Year 2 Interior Architecture & Design at Canterbury School for Architecture

After completing stage 1, this stage of your interiors education starts with a 5-week project exploring the design of space through the performance of the human body. Projects explore issues around choreography, rhythm and interactivity etc. This is further developed in a subsequent 10-week project exploring the performance of building components in order to design dynamic interiors. In the second half of the year students take part in a live project in collaboration with a Design Practice. This year students will travel to Malta to take part in the design of the Museum for Contemporary art in Valletta.

Design projects are always supported by specialism units such as; ‘Technology’, supporting the design development and construction, ‘Media and Communication’, supporting presentation techniques, ‘History and Theory’, supporting critical development and ‘Management and Practice’, supporting professional development. This prepares you for more independent study in stage 3.

Below are selections of images of work produced in stage 2 for the different design projects.

'The interior Performance Structure' 2010

Interested in space as tension (forces), as interactive fields between building elements this design unit performs on two predominant levels; firstly the de-composition of space by transforming a particular performance of a building element and its relationship with others  and secondly the re-composition of space by reestablishing a program or meaning particular to the new ‘(re)composition’. Both de-composition and re-composition is guided by what we call transformation drawings and models, deployed as instruments to design. With these instruments we are able to reveal the discourse of transformation and indeed reveal moments of decision-making in the design process. The primary drive in this process is thus designing through notions of geometry, measurement, depth, tension, resonance; intrinsic spatial qualities, to possibly discover new categories of space and new space performances. 

 student work. from top left to bottom right; Leena Gajjar, Caitriona Holdsworth, Stefania Kallergi, Meera Kantaria

'The interior Performance Structure' student work on video

Coming Soon

'Corporal Context' 2010

This Unit explores spatial conditions through the notion of the human body, the inter-body relationships in movement and the relationship between context and the human body. 

Students develop various methods of notation, annotation, and documentation, drawing on conventional spatial design methods as well as those from other disciplines.

 student work. From top left to bottom right; Stefania Kallergi, Stravoulla Epaminonda, Tiina-Liisa

'Corporal Context' student work on video

Coming soon

'The Interior Performance Structure' 2009

The Interior Performance Unit defines space through the notion of boundaries, space as geometry, space as measurement, as depth, as a field accommodating tension and force.

 In this space, we organize; we label places, we name them in order to allocate categories and types.  For example, we differentiate dining areas from classrooms from hallways from bedrooms etc. These spatial conventions seem to organize a certain behavior as much as behavior seems to organize spatial conventions in order to give meaning to the space around us (including us performing in that space). 

Within these categories, we identify building elements or components that institute the built-up of a category. These building elements relate to each other in a particular way. For example, windows are (too often) vertical rectangular elements, positioned in walls at a certain height from the floor acting as a light source or opportunity to ventilate a space.