Design | Architecture and Interior

To design functional and stylish interiors, you need to know everything about materials, light, sound, and scale. You also need talent to analyse, organize, and draw.

This study programme enables you to develop to become an architectural designer or interior designer. During the study programme, you will be introduced to various creative courses and general art theory. In addition, you will learn about construction, materials, light, sound, scale, and more in order to be able to apply them in the design assignment.

Location Maastricht
Duration 4 years, start in September
Language Dutch

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About the Education

About the education

For and by architects

Education at the Maastricht Academy of Architecture is internationally oriented, project-oriented, flexibly structured, and tailored to the individual student. It is a study programme provided for and by architects, taught by some 80 guest lecturers from the Netherlands and abroad: all professionals with relevant professional experience and two feet firmly planted in professional practice.

Language

As the study programme will be taught in Dutch, you will need to have a good command of Dutch. If Dutch is not your native language and you have a non-Dutch diploma, you must pass the ‘State Exams Dutch as a Second Language (NT2)’ at level 2 before starting the programme. If you are not up to this level, you can follow a course in Dutch as a second language (NT2).

Tuition fees
As a degree-seeking student you will have to pay annual tuition fees. Students from the EU pay the statutory tuition fees, and non-EU students pay the institutional tuition fees. Normally speaking, these fees are waived for exchange students from partner universities.
- Read more about tuition fees
The education and examination regulations provide all the information you will need about the content of the study programme, the academic support provided, and the way in which examinations are organized.
- Check the EER (in Dutch)

study-structure

Study structure

Year 1

During the first year, you will be familiarized with a number of courses. You will attend courses that teach you how to shape flat surfaces and architectural space. You will go on excursions, follow guest lectures, and attend a study trip abroad as part of the programme. This will bring you into contact with current developments in the field of art and design, while also offering you the chance to maintain a broad orientation.
Year 2 to 4

Each academic year consists of several design assignments, supported by professional theory and skills training. The assignments become increasingly challenging and comprehensive. In the second academic year, you choose a specialization: interior designer or architectural designer. In the fourth academic year, you finish your study programme with an internship (interior designer) or with a final exam (architectural designer) that consists of the renovation of a house or the design of a shop or hotel interior.

Career

Once you graduate, you can call yourself an interior designer, interior decorator, or architectural designer. You can work as a self-employed person for a number of clients. Alternatively, you can work for a design or architectural firm, as a consultant in a construction company, or as a salesperson in a home furnishings store.

The protected title of architect

Pursuant to the Dutch Academic Titles (Architects) Act, only those who are registered in the Architect's Register may call themselves architects or interior designers/interior architects. Eligibility for registration in this register requires you to hold a master's degree in architecture or interior architecture and have two years of professional experience. You can also obtain a master's degree from the Maastricht Academy of Architecture.

Continuing your studies

Once you have graduated from the Architectural Designer specialization, you can immediately start on one of two Dutch master’s degree programmes at the Maastricht Academy of Architecture:

Maastricht Academy of Architecture
Herdenkingsplein 12
6211 PW Maastricht