Interior Design
Overview
Facilities
Each student is assigned a desk in their design studio each semester and has unlimited access to their workspace. Administrative offices, the Art and Architecture Library, and the Foundation Design studios are located in Cowgill Hall. Upper level Interior Design studios, a computer lab, classroom space, and faculty offices are located in Burruss Hall. Wood, metal, plastics, and ceramics shop facilities, a print making studio, faculty offices, and additional computer labs are located in Burchard Hall. These three facilities are all immediately adjacent to each other on campus, and they are all available to Interior Design students.
Study Abroad Opportunities
There are several opportunities for interior design majors to study abroad. Students can participate in European summer traveling programs with credits offered toward the Bachelor of Science in Interior Design degree, and students can apply for acceptance in the residency program at Virginia Tech’s Center for European Studies and Architecture in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland.
Studio Residency students at Riva San Vitale interact with students from other Virginia Tech programs, sharing extensive library resources, well-equipped lecture rooms, studios, room and board accommodations and extensive private surrounding gardens. This centrally located facility is a valuable resource for short trips into Italy, France, Austria, Germany and the surrounding areas of Switzerland. The studio has access to unique urban and rural, contemporary and historical ways of life and their built environments.
Internships
During the summer between the third and fourth year of the curriculum, interior design majors are highly encouraged to seek out an internship with an interior design or architectural firm. Students are responsible for finding their own internship position, but with the excellent reputation our program enjoys and an extensive network of professional friends of the school, our students routinely find paid internship opportunities with top firms.
Awards, Design Competitions, Scholarships
Alumni and industry contribute to the Interior Design Foundation which is the source of funds for several awards offered by the Interior Design Program. These awards, which are given at the end of the school year include the Jeanette Turner Bowker Scholarship as well as other design competitions and awards that are frequently offered throughout the school year.
Updated Sept 13, 2006