Autumn session
86221 Communication and Construction: Interior Technologies   6cp
86533 Design Studio: Spatial Agency   12cp
Select 6 credit points of options   6cp
Spring session
86222 Communication and Construction: Synthesis   6cp
86223 Design Studio: Interior Architecture Major Project   12cp
Select 6 credit points of options   6cp

Honours

The Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Interior Architecture (C09055) is available to meritorious students with an additional one year of full-time study.

Professional recognition

Design Institute of Australia; International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers; Interior Design/Interior Architecture Educators Association (IDEA).

Other information

Further information is available from the UTS Student Centre on:

telephone 1300 ask UTS (1300 275 887)
or +61 2 9514 1222
Ask UTS
UTS: Design, Architecture and Building