Interior Design
Bachelor of Fine Arts
in Interior Designwith an Emphasis on Retail & Commercial Spaces
Interior design is the art of defining spaces that surround us…from the inside out. Whether within intimately small spaces or much larger schemes, within residential, commercial or work related places, the interior designer must demonstrate the ability to adapt and develop, way beyond simple decoration, subtle design proposals both sensitive to context and responsive to complex constraints and specific requirements.
– Alix de Mercey, Chair of Interior Design
The Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Interior Design encourages a thorough yet versatile design approach, following systematic and coordinated methodologies. With an emphasis on Retail and Commercial Spaces, the program is intended for undergraduate students aiming to become professional interior designers specialized in retail, commercial, exhibition and event spaces. Inter-disciplinary in nature and structure, the studio and the classroom serve as complementary spaces for design thinking and creative expression as well as technical and professional skills development.
The course builds up towards a final individual project which is presented before a panel of critics, followed by a 6 month mandatory internship and thesis. The significant studio practice and the plurality of choices offered by this program prepare graduates for immediate insertion into the interior design field in Paris and internationally, or for entry into specialized Masters degree programs.
Set within the unique context of Paris, with its rich historical and cultural heritage, prestigious and innovative interior design concepts and renowned leading figures in the field, the school is an ideal setting to pursue the development of a clear and personal creative direction within this discipline.
Faculty
Curriculum
Foundation
fall
Drawing I
Drawing–across all first year studio courses and in every progression track at PCA–is considered a fundamental discipline for creative practice. The aim is to give students both a vital course in traditional skills and an introduction to contemporary and emerging approaches to drawing. Included in this class are subject specific workshops such as: digital illustration, gesture/dance, experimental fashion drawing, drawing and film. The purpose of this course is to instill a lively and inspired discipline that students will continue to practice in many forms beyond their foundation year.
Materials and Dimensions I
This course is an introduction to dimensions in art and design (2D, 3D, and Photography) through material processes. Over the course of the semester students rotate for one month through three discipline areas. A common theme links the three courses and projects overlap and develop progressively. All first years take part in a joint critique of their work. Students are taught how to use practical tools and shown methods for handling materials that provide concrete starting points for creative practice. These include, but are not limited to: book-making, basic printmaking, black and white printing, sewing inductions, and the operation of woodwork machinery.
City as Studio
Students explore their immediate neighbourhood and the city at large as a site of inspiration. The city and its spaces become an extended classroom. Students respond to a theme designed to encourage interaction and integration with their surroundings and new, unexpected ways of looking at their environment. Site visits, walks, lectures, readings, and practical exercises guide students through different approaches to the creative process with the aim that they develop their own methodologies and engage with the city as potential artists and/or designers.
Introduction to Digital Media I
This course aims to equip all first year students with the necessary skills and confidence to be able to use digital tools. The curriculum is project-led and structured so that students can apply their growing skill-set to realize their ideas. All projects are contextualized with examples of work by contemporary artists and designers who are working with digital media. Students are introduced to the possibilities for digital tools as part of their creative work.
Introduction to Art & Design
This course introduces students to themes and topics relevant to the production and reception of the art and design disciplines taught at PCA. Using art and design objects located in Parisian collections as the basis for visual, contextual and cultural analysis, students will develop ways of seeing, contextualizing and describing art and design, while tackling a common set of issues, including but not limited to: chronology, style, authorship, form, function, composition, originality, narrative, and the decorative. Students will be guided as to how to conduct research in local collections and libraries and will produce a short contextually-oriented research paper on an art or design object or an artist or designer based on first-hand access to the object, artist, designer and archives.
Critical Thinking & Writing I
This year-long course is designed to improve critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. Students learn to understand the inherent argument and logic of a text, to think more systematically and critically, and to write more effectively by developing skills in the structure, grammar, and mechanics of writing. Students also work toward the more focused goal of situating design and art practices within larger intellectual, historical and philosophical frameworks by exploring the indissoluble connection between ideas and the products of human culture. This is achieved by introducing students to texts representing and describing various methodologies applicable to art and design, which can then be used to critique and analyze visual and material artifacts.
spring
Drawing II
Students require the fluency and confidence in the act of drawing developed in Drawing I in order to engage in more ambitious work. Drawing classes are designed to relate directly to art and design specialisms (Fine Art, Illustration, Fashion, Interior Design, Communication Design and Photography). Students are encouraged to take a self-motivated and questioning approach to drawing; equipped with the basic skills they become increasingly open to experimentation and the potential to communicate in many forms. Through a series of workshops stereotypical ways of thinking and seeing are challenged so that students understand drawing as an activity that continues to be relevant and re-invented.
