Yearbooks

Programme: BSc Interior Architecture

Kindly take note of the disclaimer regarding qualifications and degree names.
Code Faculty
12132020 Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology
Credits Duration
Minimum duration of study: 3 years Total credits: 402
Contact:
Prof BP Jekot
[email protected]
+27 (0)124204052

Programme information

Interior architecture is the art and science of the design of designated spaces. It focuses on the needs of the user and the harmony between architectural spaces and the detailed design of spaces and life-style products. Graduates will have the ability to design interiors and products. Attention is given to the design process, building and material technology, building climate, ergonomics, history and visual communication within the context of society, economics, politics and technology. It is very important that students have the ability to visualise spaces, think three-dimensionally and solve problems creatively.

Students are advised to work in the offices of an architect or an interior architect during the university recesses to gain practical experience.

It is recommended that those graduates wishing to become professional Interior architects must hereafter apply to register for the BIntHons degree (one year full-time) and the MInt(Prof) degree (one year full-time). Those candidates wishing to become interior and product designers must hereafter register for the one year full-time honours degree programme in Interior Architecture [BIntHons].

Admission requirements

  • The following persons will be considered for admission: a candidate who is in possession of a certificate that is deemed by the University to be equivalent to the required Grade 12 certificate with university endorsement; a candidate who is a graduate from another tertiary institution or has been granted the status of a graduate of such an institution; and a candidate who is a graduate of another faculty at the University of Pretoria.

  • Life Orientation is excluded when calculating the APS.

  • Grade 11 results are used in the conditional admission of prospective students.

  • A valid qualification with admission to degree studies is required.

  • Minimum subject and achievement requirements, as set out below, are required. 

  • BSc (Interior Architecture) will only be considered as first study choice. Selection programme: Selection includes an interview.

  • Tuition will be presented in English only.

Minimum requirements

Achievement level

English Home Language or English First Additional Language

Mathematics

Physical Science

APS

NSC/IEB

AS Level

NSC/IEB

AS Level

NSC/IEB

AS Level

5

C

4

D

4

D

27

* Cambridge A level candidates who obtained at least a D in the required subjects, will be considered for admission. International Baccalaureate (IB) HL candidates who obtained at least a 4 in the required subjects, will be considered for admission.

Additional requirements

Students wishing to transfer to other programmes in the Department of Architecture must obtain written consent from the admissions committee.

Other programme-specific information

Concurrent presentation
In the third year of study Design, Construction, Design communication, Environmental studies, Earth studies and Material studies must initially be examined in the same year.

Awarding of degree
The degree is awarded to those students who have obtained all the prescribed credits for the programme modules.

Promotion to next study year

A student is promoted to a subsequent year of study after acquiring all the prerequisite module credits of the preceding year of study. A student is deemed to be in the year of study for which he or she is registered in Design.

If the student is not registered for Design the highest passed year of Design determines the year of study.

Please Note: Students not promoted to the next year of study must obtain the approval of the programme coordinator and the Head of Department to register for modules in the subsequent year of study. Students must re-apply for admission to the Department of Architecture in instances where:

  1. a student is not promoted to the second year of study;
  2. a student after repeating any year of study, is not promoted to the following year of study.

Pass with distinction

The degree is conferred with distinction on a student who, at first registration, simultaneously passes both Design 303 and Construction 320 with distinction (75%) with the proviso that the degree is completed within the minimum prescribed time and all other final-year modules are passed on first registration without any supplementary/special examinations.

Minimum credits: 116

Fundamental modules

Core modules

  • Module content:

    Introduction to the basic concepts of ecology, natural resources and stress on the environment; systems thinking; earth as system; changing paradigms and values; ecological design principles; geo-referencing; geo-mapping, basic site survey.

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  • Module content:

    Basic overview and understanding of digital architectural visualisation using tools such as prescribed open source photo editing software that enhances hand drawing techniques.

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  • Module content:

    The context of architectural technology and the relationships between technology, theory, structure and materials.  Drawing conventions.The typical city site. The construction and materials of a single storey dwelling with masonry walls and a pitched roof, from preparation for building work to substructure, retaining walls and floors.

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  • Module content:

    Continuation of the construction and materials of a single storey dwelling. Superstructure: walls, opening, roofs, finishes and services.

