DE4030 - Responding to Context in Interior Design

Responding to Context in Interior Design is a practical design project-based module where your learning will continue to benefit from the experiential nature of the design studio setting. Interactivity, collaboration and peer learning continue to underpin the learning process, helping you to venture further with your ideas.
A studio-based approach encourages you to work interactively with other students. By doing so you engage in peer learning, which is regarded as a critically important factor in the learning process. This will be supported and facilitated through staff-led group tutorials, one-to-one sessions and reviews.

We refer to this studio approach as follows;

Project brief(s) will be introduced through one or more briefing sessions where the brief will be fully explained and you will have the opportunity to ask questions. The module is delivered via a combination of studio teaching, seminars and interactive activities, tutor guided and student-led independent learning.

Formative studio-based feedback will support and guide your learning and the progress of your design work. Where appropriate, external site visits will support design briefs and your understanding of the interior design process and site enquiry. This approach will allow you to develop an understanding at both a theoretical and practical level prior to summative assessment.

You will take part in a final review presentation of your design project work where you will receive final feedback from staff, which you will be required to document and process to advance future design projects and define your own learning. Summative assessment is through the submission of a design portfolio, which will enable you to learn through an enquiry-based/problem-solving learning methodologies approach and reflect the accumulation and integration of knowledge accrued over the module.

Support and feedback will be provided by a variety of methods throughout design projects, starting at the briefing and concluding upon submission of each design project. Support includes;



Staff Contact

Module tutors who provide academic support.

Individual staff-student tutorials inform design project direction.

Group tutorials enable staff to interact with students and encourage peer learning and support.

Project briefs are normally introduced via a briefing session, where the brief is fully explained and explored by both staff and students.

The eLearning Portal will be utilised to communicate all relevant module information.



Studio Contact Time

Modules are delivered through a combination of lecture supported group tutorials and studio activity, practical demonstrations, studio teaching, guided and independent learning new skills are delivered through workshop activities.

Studio feedback takes place to facilitate students’ development in the areas being studied, to allow formative feedback and the identification of examples of good practice and development areas to be considered.

Independent study hours will be utilised to continue the development and progression of studio activity.



Peer and Independent Support

Students are encouraged and expected to maintain a personal development plan (PDP) and are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning.

Studio based activity also supports the development of appreciation and evaluation of peers’ work.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:



Apply design approaches through research and development methods alongside relevant 3D software to develop project work through bound design development packs. (R&D x Sketchup)



Create interior design proposals through an understanding of the functional and aesthetic requirements of design in response to a given brief. (DESIGN)



Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:



Communicate design concepts, proposals or solutions using appropriate 2d technical drawing and 3d software alongside drawn communication. (COMMUNICATION)



Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):



Independently generate concepts, proposals, solutions or arguments. (CONCEPT)

A design project will be carried out and graded after the submission of the project. 100% design project portfolio, incorporating 2D and 3D design work.



The assessment and feedback strategy is:



a. Formative Assessment

Project tutorials and staged reviews with tutors and peers will provide an opportunity for critique and formative direction. This will allow students to reflect upon their own work and act upon feedback prior to final submission. Verbal feedback is designed to help students to identify areas of success and/or further development to be considered.



b. Summative assessment

The project brief/s driving the module will identify the assessment criteria and submission requirements (deliverables) appropriate to the topic of the project. The assessable elements will consist of a project portfolio, which will enable students to demonstrate the process and technical skills developed throughout the module. In addition studio contact, observations and presentations will ensure tutors are able to assess the learners’ overall performance holistically against the learning outcomes for the module. A single grade will then be aligned to the submission based upon multiple deliverables.



c. Feedback strategy

Feedback will be delivered verbally at the point of each tutorial, where discussion will clarify future direction. Upon receiving summative assessment students will receive a grade reflecting achievement against the learning outcomes of the module. Students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning by recording verbal feedback in order to reflect upon it as they engage in subsequent learning.

Discovering Interior Design

Introducing Interior Design Contexts

Successful design is led by a thorough understanding of the contexts within which you are designing; these contexts create the storyline that drives your conceptual thinking forwards. Responding to Interior Design Contexts challenges you to expand your ability to tell a rich and exciting story through your design work.

Through a practical interior design project, led by a set brief, you will explore how your design work is influenced by the historical, critical, social and cultural phenomena introduced in the parallel module; Introducing Interior Design Contexts. Alongside these theoretical influences, you will also explore the influence of the physical context of the project - the site - through a thorough site analysis.

Your design outcome will demonstrate your developing understanding of how key tangible and intangible influences are interpreted, understood and developed into a successful piece of contemporary interior design.