LIVE.STUDY.EAT.PLAY: HYBRID DESIGN CLASS FOR DEVELOPING PROTOTYPE UNITS OF ON-CAMPUS DORMITORY

At the undergraduate level, practicing interior architectural design is the core of an Interior Architecture degree and all other related disciplines. The Architect Council of Thailand (ACT), as an accreditation body for a B. Arch. (Interior Architecture) degree, entitles its graduates to apply for a license to practice as a professional architect in Thailand. To be accredited by the ACT, the core courses of the undergraduate must focus on interior architectural design from fundamental to advanced level. At the School of Architecture and Design, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), Thailand, the undergraduate curriculum of interior architecture involves a five-year degree program that aligns with the accreditation requirements of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation2 and the ACT.3 The Bachelor of Architecture in Interior Architecture curriculum at the School of Architecture and Design, KMUTT, has been designed to allow students to gain essential skills such as the ability to identify requirements and problems, formulate and develop design solutions, and spatial innovation experience. Undergraduate design students can develop their skills through projects involving fundamental or complex building typologies, from pavilion design, residential design, retail design, workplace design, community space design, educational space design, museum design, and hospitality design to mixed-use space design.

This paper focuses on the strengths of the second-year Interior Architectural Design class, one of the core courses of the Bachelor of Architecture in Interior Architecture curriculum, through an example of an academic-industrial collaboration. The project “KMUTT x BKD Dormitory Unit Design Competition 2023” was an interior architecture design competition for developing prototype units for the on-campus dormitory. The project formed part of the Interior Architecture Program at the School of Architecture and Design, KMUTT, Thailand.