Interior and Spatial Design University of the Arts London (UAL)

Overview

The MA Interior and Spatial Design course at University of the Arts London (UAL) has developed a distinctive identity born from our fluid position as designers in an ‘art school’ environment, coupled with our contemporary view of experimental spatial practice and the blurring of disciplinary boundaries. 

With a bias towards research-led practice, all students on the course are encouraged along a path of personal critical discovery, starting with an initial area of individual research interest. 

We believe that all spatial practice should be considered as a form of performance based on ideas of context, narrative and experience and above all intention. The latter is considered a fundamental aspect of design practice whether using empirical prototypes or developing philosophical positions. 

We have a particular expertise in the experiential and sensorial aspects of what it means to inhabit space and interact with our environment. We consider both physical and virtual space as equally valid forms of experience. We work with existing structures both internally and externally, with film and video, and between digital and analogue. Alongside this we value making, drawing, discourse and text as equivalent and complimentary forms of expression and representation.  

The course encourages and facilitates cross disciplinary activity. We provide opportunities for working on live projects and working on collaborations with practitioners in various fields. 

What to expect 

• To address issues about what constitutes space and spatial practice and how we inhabit, experience and remember space
• To develop sensibilities about observing, reflecting and intervening in existing and speculative situations both interior and exterior
• To be asked to position yourself and your practice in a conscious contemporary environment that responds to current aesthetic, political and social situations. We do not expect students to be passive in their actions
• To follow an iterative approach to projects in order to encourage understanding and critical reflection
• To become autonomous in your decision making and progression towards an individual identity
• To have access to Camberwell's shared workshops that include printmaking, photography, film, moving image, digital, plastic, ceramics, wood and metalwork.