Piet Zwart Institute

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Institute for Postgraduate Studies and Research

Interior Architecture: Research + Design

Interior Architecture: Research + Design

MIARD Graduation Exhibition 2022, Underfoot and reaching into the light
Image credit: Chiara Catalini

Master Interior Architecture: Research + Design, MIARD at the Piet Zwart Institute is an international post-graduate program that is part of the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. MIARD is a two-year multidisciplinary course with a focus on practice-based research and spatial strategies in the field of interior architecture. We invite you to visit our digital archive and explore the work produced in the program. 

Interior architects face a shifting planet enmeshed in new realities, technologies, socio-political, environmental and economic challenges; consequently, practice today calls for different means, in order for practitioners to be adaptable, resourceful and seek out future forms. At MIARD, design is a form of research that circulates across spatial dimensions with numerous pathways and scales —from local issues to global changes, from objects to architecture and beyond. The interior is an emergent and multilayered site of research, cultural analysis, critical reflection and space of conjecture. By merging spatial practice and research with critical strategies in the program, students develop their self-directed, practice-based research positioned amongst cultural and environmental urgencies. The program engages with a range of topical themes, methods, tools, and formats to think critically about practice and modes of production in the context of the (built) environment amid a theoretical and historical framework. Our multidisciplinary and imaginative approach to the development of a creative practice produces a learning environment that welcomes diversity, originality, and conversation amid intellectual and professional rigor.

Throughout the two-year program, students work with a community of professionals — architects, designers, artists, researchers, curators, editors, publishers, graphic designers, interaction designers, writers and educators. The international expertise and varied disciplinary backgrounds enrich our education and directly connect students to a global research and professional culture. Our faculty provides a stimulating learning context in the development of diverse creative practices and professionalization.  They work closely with international students that join us from around the globe with different professional, educational and cultural backgrounds. Together, teachers, students, and external professionals create a vibrant and respectful community where we learn and work with each other, engage in conversation, and exchange ideas, which is an aspect of our dialogue-based learning approach.

We make things public and engage with broader communities through a mix of activities – guest talks, studio visits, workshops, and intimate conversations coupled with excursions, collaborations, and exhibitions. We invite people to join us at MIARD from diverse practices to talk about their projects and work with our students. These activities enrich our community, a student’s professional network, and educational experience. In recent years, we have participated in national and international professional events and fostered collaborations with; Het Nieuwe Instituut, Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Salone del Mobile Milano, Kunstinstituut Melly, Flevoland Art Weekend, deSingel Internationale Kunstcampus, and Dutch Design Week, amongst others. The work of students and alumni has been recognized and published by e-flux Architecture, Metropolis M, Domus, Dezeen, DAMN Magazine, and Archinect, to name a few. These experiences allow one to make informed decisions about the circulation and communication of their work across different contexts and formats to professional and general audiences.

MIARD is located in a modern building with a wide selection of academic, production facilities, and resources in the center of Rotterdam: a culturally diverse and creative city with vibrant communities — recognized for its dynamic cultural production in architecture, design, and the arts. For more specific information about the program, curriculum, practices, and professional activities visit our research archive here.

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