scholarly journals The Way Forward: Reviewing an Interior Design Curriculum in the United Arab Emirates

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-82
Author(s):  
Isra Abu Zayed ◽  
Solomon Arulraj David

According to Dubai‘s Design and Fashion Council‘s (DDFC) Design Outlook Report 2016, the MENA region will require approximately 30,000 design graduates by the year 2019. This number is nine times the existing amount of design graduations currently produced annually (DDFC 2016). Therefore, the design education industry is continually growing and becoming very competitive. In the UAE, there are currently 11 institutes, which deliver a bachelor‘s degree in interior design. The aim of this paper is to bring forth recommendations to innovate and enhance an existing interior design program at a leading university in Dubai to set it apart from the competition. Utilizing a positivists (realism) approach to be able to determine the necessary reform required for the interior design program through the content analysis of a) relevant literature review, b) review and analysis of two program accreditation bodies, and c) reviewing two of the top five programs of interior design. An analysis of the findings was formed followed by a comparison to the existing interior design program at the selected university then resulted in three conclusions: 1. Improvement of the learning environment and the collaborative project work both within the institution and internationally. 2. Incorporate effective teaching methodology to enhance the student‘s visualization skills through converging and assimilating teaching methodologies. 3. Additional specialization courses to increase the percentage of design course output in the curriculum while additionally incorporating sustainable design within interior design program.

IDEA JOURNAL ◽  
1969 ◽  
pp. 173-184
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Vischer ◽  
Tiiu Poldma

A variety of competing pedagogical orientations have accompanied the evolution of university-based Interior Design teaching. A review of relevant literature indicates that a range of pedagogical models are available, each rooted in a distinct design discipline such as architecture and industrial design. A new undergraduate Interior Design program is described, in order to demonstrate an approach to integrating theory and practice. Diverse teaching influences on the development of a course of study in Interior Design in the context of an established multi-disciplinary design faculty are illustrated. The new program’s pedagogical approach is demonstrated through an examination of the first and second year studio subjects. The paper concludes with a summary of the program’s strengths and weaknesses, and suggestions are made to promote ways to integrate theory and practice through broadening the theoretical discourse that could allow Interior Design to be explored through other relevant and critical social disciplines.


Interiority ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-184
Author(s):  
Lina Ahmad ◽  
Marco Sosa ◽  
Karim Musfy

In March 2020, the World Health Organization officially announced the COVID-19 outbreak as a global Pandemic (WHO, 2020). During this time, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced national preventative measures to slow the spread of the deadly virus by announcing the closure of schools and higher education institutions, and the commitment of online learning. Teaching faculty at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises (CACE) at Zayed University were suddenly facing the challenge of teaching design through a distance learning approach. As educators of interior design, the authors were part of the team tasked to find ways to teach design without physical contact with the students nor access to campus facilities traditionally used to run the program and its associated courses. This paper charts the pedagogy approach that the authors adopted as a response to the national lockdown. As design faculty, the authors felt that, despite the restrictions imposed on society because of COVID-19 pandemic, it was still possible to explore other alternatives for a particular course, the senior capstone project. The main intention was to successfully fulfil the course learning outcomes and provide students with a suitable pedagogy continuity to the learning process commenced prior to the lockdown.


IDEA JOURNAL ◽  
1969 ◽  
pp. 6-27
Author(s):  
Marina Lommerse ◽  
Nancy Spanbroek

