Experimental Design in the Cultural Space Interior Design Studio: Linear Programmatic Versus Holistic Mind-mapping Approach

Since its development into an independent university-based programme, interior design has drawn from the arts and engineering disciplines in the formulation of its pedagogical approach. This paper discusses interior design studio pedagogy at a private university in Indonesia, in which design methodologies in interior design studios have over the years employed the common sequential steps in design developed from architecture studios, interior design text books and professional experiences. While this linear programmatic approach has yielded logical products that could be applied to pragmatic spaces like residences and offices, they are insufficient in accommodating ambiguous and complex ideas essential in cultural spaces. This is due to their conventional forms that are results of direct extrusion from 2-d layout plans, general use of materials and appearances of being a mere “site of containments” inside the architectural frame. The paper further elaborates on the use of an alternative design method via 3-d experiments that was trialed to overcome the inhibition of creative-intuitive processes caused by the former approach. Through observation of the design process and final products of several students, it is concluded that the new method has supported a holistic mind-mapping approach in design, essential in three-dimensional disciplines like interior design, supporting creativity in terms of the novelty of forms and innovative use of materials as well as the sensitivity in connecting the interior to the architectural structure.