Detailed Information
Program of Study
Parsons launched the nation’s first interior design program in 1906. Parsons The New School for Design’s new M.F.A. in Interior Design program (MFA ID), launching in 2009 (pending New York State approval), builds on this leadership to offer a program based on a scholarly, research-oriented curriculum. Graduates will be educated to play transformative roles in the profession and to become the teachers of the next generation of practitioners.
The discipline of interiors is situated between many specialties, including architecture, product design, and engineering. Housed in the only integrated school of interior design, lighting design, product design, and architecture nationally, students are offered an unparalleled depth and intimacy of exposure, preparing them for this multifaceted discipline.
Three foci distinguish the program: the history and theory of the interior; materials, including an emphasis on sustainable practices, fabrication processes, and digital technologies; and interior design as a material and social practice.
Interior designers are now commonly expected to incorporate sustainable design practices and enhanced building performance into their work. They have at their disposable new technologies and materials for modifying spatial relationships and functions within building envelopes, and they are facing new client types and user groups as a consequence of social change and shifts in population demographics. With Parsons’ strong emphasis on the social impact of design, the program is uniquely qualified to confront these modern challenges.
Research Facilities
Interior design students share an open studio space across two floors in a loft building with graduate students in architecture and lighting design, which encourages dialogues across disciplines. Support for course work is provided through a computer lab, giving access to a multitude of software programs specific to the profession, along with large-format plotters. Wireless digital technology is accessible from the design studios, where students are given semester-long dedicated work spaces.
A lighting lab and fabrication shop are located within the School, and a metal fabrication shop is housed within the building, encouraging students to interact with the Fine Arts Department on upper floors. The Interior Design program is additionally supported by the Donghia Materials Library and Study Center, generously donated by the late interior designer Angelo Donghia. The library is curated to reflect sustainable and emerging materials and used as a resource for core courses. The program is additionally supported by The New School’s Library Consortium.
Financial Aid
The Angelo Donghia Graduate Scholarship program provides merit-based scholarships to M.F.A. ID students. These generous and prestigious scholarships offer full-tuition funding for the duration of the two-year MFA ID program. The Jamie Drake Graduate Scholarship program provides merit-based scholarships to MFA ID students. This prestigious scholarship offers a $10,000 tuition award for the first year of the two-year MFA ID program.
Cost of Study
Parsons’ M.F.A. in Interior Design program is scheduled to launch in fall 2009. In 2008–09, tuition for Parsons M.F.A. programs (except photography) was $17,280 per term. University fees were $140.
Living and Housing Costs
For the nine-month academic year, transportation and living expenses for a single student are estimated at $15,000.
Student Group
Parsons plans to enroll approximately 12 students in its M.F.A. in Interior Design program.
Location
Parsons is located in Greenwich Village in New York City.
The University and The School
Parsons is part of The New School, which was founded in New York City in 1919 as a bastion of intellectual and artistic freedom. Today, The New School is a leading urban university containing some of the nation’s most respected programs in design, liberal arts, the performing arts, professional management and urban policy, and social and political science. Students from across the country and around the world attend The New School’s diverse programs, enjoying small class sizes, superior resources, and a renowned faculty of artists, scholars, and professionals who practice what they teach. The New School’s founding mission was to create a place where global peace and justice were more than theoretical ideals. To this day, New School students participate in programs that strive for academic excellence, technical mastery, innovation, and engaged world citizenship.
Applying
Applicants must have an undergraduate degree before entering the graduate program. Applicants outside of design-based disciplines are encouraged to apply but should be prepared to take the Parsons Summer Studies in Architecture program to establish design and drawing foundations prior to the start of the first semester of the M.F.A. program. Admissions for the M.F.A. in Interior Design program are handled directly by the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons. For admissions information, students should e-mail aidladmission@newschool.edu.
The Faculty and Their Research
- To learn more about the following Parsons’ Interior Design faculty members, students should visit http://www.newschool.edu.mfaid.
- Matthew Baird
- Daniel Barber
- Jeremy Barbour
- Katherine Chia
- Charles Davis
- Douglas Fanning
- Jean M. Gardner
- Anita Jorgensen
- Robert Kirkbride
- Barbara Lewandowska
- Brian McGrath
- Joanna Merwood
- Michael Morris
- Jonsara Ruth
- Ioanna Theocharopoulou
- Timothy Ventimiglia
- Lois Weinthal
- Alan Wexler
- Peter Wheelwright
- Anthony Whitfield
- Alfred Zollinger
Correspondence and Information
Parsons The New School for Design
School of Constructed Environments
Product, Lighting, Architecture, and Interior Design
25 East 13th Street, 2nd Floor
New York, New York 10003
Telephone:
212-229-8955
Fax:
212-229-8937
Email:
sce@newschool.edu
