General Description

Interior design is both an art and a science that involves the adaptation of natural and human-made environments to the cultural, social, physiological, psychological, economic, historic, and behavioral activities of people. Interior design engages both the public and private scales of buildings. Qualitative decisions about the public and private areas of buildings are coordinated with in the exterior architecture and express issues of image, plus symbolic concerns of the designer(s), and client(s), or developer(s).

However, at the private scale the focus of interior design shifts to issues regarding the satisfaction of group and individual needs. How well it satisfies the user's needs and their preferences for function, materials, and aesthetics determine the quality of an interior environment. To be successful an interior environment must:

• serve the needs, function, and requirements of its users
• provide a sense of place within both public and private spaces for group and individual activity
• be appropriate and sustainable in terms of use, maintenance, and conservation of resources and finish materials
• include the community, owners, users, designers, planners and contractors, as active and timely participants in the design process

In UF's Department of Interior Design sequential undergraduate design studios form the core of the professional interior design major. Basic architectural and design principles of form making are the initial focus that soon shifts to issues of people and space. Programming, critical analysis, creative design and evaluation of how interior architecture meets the needs of people is the essence of this professional curriculum. Within the instructional setting of upper division design studios, teams of students learn about the dynamic interactions between people and space in commercial, institutional, hospitality, healthcare, retail and residential facilities. Students develop competency in specific interior design subject areas as they learn how to creatively make the world a better place for people.

The Master of Interior Design and the College Ph.D. Program provide opportunities for students to achieve excellence in the design of architectural interiors, to engage in research and to develop a specialization in a related field. Possible topics for advanced study include: historic preservation of significant interior spaces and materials; design for special populations (e.g. the disabled, elderly and children); visualization and interior design applications for computers; indoor environmental quality issues; lighting and acoustics; action research and design theory; and education.

History

In 1948 a four-year program in Interior Design was initiated at UF's College of Art. This curriculum led to a Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design. In 1949 the College of Fine Arts and Architecture was created. In June 1952 a four-year curriculum in Interior Design leading to a Bachelor of Design with a major in Interior Design within the Department of Architecture was approved. In 1975 the College of Architecture was established. In 1982-83 the Interior Design program was granted Department status by action of the College faculty, University Senate and the President.

In 1970 the Department of Architecture introduced the 2+2+2 system of instruction from which the interior design students took the first two-year section with other design students (Architecture and Landscape Architecture) in the College. The first two-year block contained the pre-professional Lower Division courses. The middle two years contained the upper division professional program for Landscape Architecture and Interior Design, terminating in a Bachelor of Design degree, (first professional degree) in these two respective majors. The middle two years leads to a non-professional degree for Architecture - the Bachelor of Design. The final two years of the Architecture program lead to the Master of Architecture, or first professional degree.

The interior design program is one of a select number in North America administratively housed in an architectural context. Others include Auburn University, Louisiana State University, University of Cincinnati, University of Oregon, Arizona State University, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Rhode Island School of Design, University of Colorado, and the University of Manitoba, in Canada. We believe these programs are the design leaders and contribute significantly to the strengthening of the interior design profession. The goal of this faculty and department is to be among the top of these institutions. Significant strides have been made toward this end in the past six years. An August 1995 article in Interior Design, a professional journal, indicates that we are considered by our peers to be among the top five schools in North America.