Interior design
The Interior Design (environment design) studio trains its students in the design of inhabited spaces and the design of objects linked to space, in grasping and having a thorough knowledge of the links between this activity and the culture, history and the society in which it is practised. The discipline’s field includes the ‘design’ of any form of environment: interior, exterior, domestic, urban, real, virtual, etc. Architecture (and design) is a cultural, intellectual and technical practice. It develops on strong and clear conceptual foundations, which implies attentive listening to and looking at the world in a critical relationship with the history of the production of objects and spaces, but also with the history of other artistic disciplines. Architecture is more than ever inscribed in an intelligent working partnership with many other practices; the student must be capable, at the end of the course, of knowing with who they should work depending on each situation, and of understanding the attitudes and recommendations of other actors, while retaining and developing their critical perspective and their personal approach. Through the exercises offered, the students are brought face to face with three main pedagogical approaches: in-depth study and analysis of historical and recent projects concerning architecture, scenography and installation art; the development of projects integrating technical, regulatory and functional aspects; a cultural and personal approach to creation. Confrontation, the critical exchange with other studios at the school, in particular with related departments (design, scenography, urban space), is of great importance; exercises in which studios are organized in a cross-disciplinary manner with these sections. This training will be completed by symposia, seminars, etc. based on the knowledge of techniques and materials: construction, resistance, etc. The students are led to come to grips with a large variety of sectors, ranging from the classical design of spaces and objects to the conservation and restoration of heritage items (moveable and immovable), the development of public spaces, exhibitions, virtual spaces, in interaction with landscape architects, programmers, museographers, visual artists, graphic designers, architects, engineers, etc. The detailed and meticulous study of historical or contemporary architectural objects or works (or environmental in the broadest sense) is an important axis enabling the development of an understanding of the creative processes at work in other practitioners, and of all the dimensions at work in creation (cultural, technical, economic, social, historical, etc.). The students will forge tools, vocabularies, a shrewd understanding of the parameters which preside over the subject. It is primarily over the course of the first cycle of the bachelor’s that students acquire their basic technical knowledge and explore these different areas. The understanding and intelligent use of the profession’s practical aspects are another important dimension of the educational goals. This involves the critical analysis of a programme, the analysis of the programmatic context, the autonomous development of a reflection on topical issues, etc. Over the course of the master’s, the students will develop their own vocabulary based on their acquired technical and historical knowledge, by integrating within it other dimensions, including judicial matters or sustainability, for example. They will develop a personal and singular project fed by other interdisciplinary inputs available within the school. The educational guidance is ensured by professors, assistants and guest speakers whose varied profiles and singular skill sets ensure a diversity of perspectives essential to the development of an autonomous practice.
Pedagogical coordination :
Pierre Lhoas, architect