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  • Module content:

    Quarter 3: Introduction to basic computer aided design.
    Quarter 4: Introduction to the theory of structures: Forces, moments, stresses, strains, Young's Modulus, Structural components: beams, columns and trusses.

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  • Module content:

    Introductory contextualisation of twentieth century artefacts within the framework of history from Antiquity to Modernity. Building types as artefacts of material culture. Approaches and guidelines to the study of history of the environment. Understanding of the process of endemic construction and its monumentalisation, settlement and urbanisation of various ages and environments. An interdisciplinary investigation of living spaces as shapers of social interaction. The history of the environment of the Mediterranean Antique, Bronze Age, Classical and Biblical societies.

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  • Module content:

    The history of the environment of and the link between North-Europe and the Mediterranean area, the Arabic peninsula and the Indies, from the fall of Jerusalem up until the fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD. Tao, Shinto and the landscape of the Far East.

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  • Module content:

    Introduction to design and integration with supporting modules. Design principles, skills and techniques. Small-scale design projects and environmental influences (physical, social, cultural, historical), space requirements and creative interpretation. Acquisition of skills in design communication through imagination, intuition and conceptual thinking. Relation of internal to external space. Anthropometry and ergonomics; visual literacy (visual media, analysis and interpretation) and criticism. The designer as visual thinker. Perception; ideograms. Development of a vocabulary to describe and illustrate the discipline of design. Pertinent theory that informs and supports the design process.

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Minimum credits: 134

Core modules

  • Module content:

    Meso-environment:
    Climate: atmospheric constituents and processes, weather systems, heat radiation and transfer, solar charts, sun movement and heat gain control.
    Air: airflow patterns around structures, natural ventilation.
    Water vapour: diffusivity, transfer and condensation.
    Heat: thermal comfort and comfort indices, thermal performance of materials and structures, time lag, decrement and periodic heat transfer.

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  • Module content:

    The impact of social, economic and political systems on, and the multidisciplinary approach to design decisionmaking for inclusive environments and barrier-free environments. The application of this understanding in developing communities.

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  • Module content:

    Environmental filters and forecasting techniques:
    Sound: the physical nature of sound, physiology of hearing, sound and noise sources, transfer, absorption and isolation, noise control; measurement, levels, frequency analysis, A-loading, room acoustics, reverberation periods.
    Light: properties of natural light, design criteria, daylight factors, diffusion, quality, energy requirements and saving.

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  • Module content:

    This project-orientated module is a form of applied learning which is directed at specific community needs and is integrated into all undergraduate academic programmes offered by the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology. The main objectives with the module are as follows:
    (1) The execution of a community related project aimed at achieving a beneficial impact on a chosen section of society, preferably but not exclusively, by engagement with a section of society which is different from the student's own social background.
    (2) The development of an awareness of personal, social and cultural values, an attitude to be of service, and an understanding of social issues, for the purpose of being a responsible professional.
    (3) The development of important multidisciplinary and life skills, such as communication, interpersonal and leadership skills.
    Assessment in the module will include all or most of the following components: evaluation and approval of project proposal, assessment of oral and/or written progress reports, peer assessment in the event of team projects, written reportback by those at which the project was aimed at, and final assessment on grounds of the submission of a portfolio and a written report.

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  • Module content:

    Double-storeyed buildings: reinforced concrete, steel and timber-framed structures. Offshutter concrete. Load-bearing masonry. Low-pitch roofs and waterproofing, other pitched-roof finishes. Lightweight partitioning. Glass. Joinery. Small precast elements.

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  • Module content:

    Soil mechanics: foundations, basement construction and waterproofing. Site structures: geotextiles and geomembranes, stairs, walls, retaining walls, fences, ramps, gabions, prefabricated retaining blocks. Built planters, lapas, braais, pavilions, decks.

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  • Module content:

    Introduction to materials with applications in the field of interior design: material families, basic properties and selection. Wall (partition), ceiling and floor finishes. Window treatments. Ceramics as architectural finishes. Surface theory 1 (including colour and interior paint applications).

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  • Module content:

    The history of the environment and the link between North-Europe and a newly discovered world from the time of the circumnavigation of the southernmost Cape Point of Africa till the Industiral Revolution.

