Arts Thread

Beginning the Fall 2015 semester, Pratt will offer a new MFA in Interior Design to replace our current MS. Interior Design at Pratt provides the ultimate learning environment—New York City, interior design capital of the United States—and a challenging course of study for students preparing themselves for a career in a field whose potential has only begun to be recognized. It is widely acknowledged that interior design education, as it is taught across the United States, began at Pratt. That so many of our alumni are found in the Who’s Who of Interior Designers is no surprise. The graduate program in Interior Design was ranked first in the country by U.S. News and World Report in its 2012 Guide to America's Best Graduate Schools and number two in the 2014 professional survey, DesignIntelligence. The Graduate Interior Design Program at Pratt, like its undergraduate counterpart, will continue to be an architecturally oriented program with emphasis on spatial design as well as surface embellishment. All aspects of space—scale, proportion, configuration, and light, as well as textures, materials, and colors—are studied in relation to their effect on the human spirit. Students are drawn from all parts of the world and, by way of the Qualifying Program, from a variety of disciplines, creating an intellectually and aesthetically stimulating studio environment. Our students are a select group- they come to Pratt to work hard and prepare to enter a field in which the designer must be multifaceted and able to provide innovative design solutions. Many of our faculty members are also practicing professionals who bring the realities of real-world interactions with clients and contractors into the classroom. An important part of Pratt’s mission is to prepare graduates to become leaders in the profession; the MFA will carry on this proud tradition and expand it, thus challenging and preparing our students to develop to their fullest potential. The new MFA degree will focus attention on the preparation of individuals who are ready to contribute to the academic discipline as well as the profession. The new MFA enriches the academic experience through greater emphasis on cultural and technological innovation, inter-disciplinary collaboration, and theoretical and applied research. It is a degree program for students who wish to study interior design as an academic discourse as well as a professional endeavor. The new curriculum will allow for students to develop areas of specialization with concentration options and will encourage interdisciplinary work and cross-disciplinary course registration. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the many courses offered at Pratt that will enable them to fully develop their interests and talents. Electives may be chosen from any department in the Institute; an enormous menu of courses is available for the pursuit of individual interests. The new MFA establishes a platform that draws content from existing electives across campus, which expands their graduate experience and enhances the student’s area of focus. We invite our students to explore Pratt’s interior AND exterior contexts- our location opens endless opportunities to utilize the professional and cultural facilities of New York City.