In cooperation with Istanbul Kültür University Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design and Karadeniz Technical University Department of Interior Architecture, the “5th ICMEK International Congress on Interior Architecture Education” was held online on June 16-17, 2022. At the congress, which was held with the theme of “Rethinking”, by opening the current state of Interior Architecture education for a discussion, new dynamics, and projections for the future were shared and answers were sought.
The science committee of the congress, which was co-chaired by Prof Dr. Gülay Usta and Prof Dr. Tülay Zorlu, included leading representatives of the international academic field in interior architecture. Significant speakers who have contributed to interior architecture education at the international level were hosted at the congress, which was held online for two days.
On the first day of the congress, Rene Pier, and Prof Dr Henry Sanoff made their presentations respectively titled “ECIA Charter of Interior Architectural Training 2020” and “Confronting Traditional Thinking about School Environments. “As for the second day of the congress, Prof Graeme Brooker and Prof Dr. Katelijin Quartier held their presentations respectively titled “50-Words for Reuse” and “Professionalization of the discipline of interior architecture: intertwining research and education.”
The first day of the congress started with the opening speeches. At the congress, apart from twenty-one paper presentations, four guest speakers from leading figures of the field from abroad made their presentations. Interior Architect Rene Pier, who was the first speaker of the congress, gave his presentation titled “ECIA Charter of Interior Architectural Training 2020.” Then the first session started at the helm of Prof. Dr. Didem Baş. In the first session where formal and informal interior architecture design education was discussed, five presentations were made.
Second session consisted of research focused on design studios, which is the most important component of interior architecture education, under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Sezin Tanrıöver. In the second session, four presentations were made.
The first day of the congress ended with a Q&A session that followed one of the guest speakers, from the University of North Carolina Prof. Dr. Henry Sanoff's presentation titled "Confronting Traditional Thinking about School Environments".
On the second day of the congress, which started with the third session chaired by Prof. Dr. Özge Cordan, four papers were presented, focusing on digitalization in interior architecture education.
One of the guest speakers of the second day, Prof. Dr. Katelijin Quartier from Hasselt University in Belgium, with her presentation titled “Professionalization of the Discipline of Interior Architecture: Intertwining Research and Education”, shared about the research laboratory where research and practice come together on store design and its productions. The last invited speaker of the congress, Head of Department of London College of Art Prof. Graeme Brooker made his presentation titled “50-Words for Reuse”.
The fourth session of the congress was continued on the topic of digitalized interior architecture education under the chairmanship of Dr. Aliye Rahşan Karabetça. In this session, four presentations prepared by researchers from different universities were made.
The last session of the congress consisted of four research presentations focusing on education through interior design under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Kağan Günçe.
"5th İÇMEK International Congress of Interior Architecture Education"; under the moderation of Dr. Aliye Rahşan Karabetça, the congress ended with, after co-chairs of the congress Prof. Dr. Gülay Usta and Prof. Dr. Tülay Zorlu's evaluations on the congress's contributions to interior architecture education, their thanks to the science and organizing committees, invited speakers and participants who enriched the congress with their valuable research.