Introduction To Digital Media II
Students develop projects with a growing complexity, employing the computer less as a tool and more as a medium to be manipulated with greater confidence and control. The aim of the course is to create an awareness of the potential for digital techniques to solve visual and communication problems. Advanced skills are taught during the Semester that support and encourage an ambitious approach to the digital field. Students integrate digital and non-digital practice and explore mixing different softwares and media. All projects are contextualized with examples of work by contemporary artists and designers who are working with digital media. By the end of the course all students are confident to use digital tools as part of their creative work.
Materials & Dimensions II
Depending on the individual student’s interests they will enroll in either the 2D or 3D focus of Materials and Dimensions II:
Materials and Dimensions II: 2D
Building on the practical knowledge acquired in ‘Materials and Dimensions I’, students develop their ideas with more autonomy, through more personal projects, whilst being supported by the technical expertise of their instructors. The course is split equally between the Photography and Printmaking studio.
The course focuses on the relationship between design, process and final outcome in two dimensions through color. Students are taught to search for the most effective and pertinent way to communicate their ideas.
The continuous shift between photography, printmaking, traditional and digital techniques encourages students to investigate image-making as a multi-layered creative process which will enable them to transform and push their work forward in all areas of 2-dimensional image-making.
Materials and Dimensions II: 3D
Building on the practical knowledge acquired in ‘Materials and Dimensions I’, develop their ideas with more autonomy whilst being supported by the technical expertise of their instructors.
With a specific focus on ‘The Body’ students are introduced to the many ways that the human form is central to art and design practices, whether it is in the design of clothes, products, buildings, or furniture. Students gain an understanding of the different possibilities for 3D Design (architecture, fashion, product design, furniture, fine art sculpture).
Projects are based on investigations into how the physical structure, dimensions, and the functions of the human body inspire and direct the design of forms. The influence of context and environment on the generation and development of ideas will be essential to the work. Students experiment with the potential and limitations of materials and different material combinations through a study of color.
Personal Project
This five-day intensive workshop is devoted to the creation of a work of art and/or design for the end of year exhibition. Working with a set theme students are guided through a series of exercises designed to: spark imagination, encourage wide-ranging and thorough investigation, inspire ambition and teach presentation skills. The aim of the workshop is to support students through: peer-reviews, presentations of artists and designers work relevant to the theme, and one-to-one tutorials in the development of a personal work that will be professionally exhibited.
Students will be expected to draw and build upon the technical skills, methods and approaches that they have learned on Foundation and/or other courses in order to realize an accomplished and ambitious work to be shown to the public.
Paris Yesterday and Tomorrow: history, art and urban culture
This course acquaints students with the neighborhoods, cultures, people, customs, institutions and organizations in Paris through a thematic approach based on three main modules: the city and its history; the literary and artistic representations of the city; the city, its citizens, and its future. Students will learn about key moments in French history, from the Romans on, via the Middle Ages, the Revolution, Haussmannization, and May 1968; they will be introduced to such themes as political migrations and colonialism, and will explore the city from a variety of points of views including literary and artistic exchanges, urban history, architecture, and ecology. Active exploration of the environment is strongly encouraged and learning is accomplished through a variety of means: site visits, the examination of texts and images, and first-hand encounters with museums, galleries, and libraries, as well as other art and design-related resources in the city.
Critical Thinking & Writing II
This year-long course is designed to improve critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. Students learn to understand the inherent argument and logic of a text, to think more systematically and critically, and to write more effectively by developing skills in the structure, grammar, and mechanics of writing. Students also work toward the more focused goal of situating design and art practices within larger intellectual, historical and philosophical frameworks by exploring the indissoluble connection between ideas and the products of human culture. This is achieved by introducing students to texts representing and describing various methodologies applicable to art and design, which can then be used to critique and analyze visual and material artifacts.
Sophomore Year
fall
Project Fundamentals 1
These first project courses (P.F. 1&2) aim at providing students with the cultural and technical tools needed to understand inhabited spaces. Exemplary projects drawn from housing, workplace, leisure and retail environments are investigated. Space elements are analyzed on published architectural projects and within real locations: urban context, masses, negative and positive spaces, lighting, furniture functions. The ability to generate design solutions, select images, color and finishes are emphasized. Building codes and barrier-free design compliance are also be studied.
Materiality
