Interior Design Teaching Methodology During the Global COVID-19 Pandemic

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Issue Vol. 3 No. 2 (2020)
Published Jul 30, 2020
Section Articles
Article downloads 2860
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7454/in.v3i2.100
Submitted : May 30, 2020 | Accepted : Jul 15, 2020
Lina Ahmad
Zayed University
lina.ahmad@zu.ac.ae
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8236-6978
Marco Sosa
Zayed University
marco.sosa@zu.ac.ae
Karim Musfy
Zayed University
karim.musfy@zu.ac.ae

Abstract




In March 2020, the World Health Organization officially announced the COVID-19 outbreak as a global Pandemic (WHO, 2020). During this time, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced national preventative measures to slow the spread of the deadly virus by announcing the closure of schools and higher education institutions, and the commitment of online learning. Teaching faculty at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises (CACE) at Zayed University were suddenly facing the challenge of teaching design through a distance learning approach. As educators of interior design, the authors were part of the team tasked to find ways to teach design without physical contact with the students nor access to campus facilities traditionally used to run the program and its associated courses. This paper charts the pedagogy approach that the authors adopted as a response to the national lockdown. As design faculty, the authors felt that, despite the restrictions imposed on society because of COVID-19 pandemic, it was still possible to explore other alternatives for a particular course, the senior capstone project. The main intention was to successfully fulfil the course learning outcomes and provide students with a suitable pedagogy continuity to the learning process commenced prior to the lockdown.




Keywords: interior design, online pedagogy, virtual reality, teaching under COVID-19, online teaching design, online virtual exhibition

Article Details

How to Cite
Ahmad, L., Sosa, M., & Musfy, K. (2020). Interior Design Teaching Methodology During the Global COVID-19 Pandemic. Interiority, 3(2), 163–184. https://doi.org/10.7454/in.v3i2.100
Author Biographies

Lina Ahmad, Zayed University

Lina Ahmad holds a Master from the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London. She has over 10 years of UAE professional experience working across different sectors and project stages; ranging between design work from proposing alternate schemes to detailing and executing architectural packages and participating in projects’ execution and site supervision. Prior to joining academia, Lina held the position of project design team leader at BDP MENA consultancy office in Abu Dhabi. Lina is an Associate Professor and the Assistant Chair at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, Zayed University. Her work has been awarded and exhibited, and she has published various academic papers and presented at a number of regional and international conferences.

Marco Sosa, Zayed University

Marco Sosa is an architect, Associate Professor and the Chair of Design at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises (CACE), Zayed University, Abu Dhabi. Sosa has over 10 years of experience working as an architect in the UK. He is a postgraduate diploma in Architecture (tutored by Florian Beigel, Adam Caruso and Peter StJohn), and a MA (with merits) on Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources under the tutorship of Professor Maurice Mitchell, all completed at London Metropolitan University. He is a member of the UK’s Architect’s Registration Board and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) since 2002. In 2014, Marco was appointed Head of Design for the First National Pavilion for the UAE at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the exhibition was titled “Lest We Forget; Structures of Memory in the UAE”.  Sosa has published various academic papers and presented at various conferences around the world.

Karim Musfy, Zayed University

Karim Musfy is a seasoned executive and a professor with over 20 years of international experience in academia, consultancy and development. Currently an Assistant Professor at Zayed University, Karim has worked with several design consultancy firms including KEO in Abu Dhabi, SOM and Perkins & Will in New York managing large-scale projects. He also worked with leading developers, overseeing global projects collectively worth circa USD 30 Billion. Karim started his career in architecture with Eisenman Architects in NY, then managed his own practice in Beirut while serving at the American University of Beirut for a period of 8 years and the American University of Sharjah for a year. Karim holds a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University. Reference to his work was mentioned in publications including A+U, El Croquis and Eisenman Architect’s publications Diagram Diaries and Selected and Current Works.

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