The Parsons AAS in Interior Design is a professional degree for people who already have an undergraduate degree. The curriculum could be completed in one academic year (intensive) or in 18 months (normal).
The AAS program is organized around three design studios that focus on residential, retail, workplace, and hospitality spaces. Every Interior Design studio is multifaceted, combining interior architecture and decorative arts. Students learn the theory and practice of interior design through conceptual explorations of space, sustainability research, and computer-aided design techniques. They discover the power of design to improve people's lives by seeking solutions to global imperatives such as sustainability and economic inequity.
Internships and external partnerships provide AAS students with opportunities to apply classroom experience in the real-world. The program often collaborates with nonprofit institutions, in keeping with Parsons' and The New School's commitment to socially engaged design. In recent years, teams of AAS Interior Design students, mentored by acclaimed professionals, created inventive rooms for Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) as part of its "Dining by Design" campaign; they made design proposals for a satellite chemotherapy unit for New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and they designed interiors for two townhouses in Brooklyn renovated using green techniques and materials.
Interior Design graduates follow in the footsteps of illustrious Parsons alumni including Albert Hadley, Betty Sherrill, Mario Buatta, Jamie Drake, Sheila Bridges, Angelo Donghia, and Victoria Hagan. They go into every realm of residential, civic, and commercial design.
The AAS Interior Design program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. This program fulfills the current education requirement which qualifies graduates to sit for the National Council of Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) professional licensing exam. Note: The education requirement is scheduled to change, and students planning to take the exam after 2018 should refer to the NCIDQ website fordetails.
