THE EXPERIENCE:
A student sits in a dark studio, lit by a single swingarm lamp affixed to the desk, hunched over the model of an asymmetrical loft space being converted into offices. He leans forward, aligning his left eye with a small acetate window, adjusting the lamp to accentuate a specific shadow. The student drifts away in thought, frozen, and eventually reaches into the model. He carefully, minutely, adjusts the angle of a 4-inch high interior wall with his index finger and thumb. It is now ready for critique.

Junior Studio Space, designed by students

At first glance, the Interior Architecture + Design (IAD) major seems obtuse and hard to approach; how does one prepare for this? But in reality, we have all grown up in spaces, and have intuitive instincts. Spaces can be familiar, comfortable, dramatic, subtle, awe-inspiring, or adventurous. Imagine your first treehouse or fort; compare that experience to the first time you entered a grand space such as a theater or museum. Space affects people in deep, meaningful ways and those that create it are really building environmental sculptures that contribute to the collective psyche of society.

On one side of the equation is architecture, which is mainly concerned with how a building interacts with its landscape, as well as the structural needs of creating a stable physical structure. On the other side is decorating - mainly determining surface treatments for walls and flooring. But what about the great expanse between these extremes, the glorious middle where we spend most of our lives? That is where the interior architect and designer fits into the equation, designing interior spaces that are given as much attention as the exteriors themselves, and much more than simple color schemes or superficial treatments. Our IAD program responds to the students' interest in a piece of public art that is not about the "thing", but the whole experience that a space can provide.

Senior Studio Space, designed by students

Ideas begin as drawings of space, progress to computer aided design and evolve into three-dimensional scale models. As an IAD major, you will bounce from the 3D lab to the studio, to the computer, and back to the actual space. Time is spent studying lighting systems, color schemes, and treatment samples. But more importantly, space itself is explored - the way shifting a single wall or moving a single tungsten light can dramatically change the entire feel for an environment.

More than many majors IAD is an experience, full of constant motion and constant learning, a necessarily spatial experience. Two-dimensional images rarely translate this experience properly. It is the difference between reading a play, watching the performance of the play, and acting on stage in that play. And more than most majors, IAD is structured as a collaborative endeavor. The days of the "hero" architect - the one person shop who design every aspect of a building - are gone. It takes a whole team to design most contemporary spaces, often within an apprentice-type opportunity.