A: Interior design education can be divided according to different levels. The more technical categories such as design concept and basic methods can be standardized, but for higher education, I do not think that it is necessary to standardize the curriculum, because interior design changes too fast. Once you fix the curriculum, you cannot change it in accordance to future development.

A: I think this is very important, because design is also about inter-personal relationships. Learning a technique and applying it in real life are quite different, and one has to put it into actual design practice. In China, there are two systems in place: one requires students to do internship in their final year, while the other is through our association, which arranges for placements in design firms after students graduate. In China, there are no laws governing internship. Our system is still in transition, and the process is still not yet complete.

Tsinghua University has an internship system in place, which requires its bachelor’s and master’s level students to work as interns for six months to a year. China requires master’s level students to undertake a period of internship, and the school requires students to acquire certain knowledge during that time as well as to be assessed by the company. There is no standard system for carrying out internship because this is still a new concept. Interior design only started to be developed as a profession after China’s reform and opening up in 1979.

A: At present, there is no such system. There are three primary markets for interior design in China: one is the building and construction market, which is already well-developed. The second is the building materials market, which is also quite mature. The design portion, however, is not mature enough, and there is great inconsistency from project management to professional conduct. Even the name of the profession is not fixed. Some practitioners call themselves interior designers, others interior decorators, still others call themselves interior architects, so it is hard to regulate them, yet it is necessary to do so. Because of the rapid development in interior design, particularly in terms of technology, there should be some kind of regulation to ensure the quality of interior designers.

A: In China, there is no stringent regulation specific to interior design; there are only regulations governing architecture. Even though the profession has been developing for several decades, it is difficult to standardize the industry and regulating it is even more difficult. In order to do so, there must be a comprehensive system that covers professional conduct, technical requirement, operational conduct, mode of presentation, etc.

A: CIDA provides certification for interior design practitioners, and provides general and senior level certificates. Over the years, we have certified more than 100,000 interior designers. Having a certificate gives clients greater confidence in your service. Interior design is a growing field in China, and there are four or five separate professional associations, with each association having different backgrounds and missions. It is difficult to have the whole of China adopt the same standards.

CIDA is the most orthodox interior design association because we view interior design holistically, from space planning to construction and decoration. Our association emphasizes having a complete system in which one treats all parts of a project as an integral whole. As an interior designer, you need to manage the whole project and be responsible for the entire feel of it. Disagree strongly with the concept of “soft furnishing”, and feel that this term is wrong-headed. In the beginning, interior designers took over the responsibilities of interiors from architects and developed the job into a successful profession. Architects did not know how to do interior design. Now, so-called soft furnishers want to take a part of the process away from interior designers, and when different departments fail to communicate with each other, there will be abrogation of responsibilities. Also, this idea of soft furnishing is against Chinese aesthetics. Like Chinese medicine, Chinese architecture is a holistic system. Soft furnishing is just placement of furniture, which requires relatively little skill. That’s why the whole concept is very problematic.

A: The content of the examination is technically based, and also covers professional practice. Different professional organizations have their own version of examination, and there is no standardized exam for the whole country. The exam covers construction but not design because the latter is very complicated, and involves management, education and commerce, and cannot be fully covered by the examination. In China, the examination system is still developing, and still lags behind other countries in East Asia.