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Design Process

  • Module code: IR4101
  • Year: 2018/9
  • Level: 4
  • Credits: 30
  • Pre-requisites: None
  • Co-requisites: None

Summary

This module introduces students to the full interior design process in context. It addresses the significance of research, observation, documentation, evaluation, idea generation, concept development, iteration and communication. It also introduces students to core interior design considerations including proportion, ergonomics, scale, function, form, structure and spatial organisation. Conscious awareness and practice of all aspects of the design process is understood as the means for the successful development of project work from inception to resolution.

Aims

  • To introduce the process of design as a set of distinct but overlapping and interdependent activities.
  • To introduce core discipline design considerations and their relationship to process.
  • To establish an appreciation of simple context and how it informs design process.
  • To empathise with human need and user focused concerns.
  • To record, edit and communicate the design process and narrative.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

  • Engage with the design process to successfully develop, evaluate and refine interior design ideas and propositions.
  • Address core interior design discipline considerations within the design process.
  • Inform the design process through understanding and engagement with context.
  • Empathise with human need through research and iterative design development
  • Communicate design process using an appropriate visual language

Curriculum content

  • Introduction to the design process through practical project work - research, observation, documentation, idea generation, concept development, proposition, iteration, evaluation, and communication
  • Introduction to core discipline considerations through practical project work - proportion, ergonomics, scale, function, form, structure and spatial awareness
  • Engagement with context
  • Introduction to user need and human empathy
  • Presentation technique.

Teaching and learning strategy

Teaching will be delivered through a series of studio and workshop-based assignments and exercises with the emphasis on developing skills and creative techniques in a practical manner.

Projects set within the module will allow and encourage experimentation and demonstration of the practical and theoretical application of this learning. Design projects, Studio-based teaching and workshop based teaching which include the following:

  • Talks, seminars and group discussions; research methods and outcomes
  • Group tutorials; design development and resolution
  • Workshops
  • Self-directed study and research

Breakdown of Teaching and Learning Hours

Definitive UNISTATS Category Indicative Description Hours
Scheduled learning and teaching Guided studio and workshop project work Progress reviews/crits 200
Guided independent study 100
Total (number of credits x 10) 300

Assessment strategy

Students engage with a range of short practical design briefs. These are set to contextualise the principles of the process of designing for the interior and encompass a holistic overview. Emphasis is placed upon human scale and the body.

Assessment is through evidence presented at studio critiques and peer review of sustained application through all assignments, which would typically be 4 projects.

Students are expected to improve and refine work as appropriate in response to critique and formative feedback/ feed forward throughout the module. This provides an ongoing opportunity to improve their work in preparation for the end of module assessment and their personal portfolio.

There is a minimum of one tutorial progress review during this module. A summative grade based on the body of work is given at the end of the module.

Mapping of Learning Outcomes to Assessment Strategy (Indicative)

Learning Outcome Assessment Strategy
1) Engage with the design process to successfully develop, evaluate and refine design ideas and propositions. Engagement with a range of short practical design briefs to contextualise the principles of the interior design process. Formatively assessed through project reviews and crits throughout the module. Summatively assessed in project work submitted at the end of the module.
2) Address core discipline considerations within the design process. Engagement with a range of short practical design briefs to contextualise the principles of the interior design process. Formatively assessed through project reviews and crits throughout the module. Summatively assessed in project work submitted at the end of the module.
3) Inform the design process through understanding and engagement with context. Engagement with a range of short practical design briefs to contextualise the principles of the interior design process. Formatively assessed through project reviews and crits throughout the module. Summatively assessed in project work submitted at the end of the module.
4) Empathise with human need through research and iterative design development Engagement with a range of short practical design briefs to contextualise the principles of the interior design process. Formatively assessed through project reviews and crits throughout the module. Summatively assessed in project work submitted at the end of the module.
5) Communicate design process and narrative using an appropriate visual language Engagement with a range of short practical design briefs to contextualise the principles of the interior design process. Formatively assessed through project reviews and crits throughout the module. Summatively assessed in project work submitted at the end of the module.

Elements of Assessment

Description of Assessment Definitive UNISTATS Categories Percentage
Coursework Studio projects 100%
Total (to equal 100%) 100%

Achieving a pass

It IS a requirement that the major category of assessment is passed in order to achieve an overall pass for the module.

Bibliography core texts

Brooker, G. (2004) Re-Readings: Interior Architecture and the Design Principles of Remodelling Existing Buildings. RIBA publishing

Scott, F. (2007) On Altering Architecture. Routledge

Sparke, P. (2008) The Modern Interior. Reaktion

Heatherwick, T. (2012) Making. Thames & Hudson

Tilley, A & Dreyfuss, H. (2002) The Measures of Man and Woman: Human Factors in Design. John Wiley & Sons

Bibliography recommended reading

Lawson, Bryan, (2005). How Designers Think; The Design Process Demys­tifed. London: Architectural Press

Cross, Nigel, (2007). Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think and Work. Berg Publishers

Potter, N. (2002). Things, Places, Messages. Hyphen Press London

Schon, PA, (1991). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Ashgate Publishing

Norman, D.  (2004) Emotional design: why we love (or hate) everyday things. New York: Basic Books

Le Corbusier (2000). The Modulor and Modulor 2. Birkhauser

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