Become an interior design leader and innovator, setting standards for critical thinking, sustainable practice, ethical and social responsibility, professional aptitude and collaboration as you enhance and transform the built environment.
At Pratt, one of the most prominent programs in the country, you’ll study interior design as an integral element of the built environment, generating creative solutions that combine light and color, craft and making, material research, evolving technologies, sustainable practice, and social responsibility, including global cultural histories and diverse contexts. Our CIDA accredited BFA program prepares you to think critically, innovate, and become an interior design leader, expanding the potential of professional practice, design education, and research that affects the interior environment.
The design studio is at the core of your educational experience at Pratt. It is a creative space and a community in microcosm, from which we connect to the larger design community. We believe education takes place in the studio and the classroom and that the work in the studio benefits the student’s growth equally. Working with tools and materials in the studio deepens knowledge of the opportunities inherent in form-making and design exploration.
Maker Spaces and Labs
Sustainability and material exploration drive our passion for making. We are hands-on and immersive; any student of design can discover, iterate and refine their investigations through our many labs. Learn more
Thesis
The Senior year spring semester design studio is devoted entirely to the development of a major design project: the Senior Design Thesis – a full semester of work on a self‐initiated project based on a strong sense of professionalism and design maturity. The thesis project is presented at the annual design show, a public event attended by industry leaders and potential employers. Pratt Shows 2023.
Study Abroad
Immersing yourself in another culture is an incredible experience that can extend the boundaries of creativity. Study abroad programs are an integral part of the college experience, and Pratt has deep connections with university partners around the world. Junior year students have the opportunity to spend the spring semester at DIS in Copenhagen, Denmark. Many exchange and study abroad options, including the Custom Semester program for juniors, are available to Interior Design students. See where you can go.
Learning Resources
We develop disciplinary fluency in our program of study and we celebrate the interdisciplinary nature of design critical to address the plurality and complexity of the environments in which we operate. Learn more.
Our Faculty
Our faculty are practitioners of interior design, architecture, industrial design, lighting design, furniture design, and communications design. They run or work for some of the most exciting and successful design firms in the world. All faculty have extensive experience working at the scale of the interior, and their expertise and abiding interests are brought to bear upon the coursework. See the full list of Interior Design faculty and administrators.
Interior design alumni have risen to the tops of their fields in affordable housing, community economic development, transportation, government, community development and advanced research.
Thinking seriously about Pratt? Learn more about admissions requirements, plan your visit, talk to a counselor, and start your application. Take the next step.
Building your portfolio can be daunting. We’ll answer your questions and help you feel confident about the portfolio you submit with your application. Start building your portfolio, now.
Find yourself at home at Pratt: our residence halls, student organizations, athletics, exhibitions, events, the amazing City of New York and our Brooklyn neighbors. Check us out.
Gaurav Dhore, MFA'23
POP(ular) Again: Revitalizing Privately Owned Public Spaces with
Deployable Modules
This thesis will investigate the misuse and underuse of privately owned public
space as a transformative armature to reactivate the space, with the help of
redesigning to provide different functionalities for the users and to enhance its
utilization, without losing the primary function of the public space.
Thesis Advisor: Claudia Hernandez
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Moly Deng, BFA'23
Window Rebellion reactivates an underused office building in the post-pandemic context by resisting Taylorist conceptualizations of labor and productivity. Using maximalist fabric curtains instead of static partitions creates a fluctuating array of hidden spaces for office workers to deviate from the performance of corporate norms.
Thesis Advisor: Alexander Schweder
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Zhaoxi Dong, MFA'23
Fluid Space & Elastic Construction
This thesis will explore elastic space through the function of water circulation sustainability, and demonstrate an important creative interior role in a communal living experience for young newcomers in New York.
Thesis Advisor: Nina Freedman
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Rebecca Chen, BFA'23
Spa beyond water
This project designs a Spa Space that caters to the unique needs and preferences of elderly clients, providing elements of safety, comfort, ambiance and accessibility to enhance their physical and emotional well-being and promote a sense of relaxation, rejuvenation, and social connection.
Thesis Advisor: John Nafziger
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Yiying Gu, BFA'23
EXTERIOR INTERIORITY
This project aims to ameliorate spatial phobia through supporting public interiority:
acknowledging inhabitants’ perception in creating boundaries. The design strategy: color, material and light interventions in urban areas. The goal: make the greatest impact with minimal materials. The resulting design: supports place-making and orientation for all.
Instagram: @yiyiiing_
Thesis Advisor: Karin Tehve
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Hyojung Cha, MFA'23
This thesis postulates that the inspiration of play, games, and unpredictability, in a
workplace interior can stimulate gathering, foster cooperation, and create cross-cultural connections.
Thesis Advisor: Nina Freedman
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Yiwen Cui, MFA'23
This thesis explores co-living in big cities. How can we blur boundaries between private and public spaces, increase flexibility, connection and interaction to enhance the living and psychological experience of isolated residents? The thesis response is to improve the quality of life and emotional experience of the occupants by improving the spatial design of urban dwellings, so that the interior space can provide positive spiritual support for the occupants. And strengthening positive interaction between neighbors by connecting public and private spaces.
Thesis Advisor: Maria Alejandra Linares Trelles
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Mengyi Chen, BFA'23
YOUR BODY, YOUR WAY
This project aims to empower teenage girls to embrace their unique bodies and challenge harmful body standards perpetuated by social media. By providing a clothing workshop, the space will guide participants through a process of self-reflection, self-knowing, and self-acceptence. Ultimately, the project seeks to promote positive body image and instill in participants the idea of body positivity as a means of celebrating one’s own image.
Thesis Advisor: Melissa Cicetti
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Jessica Lee
Omni-Chrome
Overcoming loneliness during travel by engaging the user to increase their social experience. Removing all programs from the traditional hotel room except for a bed and moving those programs like the coffee station, bathroom and desk, into the circulation space to create and encourage a more social and spontaneous experience for the users.
Instagram: @jjjessicallee and @jessicalaurendesigns_
Thesis Advisor: Kevin Clark
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BFA students at Pratt study interior design as an integral element of the built environment by generating creative solutions that integrate an understanding of light and color, craft and making, material research, evolving technologies, sustainable practice, and social responsibility, including knowledge about global cultural histories and diverse contexts. The program prepares students to engage in critical inquiry that establishes them as innovators and leaders in the field of interior design, expanding the potential of professional practice, design education, and research affecting the interior environment.
Students begin their study of interior design in the sophomore year upon completion of a required year in Foundation. As the curriculum proceeds, interior design projects become more complex.The structure of the 126-credit program prepares graduates for a leadership role in an established profession.
Interested BFA students may apply to spend the spring term of the junior year at the Danish International School (DIS), studying interior architecture in Copenhagen. The program at DIS includes extensive study tours throughout Scandinavia. Individuals interested in transferring to Pratt from other institutions are also encouraged to apply.
To support our commitment to technological excellence, personal laptop computers are required for all undergraduate students.
For more information, please refer to www.pratt.edu/about/offices/information-technology/technology-resources/laptop-guidelines/interior-design/.
Students are able to engage in analysis, research, and application of the fundamentals of human behavior.
Students are able to research, analyze, and integrate light, color, and materiality as essential design elements and principles.
Students are able to visually present and communicate their intentions through appropriate media.
Students are able to present their own work through oral and written formats.
Students are able to analyze and integrate knowledge of historical, cultural, and social contexts.
Students are able to research, identify, and evaluate constraints, rules, codes and conventions that govern the built environment.
Students are able to identify and integrate principles of human and environmental health.
Students will be prepared to work collaboratively and in multidisciplinary environments.
