IFI WID 2020
UP

Nexus Interiors in Isolation | UP

South Africa

UP – University of Pretoria 

To celebrate IFI WID 2020, UP hosted a virtual exhibition led by IFI Board Member and Department of Interior Architecture Professor Zakkiya Khan. This exhibition looked at how ‘nexus interiors’ exists during times of isolation, with second year Interior Architecture students celebrating their works. 

The Foreword for the exhibition is as follows: 

“March 2020 saw the lockdown of nations across the globe due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Still ongoing, this period presents challenges in the university context. We are contemplating not only what social distancing means for design education founded on dialogue and human interaction, but also what this means for the design of interiors, as spaces that foster connection, empathy, and human-ness. 

The paradox of designing in isolation while designing interiors proves to be something in need of acknowledgement, processing, provocation, and sharing while we adjust to what designing and making interiors will mean going into the future.For students of interior design, a particular curve ball is in their court. From an educator’s perspective, I believe that this reality offers the potential for a resilient generation of designers to emerge.

In this spirit, our students embrace the IFI World Interiors Day theme of Nexus, with its meanings of centre /focus / node and connection and address this through personal expressions and interpretations during this time of isolation.

Reconnecting with the tactile nature of physical creation (in contrast to the sudden surge of digital substitutions),they used physical medium of their choice to deliberate the theme as individuals. Their works are represented through their own digital photography and artists’ statements. The submissions are shared on Instagram using #WIDWednesdays and #BoukundeJournal.

I welcome you to enjoy these personal works created by the 2020,Year 2,BSc InteriorArchitecture students.”

For the complete video exhibition, please visit the UP website HERE.

Event Images: