Bachelor of Interior Design

The bachelor's program in interior design aims to ensure you master the fundamentals of interior design and familiarize you with complementary fields of study. You address specific problems linked to the understanding and representation of space, but also the relationships between the person and their environment. 

This training prepares you to intervene in several fields of activity where the design of complex living spaces is increasingly required.

The program respects a balance between theoretical courses and the development of workshop projects, thanks to which you learn to master technical and professional tools. The program thus encourages the acquisition of problem-solving skills, as well as the development of creativity and innovation. It provides a good understanding of areas of intervention specific to Quebec and major international trends, particularly in terms of technological innovations.

• Exceptional multidisciplinary environment bringing together architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and industrial design
• Great richness and thematic diversity of courses and workshops
• International exchange program and study trips abroad 
• Possibility of professional internships

The advantages of studying design at UdeM
A learning environment connected to interior design from here and elsewhere

Take part in an exhibition of end-of-study projects attended by young creators, professionals and employers looking for new talent

Meet specialists from the professional world during workshop practices
Discover the only university-level program in Quebec focusing on indoor environments 
Enjoy the high-quality faculty spaces made available to you during the workshops

Courses and particularities

1st Year

History and theory 1

• History of the practices and thought of landscape architecture, from the Renaissance to the present day. Highlighting the heritage of history in relation to current practices and their theoretical articulations.

Introduction to Interior Design

• Definition; historical background; relationships with related disciplines; introduction to the main concepts of the discipline, to the processes and methods of its practice and to the fields of research.

Methodologies and processes

• Data collection, relationships between variables, information processing. Interpretation matrix. Concept of need in relation to activities in space, the particularities of a context and its formal metamorphosis.

Workshop 1 in interior design

• Fundamentals of the interior design process. Structuring elements of interior space and their representation. Project management as a process of transcription and evolution of the idea in a formal language specific to design. Notes: Workshop work requiring individual spaces and technical resources (laboratories and specialized equipment) for design, prototyping and evaluation of projects. Teaching is individualized and involves extensive use of various materials: paper, cardboard, wood, plaster, plasticine, photography and computer graphics.

History of interior design

• Critical examination of significant ideas and achievements in the history of interior design, a complex discipline at the crossroads of architecture, decorative arts and the design of objects.

Introduction to the philosophy of art

• Introduction to the most significant problems of philosophical reflection on art in ancient, modern and contemporary thought.

Culture, knowledge and ideology

• This course will address the main theories of culture with a view to providing basic training: popular culture/high culture, social representation, cultural productions, etc.

2nd Year

Urban spaces and landscapes

• Historical reading of the urban phenomenon with a view to highlighting current economic, political, cultural and environmental problems and issues linked to the question of urban landscapes and the implementation of public spaces.

Workshop-seminar 3 in interior design

• This workshop-seminar focuses on learning about interior design projects involving variable themes relevant to contemporary practices. Application of knowledge relating to theories of the user and their behavior.

Computer Aided Design

• Introduction to the characteristics of CAD software. Understanding of the rules associated with 3D software in interior design. Carrying out a project using CAD as a design and visualization tool. Notes: This course includes a significant amount of practical teaching which brings it closer to workshop teaching. Students work in the laboratory on exercises which validate the various learning and on a final project which confirms their mastery of the computer and 3D modeling process.

Photography in design

Acquisition of technical skills in photographic art: devices, accessories, lighting methods, balance, framing, shots and renderings. Image processing and mastery of digital processes for retouching photographs.

Color and light of interior spaces

• Understanding the interrelationships between light and color, their impact on the design of lighting products and interior environments.

3rd Year

Environmental and sustainable systems

• Deepening the environmental systems of indoor spaces. Application of sustainable development concepts and knowledge of lighting, acoustics and building systems in complex projects.

Intention and ethics in design

• Origins of design disciplines on a theoretical level: archaeology, language, architecture, philosophy. Social and intellectual contexts of interior design practice, rooted in a sense of ethics based on meaningful intention.

Design and material cultures

• Historical, theoretical and critical perspective on the roles and contributions of industrial design in the production of material cultures. Brand promises, globalization, media and emerging trends in the world of consumption.

Semiotics and design

• Theoretical bases on semiotics in design, awareness of the communicative qualities of artifacts and the rhetoric of objects/spaces/interfaces. Collection of quality information. on communication and meaning of the object and the experience of use

Current art

• Analysis of art today: contextualization of various issues linked to post-colonialism, identity policies and fictions, gender, relational aesthetics, new media as well as new narratives.