AS early as their first day in their drafting classes, students are taught the importance of patience and perseverance to achieve accurate results, especially when it comes to line values. For starters, they do not use a typical sharpener that can be bought off the rack in department stores or school supply stores. Instead, their teachers teach them to sharpen their pencils with a cutter and a pencil pointer, ensuring the pointiest pencil ever.
Those words from Philippine School of Interior Design (PSID) Ahlen Institute Vice President for Academic Affairs Idr. Pojie Pambid give an indication of why it has flourished for more than half a century. The only school that specializes in interior design education celebrated its founding anniversary last month by holding an Open House.
Through the years, it has produced graduates, at a rate of 50-70 yearly, that have become leaders in their field. It has an impressive track record of top performers in the licensure exam for interior design, a trend that began with Pambid, who was the first-ever Philippine Regulatory Commission Board Topnotcher in Interior Design from PSID.
PSID is a member of the Council of Interior Designer Educators (CIDE) which is composed of schools, colleges and universities that offer a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design degree.
“The school does not offer any other course so the building, the physical facilities are designed for just that,” Pambid described as what makes it unique. The faculty is also composed of “licensed practicing professionals, with their corresponding master’s degrees, who have their own firms and their own practices, so the flow of information from teacher to student is very timely and relevant.”
Pambid himself has been on the PSID faculty for 30 years, making him a revered institution there. As he tells his students, his face is the first and last they will see, “because I become their teacher when they first set foot in the school … I am their welcoming teacher for their freshmen subjects, while mine is also the last subject they take up before they graduate.”
Pambid teaches several subjects, namely Elements and Principles of Design, Mechanical Drawing, Ergonomics and Space Planning, History of Art and Architecture, Furniture Styles and Decorative Arts for the Freshmen and the Sophomores. For Juniors and Seniors, he teaches Trends in Interior Design, Period Colors, Design Development and Research and Institutional Design and Exhibit.
Design evolution
In addition to his work in the academe, Pambid is the creative brains behind the interior displays of all branches of Our Home, a popular contemporary furniture store in SM malls across the country. He is also the creative director of JPLake and Associates: Interior Designers & Space Planners and specializes in residential interior design. He has served as editor-in-chief for two major interior design publications.
A tour of the school
As an educator and a practitioner, he has seen how the interior design profession and education have evolved through the years. The change, he said, is only as evident as the industry itself.
“While manual drafting is still taught, and freehand drawing is still the best way to gauge the skill level of students, technology in the form of computer-aided designs has proven to be an added tool in the arsenal of the designer. They are still just tools, though, because design is predominantly a function of the mind. We teach our students to use these tools but to think for themselves.”
Design, Pambid stressed, is very analytical. He said: “While there are tools to aid in that process, the designer should still be able to provide design solutions without having to rely too much on these technological advancements. Information gathering is also faster now. The internet and connectivity make for a more lively and quick exchange of ideas and with the visual cues that the web provides, students are more inspired.”
PSID students are trained to become well-rounded interior designers who are also business owners. The course curriculum includes business subjects where students learn to start their own firms and market as industry professionals.
“We’ve always wanted our students to succeed and for the industry to recognize their styles, their talents and their work. This has always been one of our goals,” Pambid said.
Looking to the future of interior design and the role of PSID in interior design education, Pambid said that the school is committed to maintaining its reputation as the premier interior design school in the country. The school, he said, especially after the pandemic, has been more aware of its students’ needs and will continue to satisfy these needs.
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