This paper is the first in a series. The series will compare development in Interior Design/Interior Architecture in two commonwealth countries- Australia and Canada. These countries are of a similar population, size, language, mother country and age in terms of western development. The countries therefore share, in terms of design development, some of the same opportunities and barriers.Little documented research exists concerning the recent developments in Interior Architecture in Australia and Canada. Thus this paper was written to provide an anecdotal overview of the profession in the two countries over the period described. It is acknowledged that this is by no means an exhaustive piece of research of this period, but rather an overview and starting point for more in- depth research. This paper is the second in a series of comparative studies between education and practice in Interior Design/Interior Architecture between Canada and Australia. This paper discusses the similarities in the educational structure at universities within Australia and between Australia and Canada causing concern as we find ourselves in a global competitive market place. It is paramount that interior design education directs industry, and not be dictated by short-term industry demands. For this to occur, national educational bodies need to examine their existing programs in respect to one another, develop a distinctive approach in what they teach, and develop better communications with industry in order to ensure the sharing of valuable knowledge gained through project work. This paper is written to provide an anecdotal overview of the professional education in these two countries over the past twenty years.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-61
Author(s):  
Shweta L. Reddy ◽  
Alyssa Humphries L. Stewart

Lighting design is an essential aspect of interior design but very few universities offer students the opportunity to study lighting design in depth as part of their Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA)-accredited undergraduate interior design program. This paper makes a case for including lighting design as an indispensable part of interior design education while also promoting the Family and Consumer Sciences Body of Knowledge (FCSBOK). The rapid and ongoing advancements being made in luminaire design, lighting controls, and energy conservation necessitate attention and expansion of lighting design education within interior design programs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Abimbola Oluwatoni Asojo ◽  
Hoa Vo

Interior design education aims to provide students with real learning experiences. The authors, hence, combined problem-based learning (PBL) and design thinking to design a seven-week studio project in the Interior design program at a land-grant Midwest university. Thirty-two sophomores were engaged in different stages of the design process for the education wing of Minnesota’s official natural history museum in collaboration with Perkins+ Will, a global architecture and design firm. Students explored design thinking via interactions with stakeholders and practitioners who participated in the creation of the Museum. This approach allowed students to gain insights about the design challenge plus the pros and cons of their solutions. For seven weeks, students in teams of three immersed themselves in a diverse and real design environment. They learned how to communicate, collaborate, and compromise to accomplish the common goal of finding the most relevant solution for the design problem at hand. The authors collected students’ reflections on their learning experiences at the end of the project. This paper discusses the lessons we learned from this interior design PBL case.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abid Mahmood Muhammad ◽  
Mohammed Bilal Basha ◽  
Gail Al Hafidh

This research is an investigation into the motivating factors driving choice of bank for SME entrepreneurs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study aims to highlight the challenges and suggest solutions in addressing the credit gap between the cash flow needs of SME entrepreneurs and the finance policies of UAE banks. The data collected was generated from a sample of SME owner-managers in three emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. A structured research questionnaire was distributed and the convenience sampling method resulted in 380 completed responses. These were analyzed using appropriate statistical tools. The results of the study will enable banks to better understand and analyze the key determinants that impact the SME entrepreneurs’ attitude in bank selection and the products and services this particular group values. Research findings are also envisaged to be of particular interest to scholars and practitioners of Islamic Banking specifically, inspiring further studies across the MENA region.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-16
Author(s):  
Abimbola Oluwatoni Asojo ◽  
Yuliya Kartoshkina ◽  
Babatunde Jaiyeoba ◽  
Dolapo Amole

One of the requirements for interior design students by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) is to be “prepared to work in a variety of contexts as well as across geographic, political, social, environmental, cultural, and economic conditions.” To help with this preparation, faculty partners from two institutions- the University of Minnesota Interior Design and the Architecture Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria- created unique learning experiences for their students by using Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL). The main goal of this teaching methodology is to develop students’ cross-cultural competence by linking university classes in different countries. Two COIL projects were chosen to help students practice solving design problems while responding to specific socio-cultural contexts. Students from both countries seemed to greatly benefit from this learning experience. Findings from students’ reflections after the learning experiences indicated deeper intercultural sensitivity in their design solutions and appreciation of technology and collaborative teaching in developing this sensitivity. Overall the framework of COIL strengthened the integration of multicultural learning experiences in both settings.  


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