Educational Programs
Interior Design
The BAC is accepting applications for Spring 2010 for all onsite degree programs. The spring semester begins on Monday, January 25th 2010.
Welcome to the BAC's School of Interior Design
Interior Designers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2007-2008 Edition www.bls.gov/oco “draw upon many disciplines to enhance the function, safety, and aesthetics of interior spaces. Interior Designers are concerned with how different colors, textures, furniture, lighting, and space work together to meet the needs of a building’s occupants. Designers are involved in planning the interior spaces of almost all buildings – offices, airport terminals, theaters, shopping malls, restaurants, hotels, schools, hospitals, and private residences. Designers help to improve these spaces in order to boost office productivity, increase sales, attract a more affluent clientele, provide a more relaxing hospital stay, or increase the building’s market value.” Employment of interior designers is expected to grow 19 percent from 2006 - 2016.
In addition to the sub-specialties listed above, the Department of Labor also recognizes the popularity of designers specializing in ergonomic design, the design of “work spaces and furniture that emphasize good posture and minimize muscle train on the body;” elder design, the planning of “interior space to aid in the movement of the elderly and disabled, such as widening passageways to accommodate wheelchairs” and incorporating ADA requirements into their designs; and environmental/sustainable/green design, the design which “involves selecting furniture and carpets that are free of chemicals and hypoallergenic and selecting construction materials that are energy efficient or are made from renewable resources.”
Interior Design is an immensely rewarding profession. In addition, the profession has become a field that is legally recognized in, to date, 25 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 8 Canadian provinces, requiring that interior designers have a Council for Interior Design Accreditation (formerly Foundation for Interior Design Education Research [FIDER]) -accredited degree, as well as two years work experience and passage of the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) examination in order to work on certain projects. The BAC’s Interior Design curricula is one of the comprehensive and well-rounded Council for Interior Design Accreditation-accredited programs in the USA and Canada. Our programs are unique in Interior Design education because of the integration of practice with academic study, ensuring that our graduates are well qualified to become leaders in the field.
Interior Design at the BAC is based upon the understanding that interior environments impact human behavior. We push our students to find linkage between the spaces they are designing in studio to documented research in the fields of psychology, neurology, organizational behavior, and human behavior. Because we share faculty and space with one of the oldest architectural colleges in North America, we also encourage collaboration between Architecture students and Interior Design as well as students of Landscape Architecture. Collaboration between Architecture and Interior Design goes beyond the classroom: the Boston Architectural College has created a culture for multi-disciplinary collaboration between faculty and staff as well.
School of Interior Design Mission
The School of Interior Design at the BAC creates a learning environment that promotes individual thinking, curiosity, creativity, collaboration, communication, diversity, and professionalism for all students. Our students complete one of the most rigorous Interior Design programs in the country and are expected to become leaders in the field of Interior Design.
Interior Design Certificate