Contextualizing Interior Space Making

Architecture, exterior or interior can be considered to be a result of an appropriate response to a physical context which can be summarized as ‘Form Follows Context’. A deeper understanding would include ‘culture’. The studio explored the interface between interior architecture and its ‘context’ in hospitality design. If the design of a hotel could showcase the context, it would be an enriching experience for the visitor, while boosting the local economy and preserving the local culture. The understanding of “critical regionalism” is necessary since it defines the manner in which local architecture, interior and culture will be studied and reinterpreted. Hospitality design that references the local context has always existed, but a new genre was created when architects like Geoffrey Bawa and Kerry Hill designed hotels in Sri Lanka and South East Asia. The endeavour of this studio was to ask how architecture can help make a visit memorable. For their final outcome, students were required to design the interior of designated areas of a hotel and to present their design in the form of 3D rendered images.