Module overview
This module situates interior design within the broader transformation of the creative and textile sectors driven by digitalisation, sustainability, and emerging material practices. Responding to the priorities of the 3DP STeF programme, it integrates computational design, circular material strategies, and advanced digital fabrication to address skills gaps identified across industry, academia, and innovation ecosystems.
Students engage with parametric modelling, simulation tools, and digital fabrication methods, including:
- CNC milling and laser cutting
- Polymer and composite 3D printing
- Clay 3D printing, a key technology for transitioning toward low-impact and regenerative material systems
The module explores how digital workflows enable efficient production, mass customisation, zero-waste geometries, and hybrid digital–craft processes that strengthen local and regional value chains.
Material research focuses on bio-based and circular composites, including plant-based fibres, emerging bio-based polymers (PLA, PHA), recycled plastics, and earth-derived materials suitable for additive manufacturing. Through a Life Cycle Thinking approach, students learn to evaluate materials and design for disassembly, reuse, and repair.
These approaches are contextualised across key interior and architectural applications, such as:
- Façade systems using technical textiles
- Acoustic performance and textile-based sound absorption
- Interior finishings and adaptive shading systems
- Furniture design with lightweight and fabric-reinforced structures
- Textile-driven lightweight architectural systems
A dedicated component examines the history and theory of textiles in architecture, tracing their evolution from vernacular membrane structures to contemporary high-performance composite systems.
Hands-on studio assignments connect digital design with physical prototyping, allowing students to test structural, acoustic, tactile, and spatial qualities at multiple scales. The module emphasises research through making, interdisciplinarity, and advanced manufacturing literacy, aligning with the core objectives of 3DP STeF in fostering innovation capacity and sustainable entrepreneurship in the creative and textile sectors.
Learning objectives
- Understand the role of digitalisation and advanced manufacturing in shaping sustainable architectural and the creative/textile sector transition.
- Develop parametric models and fabrication-ready workflows for CNC, laser cutting, polymer, composite, and clay 3D printing.
- Compare bio-based, circular, and recycled materials and assess their environmental performance and applicability in interior and textile-architecture systems.
- Apply circular design strategies-including design for disassembly, repairability, modularity, reuse, and material optimisation-in computationally informed design solutions.
- Produce prototypes and interior components demonstrating advanced digital skills, material intelligence, and iterative research-by-making.
- Interpret sustainability metrics and life-cycle considerations to inform responsible material and fabrication choices.
- Strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration skills aligned with STEAM pedagogies, digital creativity, and innovation capacities promoted by the 3DP STeF framework.
- Investigate the history, theory, and applications of textiles in architecture, from soft-structured envelopes to contemporary lightweight systems.
Who is it for?
- Students in Architecture, Interior Architecture, Product or Textile Design, Computational Design, and Creative Technologies seeking advanced digital and sustainable material skills.
- Professionals in creative industries, digital fabrication labs, architecture and interior studios, textile production, material innovation, and applied research aiming to upskill in digital manufacturing and circular design.
- Entrepreneurs, makers, and innovators exploring sustainable business models, lightweight textile-based structures, and digitally enabled craft processes aligned with the 3DP STeF agenda.
- Learners seeking micro-credentials or specialisation linked to European skills frameworks, high-tech manufacturing, and the sustainable transformation of creative and textile sectors.
