In-between: positioning interior design education at Université de Montréal

The history of the Université de Montréal’s interior design program echoes the in-betweenness and ambiguous qualities of the interior design discipline itself. By exploring the program’s founding and evolution, this article highlights how the specific institutional and cultural context of the Université de Montréal has fostered productive ambiguities that allow its graduates to critically position themselves and their practices within North American and global frameworks. The program’s oscillation between architecture and industrial design reflects the broader disciplinary tensions that have shaped interior design. Assumptions about the scope and focus of each field continue to influence how their interrelations are perceived. Ongoing debates around the terms “interior design” and “interior architecture” further underscore the discipline’s definitional fluidity, particularly salient in Montréal’s bilingual and bicultural environment. As one of only two francophone university-based interior design programs in North America, the program’s unique status has significantly influenced its development. From its inception, educators were required to clearly articulate how its degrees would differ from existing ones, while also seizing opportunities for collaboration with technical institutions and other academic partners.