European Council of Interior Architects

Education

The aim of an Interior Architecture teaching program is to develop the student’s sensibilities, knowledge, intellect and skills, all of which should be fused into the ability to design and plan interior space. The inevitable division of a program into areas of knowledge and the subdivision into courses, subjects or topics carries the risk of a fragmentation of the program into separate entities in which the individual outlook and paradigms of teachers of different specialization and background prevails.

An Interior Architecture course should be organized in such a way that individual teaching subjects and research activities become interdependent and interwoven.

In the European Charter of Interior Architecture Training the route to acquire the appropriate knowledge and experience has been clarified with the introduction of a three part training structure. Part 1 and part 2, in this document referred to ‘education’, reflect what is acquired through the academic study. Part 3, in this document referred to ‘practice’, indicates to a period of professional practical experience under external guidance. The combination of ‘education’ and ‘practice’ is referred to ‘training’, used to describe the full competence of an Interior Architect gained through both education and practice (revision of the Charter, 2013).

Interior Architecture training should ensure that qualified practitioners have proper professional competence in Interior Architecture, including knowledge of technical systems and requirements as well as consideration of health, safety and ecological balance; that they understand the cultural, intellectual, historical, social, economic and environmental context of Interior Architecture; and that they comprehend and complet the Interior Architects role and responsibility in society.