The course aims at introducing students to the world of materials’ sensorial qualities, requirements, and performances. Students explore the relationships between colors, light and four specific materials (glass, wood, metal and plastics) from a sensorial point of view. Through a theoretical and practical approach of materials and tool technologies, students discover possibilities and ways to apply, combine and assemble materials within interior environments. The course will also encourage critical thinking with regard to an understanding and application of the life cycle analysis, as well as introducing organizations dedicated to sustainability and the rating systems they use. Visits to materials workshops and suppliers showrooms will complement this course.
Introduction to Project Communication
This course is intended as an introduction to the communication of interior design projects. It is meant to provide students with a basic understanding of practical skills used to describe and represent space. Through a series of tasks, students familiarize themselves with basic design tools – conceptual sketches, study models, two dimensional drawings, volumetric representations and presentation techniques – which accompany the elaboration and communication of interior design proposals.
History of Architecture
This course explores the flourishing theoretical debate around architecture and design in the Modern Era. By providing students with the knowledge and skills required to understand and analyze their built environment, we will focus on significant periods that have marked architecture in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. Starting from the industrial revolution, the course will cover the prevailing theoretical movements that have characterized and formed Modern Architectural History. By adopting Paris as a paradigmatic area of study, students will be first introduced to the redefinition of a “National Style” in 1840ies France while focusing on the interpretation of history in contemporary architectural language. We will then look into emerging artists and building forms in North America and Europe starting with the School of Chicago and moving forward with the Arts & Crafts, and Art Nouveau movements, together with the Prairie School. Students will be also introduced to the influential Avant-garde schools such as the Art Déco and Bauhaus before approaching the International Style. Although the course offers a diachronic approach of History, Architecture and interior design will be also tackled through a thematic analysis with a series of exercises (In-class activities; field trips and visual analysis) where students will assess, explore and compare built structures in our urban environment.
Studio Elective
You may select an elective from the many course offerings in your department or in other departments with the approval of your department chair.
Liberal Studies Elective
You may select an elective from the many liberal studies course offerings. Go to the Liberal Studies department page for more information.
spring
Project Fundamentals 2
These first project courses (P.F. 1&2) aim at providing students with the cultural and technical tools needed to understand inhabited spaces. Exemplary projects drawn from housing, workplace, leisure and retail environments are investigated. Space elements are analyzed on published architectural projects and within real locations: urban context, masses, negative and positive spaces, lighting, furniture functions. The ability to generate design solutions, select images, color and finishes are emphasized. Building codes and barrier-free design compliance will also be studied.
Architectural Components
This course aims to introduce and explore the basic components and systems that define the built environment : structure, envelope, floors, walls, roof, stairs, windows, doors, environmental systems (including plumbing, electricity, ventilation, telecommunications, lighting, etc). Over the semester, each session is to address a particular component or system in detail (from exemplary references to technical aspects to graphic representational codes). Sustainability issues and energy-saving systems will also be studied.
The course as a whole intends to provide students with a comprehensive and thorough overview of the numerous aspects and characteristics which need to be considered when developing an interior design project. Bridging with Project Fundamentals 1 & 2, the course will allow students to understand how these components and systems co-exist and interface within the built environment.
Project Communication 2D
This first course in Project Communication is meant to provide students with the necessary practical skills to describe and represent space in two dimensions. The semester is dedicated to 2D technical drawing (dimensions, scale, plan, section, elevation views, and axonometric projections) by hand as well as in AutoCAD and the illustration of interior design proposals in Illustrator and Photoshop, with an understanding of their application as both powerful conceptual and presentation tools.
Introduction to Design Studies
As an introduction to design in general, this seminar provides students with a contextual understanding of specific movements in design history. ‘Design’ has come to mean many different things. It has been defined as problem solving, communication of an idea, an aesthetic decision, but it is rarely discussed as a vital business concern, though design communicates to us and makes us desire things in order to sell something. The weekly sessions will incorporate topics ranging from avant-garde movements, technology and media, information theory, business and marketing practices, sociology, and psychology, set within a broad historical narrative.
Liberal Studies Elective
You may select an elective from the many liberal studies course offerings. Go to the Liberal Studies department page for more information.
Junior Year
fall
Project 1: Permanent Space Design
In Project 1, students will focus on the design of permanent retail and commercial spaces, including restaurants, banks, boutiques, specialty shops and department stores. The differences in the treatment of tangible products retailing and intangible services offering will be emphasized through the exploration of content communication and the differential features that outline the character of a brand in a specific space. Design research methods and programming of client requirements are introduced, as well as techniques of diagramming space to provide proper circulation and activity relationships.