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  • Module content:

    History of the environment of Western societies and their dominions from the Industrial Revolution up to the intellectual questioning of Modernism. Southern African housing typologies and Western artefacts as manifestation of socio-political realities since 1488 AD.

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  • Module content:

    The process and product of design through the integration of supporting modules. Spatial design as response to user. Design of inclusive environments, reuse of architectural space, planning and form-giving processes, production and identity as design determinants. The influence of perception, ergonomics and the tectonics on space making. Scenographic, product, exhibition or installation design. Skills: programming, architectural space analysis, time management, advanced graphic and reprographic techniques.
    Pertinent theory that informs and supports the design process in interior architecture.

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  • Module content:

    Utility aspects: basic components of textiles, consumer decision making, utility aspects that include durability, comfort, maintenance, health/safety/protection and aesthetic aspects. Fibres and yarns: Fibre structure and performance including textile chemistry, fibre morphology and formation, fibre properties, classification and identification. Yarn structure and performance (including spun yarns, filament yarns, compound and novelty yarns).

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Minimum credits: 152

Core modules

  • Module content:

    Ecosystemic thinking for the designer in terms of culture, science and environment. The designer as critic; analysis of precedents. Application of principles of sustainable development and ecological design including energy demand and efficiency and energy dissipation.

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  • Module content:

    Introduction to law. General principles of the law of contract. Specific contracts: purchase contracts; letting and hiring of work; employment contracts. Agency. General aspects of entrepreneurial law. Dispute resolution – mediation and arbitration.

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  • Module content:

    Roads: design and construction, materials and finishes, kerbing. Water features: design and construction. Street furniture. Construction equipment. Site and building services: water lines, sanitary plumbing and pipe systems above ground and indoors, underground sewer systems, electricity and gas. Electrical lighting: light, lamp types, luminaires; lighting requirements. Design application.

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  • Module content:

    Integration of the foregoing coursework. Introduction to construction norms and standards, technical drawing practice and specifications. Cost estimates, feasibility and payability. Advanced materials: ceramics, polymers, adhesives, paint, metals, glass.  Human transportation systems: types, applications. Design of a small commercial building/landscape/interior space (in DESIGN) and the preparation of its construction drawings.

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  • Module content:

    Unconventional construction materials: properties, applications.

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  • Module content:

    Application of materials in artificial environments:
    • Development of modern materials and processes in product design
    • Joint theory
    • New applications in technical textiles, polymers and other artificial materials
    • Material selection and technical development in conjunction with projects in design (ONT 303) and construction (KON 320)

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  • Module content:

    Advanced graphic and presentation techniques.

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  • Module content:

    History of the environment of African societies between the tropics within global context until the present.

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  • Module content:

    History of the environment of Southern African societies from the old Stone Age until the present.

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  • Module content:

    Normative positions: Normative positions that guide design thinking: Surface features, broad inclinations and differentiating features. Problems of substantiation. Theory and practise. 
    Theory of design disciplines: A hermeneutic appraisal of contemporary philosophical directions defining the current intellectual context in which the design disciplines are practised and appraised. Contextualising culture, philosophy and science as the ecosystem of the designer.
    Housing studies: Contemporary theory, approaches and projects in housing. Developing a personal approach.

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  • Module content:

    The relationship between global intellectual movements and the local debate. Appraising the state of current design production and the establishment of identity through design. Presentation is programme specific.

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  • Module content:

    Semester 1
    The process of design through the integration of supporting modules. The design of spaces with the emphasis on lateral thinking and ritual through adaptive reuse. Skills: technology-backed reprographic techniques, competitions and exhibitions, decision making and time management.
    Semester 2
    The product of design through the integration of supporting modules. The design of a commercial project in an existing architectural envelope in an urban context with a complex program developed to construction drawings in KON 320. Corporate identity, statutory requirements, feasibility and payability studies, tenant mix.

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  • Module content:

    The structure of the built environment in South Africa; basic principles and techniques of   project management and financial management; methodology of measuring; building cost estimates; feasibility studies; economic design; contract administration; valuation of buildings.

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The information published here is subject to change and may be amended after the publication of this information. The General Regulations (G Regulations) apply to all faculties of the University of Pretoria. It is expected of students to familiarise themselves well with these regulations as well as with the information contained in the General Rules section. Ignorance concerning these regulations and rules will not be accepted as an excuse for any transgression.

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