Outline
What - and where - is interior? Interiors are challenging to define. They take shape through multiple roles, functions and relationships, responding to changing sites, situations and communities. They can be porous, have blurred edges and extend well beyond the physical boundaries of buildings. To practise interior making therefore demands curiosity, adaptability and the confidence to work across disciplines, scales and contexts.
The MA Interior, Architectural and Spatial Design programme supports you in developing your own position within this expanding field. Through design research, critical enquiry and creative experimentation, you will establish an individual approach to understanding and shaping interior space while laying the foundations for your future practice.
Throughout the programme, you will engage with contemporary theories, histories and debates alongside experimental design methods to produce imaginative, technically resolved design proposals. Projects move fluidly between detailed interventions at the scale of the body and building, and strategic thinking at the scale of neighbourhoods and cities, exploring how interiors connect with wider social, cultural and environmental conditions.
You will work across a range of media - including drawing, writing, physical making, digital modelling and exhibition - to test ideas, communicate proposals and develop your own design language. These approaches encourage you to think critically, experiment confidently and engage with the diverse practices that shape contemporary interior, architectural and spatial design.
Each year, the programme is centred on a specific site, institution or community within Edinburgh. Whether working with a historic building, a changing organisation or a local neighbourhood, you will undertake in-depth site-based research to reveal the unique opportunities and challenges of each context. Teaching is informed by the research and professional practices of the academic team, creating a collaborative studio environment where inquiry, experimentation and making are closely connected.
As part of the programme, you will also become a member of Interior Lab - a vibrant community of staff, students, researchers and alumni. Through talks, exhibitions, workshops and collaborative events, Interior Lab connects postgraduate students with undergraduate programmes, doctoral researchers and professional practitioners, fostering an environment of exchange, critical discussion and creative collaboration.
To find out more about this course, visit our Degree Finder: Interior, Architectural and Spatial Design.
