MA Interior Design Dr Anastasia Karandinou (Course Leader), Pol Gallagher, Catalina Pollak
Design of any scale responds to – and in parallel leads – cultural, political and social change. Our MA course examines the role of design in forming places, connections, communities in a socially and environmentally sustainable way, through speculative and pragmatic design exercises, some of which lead to real-life built projects. Through this MA programme in Interior Design we challenge the limits of the role of the designer and we explore how design pertains to different aspects of our everyday living. Political and cultural debates are re-articulated and expressed through a hands-on poetic and creative making approach. Social inclusion and Shared environments This year, our studio worked on a real-life community project; a shared workshop and meeting place in Barking. The Shed Life project was initiated by the Thames View Tenants Association, the local resident Pam Dumbleton and the Humourisk artistic director Susie Miller Oduniyi, and has been developed further in collaboration with the UEL. The exterior of the building has been designed by the UEL MArch studio led by Alan Chandler, and the Interior by the MA Interior Design studio, led by Anastasia Karandinou. The aim of the project is to address the issue of loneliness, social exclusion and isolation, by designing a vibrant shared space for local people of different generations. Design has been considered as a practice that both pragmatically and metaphorically addresses everyday social and political issues. The aim of this project was to raise awareness on the issue of social exclusion, isolation and loveliness, and actively
empower the local community of Barking by designing this space, with them in the centre of the process. The main activities to be hosted include a wood workshop, space for seminars, knowledge and skills exchange, computing and photography workshops, gallery wall, storage and tea making facilities. The interior involves elements that are flexible, movable and can be flatpacked. The users of this small space can transform it themselves into a gallery with exhibition walls for artwork, into a workshop with shelves and worktop surfaces, or into a more relaxed meeting place for them to share a tea. The project was developed in collaboration with the group of locals, with whom online and in person workshops and consultations were organised. Our MA Interior Design students received the UEL Volunteering Award for their work on a community empowering project. In term 2 we collaborated with the Brunel Museum and its Director Katherine McAlpine, and we examined how open-air public spaces could be designed as shared experiences, in the post-pandemic cities. In parallel, we are examining how cultural organisations can engage and collaborate more substantially with the local communities, and what new typologies, places and shared activities could emerge. The students embarked in a speculative journey and explored places bodily and through experimental mapping and documentation processes, which led to design proposals.
