Highlighting Community and Identity through an Online Interior Architecture Studio Project: Ambassador’s Residence Project

Abstract

Within the confines of the COVID-19 pandemic, design educators were required to revisit tried and true ways of teaching and create original ways to connect with their students. In this paper, the aim is to achieve the sense of global interiors community in online teaching regarding teaching methods as well as project topics. Moreover, various means by which an enhanced studio experience may be provided is investigated. The year-long project with a focus on “concept building”, benefited from a variety of approaches and resources that is believed to enrich the overall experience. One of the first aims was to enable a sense of connection and community at a time of detachment. This was achieved in a number of ways; the first step was through requiring students to work in teams of two. The second step was to use the opportunities of online education to the full extent. In this sense, both national and international guests were invited to the studio for lectures and critiques. Lastly, on special days such as the IFI (International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers) World Interiors Day and juries, both national and international guests were invited to the studio to share experiences with students that were shared on international platforms. Through an ambassador’s residence project, second-year interior architecture students were able to experience aspects of their profession in an international environment. An enriched experience both in terms of structure and content was aimed to be achieved and the projects reflected these aims. The selected projects portrayed in the paper answer the requirements in full, are parallel to the context, and reflect the key criteria of the project. A questionnaire was applied to the participating students to gather deeper insight into their studio experience. Limitations include the number of participant students, and thus, further studies may include larger groups of students, national and international comparisons of experiences as well as studio output. Despite the large-scale catastrophe, findings show the benefits of increased online interiors community activity in the experience of the students as well as being reflected positively to their projects. These events have also benefited the instructors’ connection to the studio. Overall, the interior design studio is a dynamic environment that needs constant research into its pedagogy, content, and overall experience, as the educational environment moves swiftly to online direction.