Project Communication 3D
This second course in Project Communication is meant to provide students with the necessary practical skills to describe and represent space in three dimensions. The semester is dedicated to 3D technical drawings such as axonometry or perspective, as well as physical and digital 3D models, with an understanding of their application as both powerful conceptual and presentation tools.
Lighting Design
The course aims at helping students to become aware that light is, first of all, a material, a tool to shape spaces, and thus handled and processed as such. Space lighting will be approached from the creative point of view – without it being limited to technological aspects. Students will understand the physiological and psychological aspects of lighting in interior design and will learn to define lighting project intentions in different types of spaces such as an apparel store, an art exhibition space or a restaurant.
Studio Elective
You may select an elective from the many course offerings in your department or in other departments with the approval of your department chair.
spring
Project 2: Temporary Space Design
In Project 2, students will focus on the design of temporary retail and exhibition spaces, including trade show exhibits, pop-up stores or corporate / public events. The art of display, lighting, visual and sound communication, color schemes, and materials selection to generate a complete sensory experience for the customers / visitors will be emphasized. Guest experts and suppliers will introduce professional reality in this studio course.
Furniture and Display Design
This course aims to establish the inherent principles of furnishing space while adopting a practical approach to the design process of furniture within a retail and commercial context.
It introduces the main categories of commercial space furnishings and the merchandising practices in stores. The role of human considerations with such approaches as physical anthropology and ergonomics related to furniture design will be studied. Students will learn how to maintain cohesiveness with brief and given context while designing the details of basic elements of custom components within interior spaces.
Alternatives in Project Communication
In this class, students perfect resources for the visualization and the communication of interior design projects, both orally and visually. Students develop and explore new concepts, methods and ideas to visually illustrate and present the various phases of the design process: concept boards, fast scale models, graphics and materials samples.
Art History Elective
You may select an elective from the many liberal studies course offerings. Go to the Liberal Studies department page for more information.
Liberal Studies Elective
You may select an elective from the many liberal studies course offerings. Go to the Liberal Studies department page for more information.
Senior Year
fall
Team Project
In the first semester, students work in teams on either a residential or a commercial space. They select an existing space in Paris and build the project on a proposed transformation of this space. This is a two-credit course because the majority of the work is done by students outside direct classroom instruction time. Students work in teams and meet with their instructor for 3 hours per week to review progress, receive feedback and technical conceptual suggestions for moving the project to completion. A peer review and critique with all student teams is organized at the end of weeks 5, 10, and 15. For the final critique in week 15 several faculty and at least one outside professional are also part of the jury that sets the grade.
Window Display Design
Project Management
This course addresses practical issues of project management. Emphasis is placed on understanding how to create a project plan and manage a team to meet the scope of the project, milestones and deliverables.
Studio Elective
You may select an elective from the many course offerings in your department or in other departments with the approval of your department chair.
Liberal Studies Elective
You may select an elective from the many liberal studies course offerings. Go to the Liberal Studies department page for more information.
spring
Final Individual Project
A semester-long project will be conducted individually. Students will have the opportunity to apply all the interdisciplinary skills and knowledge gathered during their course of studies to either a permanent or temporary space. They will have to demonstrate their understanding and capacities of caring on all aspects of retail and commercial space design – research, analysis, creative and technical solutions, communication, economics, and management. Students’ presentations will be evaluated by an external pool of practicing interior designers and architects.
Portfolio Preparation
Intensive workshops dedicated to the experimentation of various techniques provided for students: they will be able to choose how to present their final individual project and their print and digital portfolios for further career or education prospects.
Art History Elective
You may select an elective from the many liberal studies course offerings. Go to the Liberal Studies department page for more information.
Liberal Studies Elective
You may select an elective from the many liberal studies course offerings. Go to the Liberal Studies department page for more information.
Internship Year
fall
Six-Month Interior Design Internship and Thesis
Interior Design Students Visit the Cité Musicale Construction Site
Laurent Masmonteil, architect and faculty of the Interior Design Department at PCA, recently took his class Project Fundamentals II on an exclusive tour of the construction site of the Cité Musicale on Île Seguin, project led by the famous Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, and his associate on this adventure, the French architect Jean de Gastines.PCA Students in the News
PCA Interior Design students’ project featured during Paris Design Week.More

