Research Directions in Interior Architecture in the Higher Education in Thailand (1997-2016)

This research aims to explore research directions in interior architecture in the higher education in Thailand within the past two decades (1997-2016). This research is a part of the quinquennial curriculum renewal process of the master degree of interior architecture programme, Department of Interior Architecture, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL). The systematic literature review was conducted to track back on theses in interior architecture in the higher education in Thailand. The query focused on master degree theses published from 1997 to 2016 within ThaiLIS-Thai Library Integrated System (TTLIS) in which research, theses, and dissertations of all universities in Thailand were systematically collected. The keyword ‘interior architecture’ was used to search for thesis documents in TTLIS with specifically refined results on master degree theses in all universities in Thailand. One hundred and ninety-six theses were found in the search. This research comprises two stages. In the first stage, all one hundred and ninety-six theses were systematically reviewed and categorized into different types of research. It was found that there was no predictive research type and no novel theoretical framework generated among studied theses. In second stage, semi-structure interview was adopted to explore details of participants’ experiences of doing their theses; inspirations, background ideas, supports, and obstacles. A lack of generating new theoretical frameworks in interior architecture in the higher education in Thailand has weaken the progression of research in this discipline. Developing a novel theoretical framework in interior architecture in the higher education in Thailand is recommended.