The focus in the first year of the Foundation Program is involved with basic elements of design, addressed visually, conceptually, and haptically. Studies are undertaken in two and three dimensions using various materials and tools. Inquiries are focused on the process of design, discovering, through experiment, methods of working that develop aesthetic judgment and means of self-evaluation. All architecture, industrial design, interior design, and landscape architecture majors study together for the first year.

The Interior Design curriculum is a balance of Design, History, and Professional Practice. Professional practice courses include Business Procedures, Building Systems, Lighting Design, Construction Documents and Computer Applications. Our School of Architecture + Design courses are all supplemented by the required University Core Curriculum.

This balanced curriculum ensures that every graduate has the knowledge and skill needed to successfully to contribute to the work of a design firm as an intern and as a graduate. We also place a great deal of emphasis on student service — service to our community of design students and in the larger context of Southwestern Virginia.