Go to the main content Arrow right icon
Interior Architecture
Menu Interior Architecture
All courses   Interior Architecture

Course

Course

At the ArtEZ Interior Architecture course in Zwolle, you will learn everything you need for professional practice as an interior designer. You will come up with ideas, learn the tricks of the trade and develop your creativity. You will also learn how to reflect well on your own work and develop your personal perspective on the relationship between space and the people who use it.

What will you learn on the Interior Architecture course?

As a designer, you are always responding to new demands. If you are designing for today, that is actually already a bit too late. You also have to think ahead and design for the future. At ArtEZ, we teach you to work with an open and inquisitive attitude. During your studies, you will explore your own boundaries as well as those of the field. The course consists of three parts: Creating, Meaning and Connecting.

  • The Interior Architecture course is all about craftsmanship and the continuous interplay between research, thinking and creating. Oftentimes, you will start work with a challenging assignment from a fictitious client. You will begin by researching, creating, experimenting, thinking, reflecting, doing further research and subsequently using these insights to take your work even further. During the course, you will often work at full-scale.

    Sometimes you will work alone, sometimes in a group. You will often conclude assignments with a presentation of your work and process. Examples of work you might create are:

    • A book with drawings and analyses (size A3)
    • A model on a scale (1:50)
    • A poster (size A1) with drawings or photos explaining your plan
    • A life-size detail (1:1)

  • During your practical lessons, you will discuss your work regularly in class. Wherever necessary, we will link this to theory. We will also conduct group discussions focusing on reflection and forming a professional opinion.

    In addition to practical subjects, you will also take theoretical subjects such as design history, architectural appreciation, philosophy and a course called “ThinK.” In ThinK, you learn different perspectives on art and design. You will get to know artists and designers from different eras and in different roles, such as craftsman, researcher, scientist and entrepreneur. This will help you find your own unique place as a spatial designer in the broad field of interior architecture.

  • Getting acquainted with professional practice begins early on in the course. Practical assignments, projects and internships will help you prepare you for the professional field. In projects such as Winterlab and Summerlab, you will collaborate with students from other ArtEZ art courses in Zwolle. You will also gain practical experience by working with real clients and performers.   

    More about Summer- and Winterlab

Course structure

  • In the first two years of the Bachelor Interior Architecture, you will learn the basics of the profession. You will start thinking about interiors in a new way and develop important craft and design skills. You will learn how to combine creating, thinking and researching. You will take various practical and theoretical subjects such as form study, space, objects, drawing, philosophy and architectural appreciation. You will also attend classes in the school workshops and take a digital media course.

    In the first year, you will go on a study trip to Berlin with all first-year students of the Academy of Art & Design in Zwolle. Together with teachers and second-year students, you will explore the city, visit museums and learn about its history and art. In the second and third year, you will also make regular study trips, for instance by visiting projects by architects or exhibitions at several museums. In the Netherlands, you will visit design studios where you will learn all about the designers’ work. For these visits, you should prepare questions in advance to learn more about their vision, method and assignments.

  • After the broad basis in the first two years, you will start to direct your own position as a designer more yourself in the third and fourth years of the course. In the third year, you work on a “personal window” (PV), in which you further develop your own vision as a designer. You also start considering the subject of your thesis, which you will write in the fourth year. You will take subjects such as interior design, design history, research and entrepreneurship. From February onwards, you will do an internship to gain practical experience.

    In the final year, the focus is on your personal study programme and your graduation project. In this year, we will challenge you to explore and push your own boundaries and those of the profession. You will design a graduation project that responds to the questions of tomorrow. The aim is not only to be innovative, but to respond to a changing world. All fourth-year Interior Architecture Bachelor students will showcase their work during the ArtEZ finals.

    Have a look at this year’s graduation projects

Internships, Exchange programmes and Minors

  • During the Bachelor Interior Architecture, you will complete an internship lasting minimum 100 days in a place that matches your interests and ambitions. You can choose an internship at an architectural firm, an artist studio or even an internship abroad. ArtEZ will assist you with this, for example by supporting and approving an internship application within the Erasmus programme. The internship is an important addition to your classes. Within the walls of the academy, everything revolves around your development as an interior designer. You have the space to experiment, discover new things and make mistakes. During your internship, however, you will also learn other important skills, such as how to take initiative within an organisation, how to adapt to working in a design firm without losing your individuality, and how to interact with clients. You will apply the knowledge and skills you acquired during your studies in practice and get to know the work field. The course will provide you with guidance during return days in the course.

