Interior Architecture
The field of interior architecture is focused on designing living spaces for people with light, colors, objects ... From private homes to furniture and product design, or designing for exhibitions, shops, showrooms and events: the profession of interior architecture is creative and varied. In this bachelor’s degree program, you will learn what you need to achieve your professional goals.
Your heart beats for...
A Degree Program with a Future
Our 8-semester Bachelor’s degree program entitles you to entry in an Interior architecture list, and therefore to work as an interior architect without restrictions – this includes working as an employee or working as a self-employed person managing your own office.
- General university entrance qualification (Abitur)
- Specialized university entrance qualification
- Advanced technical college certificate (Fachhochschulreife)
- Vocational qualification
- For admission to the winter semester 2023/24, the eight-week basic internship does not have to be completed before the start of studies, but can be made up by the end of the 2nd semester at the latest.
- The basic internship can be completed, for instance, in the areas of joinery, carpentry, wood mechanics, concrete block and terrazzo production, metalworking, architectural drawing, interior design, visual marketing design, stage engineering, upholstery, painting, lighting engineering, restoration, and similar areas.
- In addition, students must verify they have completed an eight-week specialty internship by the start of the fifth semester. During the specialty internship, they will learn specific duties required in their profession as interior architects, such as in architectural and interior design planning firms, design agencies and interior fit-out companies or furnishing showrooms, planning departments for the government, district or city administration and railway and postal administrations, planning firms for furnishing and product design or stage and event design institutions.
1. Semester
- Pictorial design principles
- Color and space
- Area, space, and sculpture
- CAD Architecture and interior architecture
- Basic drafting 1
2. Semester
- Advanced representation techniques
- Advance design fundamentals
- Art and architectural history
- Ergonomics and human factors
- Basic drafting 2
3. Semester
- Furniture design principles
- Structural design
- Structural design and building materials
- Project: Designing sustainable spaces and objects
- Elective subjects
4. Semester
- Lighting design fundamentals 1
- Building physics and building services
- Interior renovation design and materials
- Project: Designing temporary spaces
- Elective subjects
5. Semester
- Internship semester
6. Semester
- Fundamentals of human sciences
- Architectural and design history
- Basic costs and law
- Design project
7. Semester
- Lighting design fundamentals 2
- Marketing – communication
- Architectural theory and communication
- Advanced studies project
8. Semester
- Bachelor’s thesis and colloquium
Focus areas/advance courses
- Projects, elective subjects and cumulative modules
- Interior architecture drafts
- artistic-design basic training
- cultural and humanities fundamentals
- technical and design expertise
- digital design and illustration tools
- marketing, costs and law
- communication and presentations
- Interior architecture firms: Interior design for living, working, recreation, leisure and sport, education and schooling
- Furniture development and design for private and public usage
- Drafting and designing temporary spaces: for brand presentation, exhibitions, trade fairs, showrooms, events
- Planning, organization and management: Building tasks and design processes
- Designing virtual worlds: CAD, web design, multimedia design
We regularly cooperate on projects with numerous companies in the construction and design sectors.
- Institut für Designstrategien (IDS - Institute for Design Strategies): The IDS conducts research on fundamental interactions between people and spaces. It develops strategies to help achieve a climate-resilient built environment, and takes advantage of the opportunities offered by digitization for innovative approaches and complex analyses.
Research focal areas: Regenerative design, human centered design and data driven design - Institut für Energieforschung (iFE - Institute for Energy Research): Interdisciplinary research institution with members from the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Detmold School of Design, Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, and Business Administration and Economics. The iFE develops technologies and solutions for efficient, networked, and innovative energy systems in the fields of districts, mobility, and industry.
... the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations
- directly to good health and well-being
- directly to clean water and sanitation
- directly to sustainable cities and communities
- directly to life on land
Studying at Creative Campus Detmold

Planning and building in one place. This concept can be found on our Creative Campus. Through both topics, a very special teaching and research location has been created. The internationally renowned Detmold School of Design is located here, as well as the Civil Engineering Department and the Center for Sustainable, Digital Construction, which is currently under construction. Architectural ideas thus cross paths with new thinking in civil engineering, such as sustainable 3D printing. The campus is complemented by media production, which together with the Detmold Academy of Music and the University of Paderborn have created a completely new stage for the transfer between creative science and business in the KreativInstitut.OWL. The campus is also adjacent to the city center, which can thus be reached by foot.
Information
Contact and Counseling
- Our Central Student Advisory Service answers questions about studying at the university
- Offers for study orientation
- Get to know your department!
- Click here to go to the subject-specific student advisory service of the department
- Apply at Hochschulstart (DoSV)!
- Information on the enrollment procedure is available from the Enrollment Office
- Studying abroad? Our International Office is there for you!
Still unanswered questions?
Our Student Service Center will answer all your questions about studying at TH OWL as well as about application and enrollment:
Phone: +49 5261 702 2534
E-mail: studierendenservice(at)th-owl.de
Service hours: Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.