Interior Architecture and Design (BS)

The undergraduate program in Interior Architecture and Design culminates in a professional Bachelor of Science (BS) in Interior Architecture and Design degree. The program is designed to provide a broad and rigorous educational experience that merges lecture and studio-base courses to promote evidence-based designs. Students’ creative and innovative design activities are guided by an understanding of the complexity of factors relating to human interaction with the designed and natural environments and an awareness that design decisions have consequences that affect human occupation, global habitability, cultural evolution, environmental change, and the sustainability of human social systems.

As a program with an interdisciplinary focus, students learn to effectively address challenges of the 21 st century. This includes collaboration with various professionals on complex design and planning issues related to the interconnections of science, art, and technology as applied to the built environment. The program’s curriculum reflects this interdisciplinary paradigm the inclusion of human sciences with computer-based and material technologies.

The Interior Architecture and Design Program has a strong foundation aimed to meet the diverse needs of a first professional degree in Interior Architecture and Design. The curriculum is desirable for those wishing to pursue NCIDQ certification, licensure in the state of Nevada, and to practice as a professional in the field. This program further serves as a foundation for those wishing to pursue higher education to specialize in one of the many areas where interior architects and designers’ practice.

Please see the UNLV College of Fine Arts, Department of Architecture web page for information about department programs, faculty and facilities.Degree worksheets and 4/5 year plan for the major are available on the UNLV Degrees Directory.

Learning Objectives

1. Demonstrate an appreciation for global perspectives on design and the design process.
2. Apply information from the human sciences to design outcomes to enhance human performance and quality of life.
3. Depict each step of a design process when addressing an issue or problem of concern. 
4. Demonstrate an ability to engage in person-to-person and remote collaboration when working on a singular design project. 
5. Articulate verbally, in written form, and with symbolic measures design ideas through justification with rationale.
6. Present oneself and design ideas in a professionally developed and articulated proposal.
7. Detail common business standards of practice as they apply to business development, financial management, strategic planning, and ethics.
8. Recall germane historical factors that influenced various movements within interior and furniture design.
9. Evaluate theoretical ideas related to spatial definition as applied to two- and three-dimensional design.
10. Apply principles and theories of color as they relate to objects, textures, surface materials, and lighting.
11. Demonstrate an understand of environmental systems and controls that pertain to lighting, acoustics, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality for health, safety, welfare, and human performance.
12. Demonstrate an understanding of design solutions affect by the difference systems used to support the interior performance of a building. 
13. Demonstrate compliance with regulations set forth as industry standards and governing laws.