    “During the internship at our company, the ArtEZ student demonstrated exceptional adaptability, responsiveness, creativity and ability to self-direct the work that was entrusted to her. As a great listener and resourceful problem-solver she had been able to take a wide range of tasks on board and deal with them with equal success.” 
    Dejan Mrdja, Studio Syn (London) about student Mijke Tonnon

    Our Interior Architecture students have done internships at the following companies:  

  • ArtEZ encourages its students to spend a period of time studying or doing an internship abroad. There are various exchange programmes you could participate in, such as the Erasmus+ programme and the Holland Scholarship. You will also meet foreign students on exchange at ArtEZ in your classes.

  • Society is changing rapidly, and as a designer it is important to have a broad background. A minor allows you to study subjects that are not directly covered in the course, but that interest you as a designer or give you skills that are useful in practice. You can take a minor within ArtEZ or at another training institute.

  • When you study at ArtEZ, you will also learn how to conduct research. This includes theoretical lessons, material research and socially engaged research. Within the programme, there is plenty of support and space to discover what kind of artistic researcher you are. Additionally, there are special initiatives, activities and workshops outside of your course where you can work on your research, especially for students who are looking for more depth. Curious? Click below to read more about (extracurricular) research activities.

    More about conducting outside research

Projects

  • Winterlab. Winterlab is an annual week-long project in January. At Winterlab, you will seek out answers to current social issues (i.e. a current dynamic in a difficult neighbourhood), together with students from the Music in Education and Artistic Educator in Theatre & Media courses, as well as other courses within the ArtEZ Academy of Art & Design. Winterlab is supervised by renowned artists. 
  • VOID. During the cross-disciplinary projects that happen in between semesters, known as “VOID,” you will collaborate with students of the Associate degree Interior Design for two weeks on assignments by external clients and guest lecturers from the field. Past examples of VOID projects include an innovative design for the vacant IJsselcentrale power station in Zwolle, or shaping the house of a post-apocalyptic future.

Check out more projects here

Facilities

Creating is an important part of the Interior Architecture course. You will have a large number of our well-equipped workshops at your disposal for your creative pursuits:

  • A digital workshop with photography, video, animation and editing rooms, as well as spaces for general computer instruction;
  • A graphics workshop, focusing mainly on analogue printing techniques such as screen printing, typesetting, etching, electrolytic etching, lithography, relief printing and semi-digital riso printing;
  • A spatial workshop with wood, metal, ceramic and plastic facilities; 
  • A theory workshop/media library. Here you can consult analogue and digital theoretical collections;
  • A VR room, where you can virtually walk through your own designs.

Take a video tour of our workshops

You will be studying in a multidisciplinary environment in the Sophia Building alongside other art programmes. This will offer you plenty of inspiration and opportunities to broaden your horizons. During joint projects, you will learn how to successfully collaborate professionally and complement and enrich each other. This is important preparation for your professional practice, because spatial designers collaborate in interdisciplinary teams more and more.

Find out more about the Academy of Art & Design Zwolle

Study trips

In October of the first academic year, all first-year students of the Academy of Art & Design Zwolle will go on a professional excursion to Berlin. In the second year, you will go on a study tour of France, Germany and Denmark with the entire Interior Architecture department. This trip is designed to give students an opportunity to experience space in reality and to be inspired by the new surroundings and contact with fellow students.

Study support

The Bachelor Interior Architecture is a small-scale programme. We accept a maximum of 25 students per year, so your lines of communication are short. Besides classroom lessons, you’ll have plenty of one-on-one contact with your lecturers during contact hours. In addition, if you have any questions, desires or concerns, you can always contact your mentor. If you would like a strictly confidential conversation, you can contact our student counsellor.

Studying in Zwolle

Zwolle is a dynamic Hanseatic city with winding streets and many original shops and eateries. This is a place where creative students, innovative entrepreneurs and headstrong freethinkers can easily find each other. 

Learn more about Zwolle, a university town