About Design
Tuesday 23rd April will see a day-long collaborative event between the Communication Design and Interior Design departments, open to all!More

MA Interior Design Alumna Ayushi Chaudhary Interns at Sybille de Margerie
MA Interior Design class of '18 Ayushi Chaudhary interned at design company Sybille de Margerie. Find out what her experience was like!More

'School Paper' Competition with Procédés Chénel
PCA's Interior Design students, alongside students from other leading Parisian design schools, were invited by Procédés Chénel to take part in 'School Paper': a one day intensive competition which was held in May 2018.More

Interior Design Students Collaborate with Beckmans School of Art and Design
PCA Interior Design students recently worked on a collaborative project with Beckmans School of Art and Design which was featured in Paris Design Week 2018 and the Journées du Patrimoine Open Days.More

Move Cine Arch International Architecture Film Festival
'Move' is a biennial festival, dedicated a year to art and year to architecture. This traveling festival is setting foot in Venice, São Paulo and Paris. The new edition has welcomed films and video-art productions focused on architecture, landscape, representation of space, urbanism,...More

Call for Submission: Imm Cologne's 'Pure Talents' Contest
The Pure Talents competition, organised by imm cologne, is one of the largest tradeshows for interior design worldwide, and one of the most prestigious awards for young product designers. The application deadline is Friday, 14 September 2018.More

PCA x Beckmans School of Art and Design x Institut Suédois Project to Partake in Paris Design Week 2018
During Spring 2018, Interior Design students worked on a design project in collaboration with Beckmans School of Art and Design, and the Institut Suédois of Paris. This project will be part of Paris Design Week 2018!More

Interior Design's 'A to Z Series' with Ciguë Architects
As part of the Interior Design department's 'A to Z series', students were recently invited to atelier Ciguë architects and designers' practice.More

Interior Design Students Visit Belgian Lighting Specialist Delta Light
Interior Design students in Nora Loli's 'Lighting Design' course had the opportunity to visit Belgian manufacturer Delta Light's showroom in Paris.More

PCA x Beckmans School of Art and Design x Institut Suédois Paris
PCA Interior Design students were invited by the Swedish Institute of Paris to participate in a collaborative project along with students from Beckmans College of Art and Design in Stockholm, Sweden.More

Sarah Colford on Interior Design at PCA
Interior Design student Sarah Colford gave us the low down on exciting projects and happenings in the department this semester!More

Interior Design Highlight: EROTOKRITOS Project
For the Fall '17 semester, chair of Interior Design Alix de Mercey and Interior Design faculty Deirdre Philips will be leading a class in collaboration with retail company EROTOKRITOS. Students will be rethinking the design and use of the company's boutique, 109 boulevard...More

Highlight: Interior Design x Fashion Design Collaboration
Spotlight on the PCA End of Year Show collaboration between MA Fashion Design class of '17 Sho Konishi, and Interior Design class of '19 Viktoria Tamas!More

Interior Design students attended the September edition of the trade show Maison & Objet
Maison & Objet is dedicated to life style, decoration and design. Students had a unique opportunity to discover the unexpected.More

PCA Students Work on Design Strategies for Hotel IBIS
Interior Design Project 1 students in Deirdre Phillips class are working on proposing new design strategies to improve the existing lobby area of our local Ibis Hotel.More

Interior Design students visit L'Elephant Paname
Interior Design Faculty, Machan Enever accompanied her students to several locations through Paris to experience great light and lighting design.More

A Freshman Among Sophomores: Foundation Student Viktoria Tamas' Experience In An Interior Design Class
In the Spring semester, all Foundation students are required to take an elective in a department that PCA offers. 2015-2016 Foundation student Viktoria Tamas had the opportunity to partake in an Interior Design class Project Fundamentals II taught by Laurent Masmonteil. She...More

PCA Fine Arts Faculty Eric Vernhes to Exhibit his Work "De Notre Nature"
Eric Vernhes, multidisciplinary artist and PCA Fine Arts Faculty, follows a journey throughout different artistic disciplinesMore

PCA Interior Design Faculty Laurent Masmonteil Just Completed Designs "Pergola House" in Corsica
Laurent Masmonteil, who teaches in the PCA Interior Design program, recently completed the designs for Pergola House in Corsica.More

Modeling Space | an Interior Design Exhibition
Modeling Space, an exhibition of works by PCA students, faculty and friends, explores and illustrates the use of scale models as a conceptual and communication tool in architecture, design and interiors.More

Interior Design Students Visit the Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Our Interior Design students recently had the unique opportunity to have a behind the scenes tour of the Paris Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW).More

PCA Faculty Julien Odile's Project for Social Housing with Paris Habitat
Odile+Guzy, Julien Odile’s architecture company, just completed a social housing project for Paris Habitat.More

Interieur Awards 2016
New opportunities for Interior Design Students.More