Developments in Technology-Based Courses Contents of Interior Architecture Departments in Turkey

Abstract

The introduction of information technologies in space design disciplines begins with the use of the Computer Aided Design concept in those disciplines. Since the first example of CAD tool which was launched in 1963, the ability to design using computers has been a method adopted by architecture and space design disciplines and transferred to the educational context. There were changes and transformations in this method due to the needs created by the developing building technologies. The CAD technology, has been adopted to the space design education in order to support the courses. The CAD which was created for challenging the difficulties in the practicing area and speeding up the process, also takes place among the traditional methods of space design in the Interior Architecture discipline. The possibilities provided by those digitally created spatial mediums, have led to a rotational improvement in both education and practice. In addition, the reflections of technological developments in the social context in last decade on many areas of life have led to the necessity of reorganizing the educational contents. Academic studies conducted in recent years, are designed to include the last technological developments in today’s educational contents and to reflect students’ interests and commitment to these technologies in direct proportion. Bearing this in mind, the objective of this study is to read out the reflection of the developments mentioned above on the Interior Architecture discipline in Turkey by monitoring the developments in the context of the need of updating the educational contents. In order to meet the social developments and today’s skills, space design education must follow the technological context in parallel. Based on these considerations, the studies of Turkey which were examined in this research have been conducted before could be explained as inadequate. In this context, to examine the curriculum of the Interior Architecture departments of Turkey and to monitor the updates mentioned before constitute the main focus of the study. CAD-based courses in the curriculum of the Interior Architecture departments were determined and the contents were examined. These analyses were achieved in the context of the methods, techniques and tools used in the courses, and after, the situation of the information-based courses were determined. It was concluded that these courses were transformed in direct proportion in line with the increasing needs in the educational context with the developing technology and updates should continue in the context of meeting today’s skills.