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Master of Arts (M.A.)

Interior Architecture – Spatial Arts

What would your initial question be regarding interior architecture and spatial design? Use it to select your own focal area for the master’s degree program. And answer it with artistic design, structural and technical, planning and organizational, and academic expertise. By doing so, you will develop your own profile and your ticket into one of the most diverse professional fields in interior architecture.

Your heart beats for...

... Designing, Building, Creativity, Social coexistence, Organization, Partical part, Foreign language English

A Degree Program with a Future

Type of Study

Our degree program will enable you to carry out individual, creative work. It is organized and managed by coordinators and mentors. The project and thesis are divided into different phases during the program.

Admission
  • Bachelor’s or graduate degree
  • Portfolio
  • Letter of motivation
  • Own technical question
  • Successful initial interview
  • German language level: C1

All graduates of a Bachelor's degree program in interior design, architecture or a comparable space-related/design degree program are eligible to apply. If students have completed a six or seven semester Bachelor’s degree program, then they will take an additional one to two semesters of supplementary courses to prepare them for the Master’s program. Places in the Master’s degree program in interior architecture – spatial design (MIAR) are assigned through a selection process. You can find information on the selection process here (for all EU applicants).

Structure and Contents of the Degree Program

1. Semester

Master project, divided into the following phases:

  • Introductory phase: interdisciplinary conference
  • Standpoint phase: Research, independent study, criticism, presentations, discourse in the Master studio
  • Development phase: Exploration, excursion, experiment, independent study, criticism, workshops, surveys, performance, etc.
  • Reflection phase Guest criticism, independent study, criticism, workshops, surveys, performance, etc.
  • Module conclusion: Draft with presentation and colloquium

2. Semester

Master's thesis, divided into the following phases: 

  • Exam phase: Reflection and identifying a topic, creating an exposé to address in the thesis
  • Completion phase: individual discussion of the topic (draft, exhibition, corporate design, scenography, realization project, product, light, international projects, academic work, etc.
  • Exhibition phase and draft
  • Presentation and colloquium

Focus areas/advance courses

  • Students select own focus areas
Acquired Knowledge and Skills

As a student in the Master's degree program in interior design and spatial design, you will learn

  • How to address individual spatial designs in an analytic manner, in consideration of the assigned design task
  • Efficient and innovative solution strategies from interior architecture drafting, planning, and research
  • Aspects of digital media design, new technical developments in materials, product and furniture development
  • Academic work methods
  • Orientation towards the values and needs of users and participative involvement of user perspectives

The Detmold school is supporting the latter with its focus on Human Centered Design.

Job Profiles

The Master’s program in Interior Design – Spatial Arts qualifies you to work as an employee or as a self-employed individual, for instance in interior architecture firms, agencies, companies, research institutions or universities. 

Possible work areas:

  • Creating and designing spaces for home, work, recreation, education, care
  • Furniture development and production
  • Developing and designing temporary spaces s for brand identity, exhibitions, trade fairs, showrooms, theater film
  • Planning, organization and management of construction tasks
  • Developing and designing spatially informed communication processes for companies, institutions and associations
  • designing virtual worlds (CAD, web design, multimedia design)
Cooperation With Companies

You select your thesis topic yourself. This facilitates cooperations with relevant cultural institutions, companies, and social initiatives.

Research in the Department
  • 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. 

Our fields of research

As Graduate You Contribute to...

... 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

Our Creative Campus in 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.

Campus Life

Profile

Degree Course:
Interior Architecture – Spatial Arts
Degree:
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Study model:
Full-time
Admission:
Non-restricted
Standard period of study:
2 semester
Start:
Winter semester
Course language:
German
Location:
Creative Campus Detmold
Tuition Fees:
None
Preparatory courses:
no

Application periods:

Germany and EU Countries
Winter Semester: 02.05. – 30.06.

Non-EU Countries
Wintersemester: 01.02. – 23.05.
Currently no application possible