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0 - Issue 38
A deep understanding of interior design
This year will witness the graduation of Syria’s first batch of ID students from STAD and UK-based Rhodec Internationalby Sara Ismail
Located near Old Damascus, STAD or Solo for Training and Development, is a centre that provides the sort of specialized education and training that the next generation of Syrian youth really needs. In a one-storey building, the centre provides smart classrooms, an organized syllabus, and two Rhodec International certified diplomas in interior design.
“We have a one year diploma, and we have a three year diploma, both certified by Rhodec International UK and a certified diploma so specialized is something new to Syria and even the Middle-East.” With many one year diploma graduates already, this academic year will witness the graduation of the first class of the three-year interior design diploma from STAD.
With students coming from different academic backgrounds, classes taught at STAD offer a variety of basic, as well as more challenging classes designed to enhance their students’ understanding of interior design. With a determination to encourage students to use proper research methods and concept design, professors design a syllabus that requires to student to use analytical and critical skills rather than memorizing information.
This variety of students had different reasons why they joined the centre for either the one year or three year diploma. Basel Kuftaro, a law university graduate said, “I started working in interior design as a hobby, and from there I decided that experience was not enough and that formal study is essential.” Maysoon El Raffaei, a student from the same one year diploma class, had previously studied fashion design but worked on designing a cafe and that’s when she decided to “dig deeper into interior design.”Alia Tarabishy, their classmate, realized that she “had a gift for it” when she designed a new shop that was opening in the Four Seasons.
First year students of the three year diploma from the same class, Rasha Badawi, Lamis Barakat and Mona Queyder agreed that they found their classes and syllabi absolutely enlightening in terms of learning how to compare and contrast general aesthetics. They also found themselves looking at interior designs from a different perspective after they had learned the basics of colors, materials and the logic of interior design.
They were quite excited about a new project they were given in their previous class section and all chose different rooms that they will design whether it’s a living/TV room, a study, or a bedroom.
“This is a 2,000 word research project,” commented Abir Wasiti on the well-organized packet that was her project. With a collage of pictures she compiled, and a variety of cloths and materials attached to the project itself, the three year graduating student illustrated her passion for interior design and decoration. She had previously studied interior design with an American university online and she described that as being unpractical. Her experience at STAD, however, was quite positive, beside the syllabus and the theoretical study, her professors gave her extra projects.
This training further deepens the understanding of STAD students and gives them a taste of working with real clients and a general idea of the taste and the materials available in the Syrian markets. They also visited a variety of factories that manufacture materials important to them so as to understand how to get such specific materials when they graduate. As the graduating class of students put it, STAD students will have studied, and trained to be the new generation of professional interior designers.
