Aalto University Interior Architecture Master’s Thesis Guide: 30 ECTS SARK.thes, 45-Minute Presentation and 2027 Deadlines

Aalto University’s Interior Architecture major is a Master of Arts (Art and Design) route in the School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Under the current 2026–2028 curriculum, the degree is 120 ECTS: 90 ECTS advanced studies in ARTS3105 and 30 ECTS elective studies. The major contains 60 ECTS of advanced-major coursework and the separate 30 ECTS SARK.thes master’s thesis. The maturity test is ARTSa.matr, 0 ECTS.

Interior Architecture shares the parent ARTS thesis backbone with Architecture, but it needs its own guide. Its codes are different, its topic framing is based on spatial design, furniture design and other interior-architecture areas, its supervisor allocation has its own subject/language logic, and its oral presentation is 45 minutes with 20–25 minutes for the student. Architecture instead uses a 30-minute slot with a maximum 15-minute student presentation.

The common parent requirements still matter: every thesis includes a 50,000–140,000-character written component, the 30 ECTS project is divided into three 10 ECTS parts, the oral presentation is mandatory, MyStudies manages the formal record and final hand-in, the final file must be PDF/A under 100 MB, a Department of Architecture exhibition poster is submitted at the final deadline, and the thesis is examined before Programme Committee grading.

Aalto confirms four 2027 final thesis submission dates: 26 May, 30 July, 17 November and 31 December 2027. The current Interior Architecture presentation table still contains 2026 dates only, so this guide keeps the 2027 oral-presentation calendar explicitly unresolved until Aalto publishes it.

Where the thesis fits in the current Interior Architecture degree

The current Interior Architecture degree totals 120 ECTS. The advanced-studies module is ARTS3105, 90 ECTS, with 30 ECTS elective studies completing the degree. Within the major, 60 ECTS are advanced-major coursework and the separate thesis is SARK.thes, 30 ECTS. The maturity test is ARTSa.matr, 0 ECTS.

The second study year includes ARK-E5520 Thesis Seminar, 3 ECTS, together with a 3 ECTS research-course choice between ARK-E1521 Introduction to Architectural Research and ARK-E1522 Architectural Research Basics, Self-Paced Online. These courses support thesis development but remain separate from the 30 ECTS SARK.thes.

The Interior Architecture curriculum connects research with design across spatial design, furniture design, materials, human experience and wider cultural, social and environmental questions. A thesis can therefore combine critical inquiry with design development, provided the final project remains academically documented and examinable.

Use the Interior Interior Architecture thesis seminar as a development stage

Interior Interior Architecture students are instructed to enrol in the Thesis Seminar before starting the thesis. In the current curriculum this is the 3 ECTS ARK-E5520 course in the second study year.

The seminar should be used to turn a broad design interest into a defensible thesis problem. A student can clarify whether the main focus is spatial design, furniture design, material or sustainable practice, human experience, theory, or another interior-architecture area, then decide what kind of evidence and design process can support the inquiry.

The research-course choice between ARK-E1521 and ARK-E1522 adds a separate methods foundation. Neither course should be added to the formal thesis credit value: SARK.thes remains 30 ECTS.

Understand the ARTS thesis format before fixing the scope

Aalto’s current parent thesis instructions allow a master’s thesis to be a work of design, research or art, or a combination of these. This gives Interior Architecture students considerable intellectual and practical flexibility, but the flexibility does not remove the academic requirements.

Every thesis includes a written component. The current shared instruction states 50,000–140,000 characters. This is a character range for the written component, not a universal word count and not a reason to force every project into the same chapter structure. A design-heavy thesis and a theory-heavy thesis may distribute their work differently while still needing clear questions, evidence, reasoning, documentation and conclusions.

The 30 ECTS scope is approximately half an academic year of full-time work. A student should design the project around what can realistically be researched, designed, documented, written, presented and revised within that workload. A visually ambitious design project can still fail academically if the research problem and reasoning are weak, while a long written report is not automatically a stronger architectural thesis.

Formalise the Interior Architecture topic and supervision in MyStudies

The Interior Interior Architecture thesis page gives students broad topic freedom. A topic may relate to spatial design, furniture design or another area of interior architecture, and the student can develop the topic idea before agreeing the details with the supervisor.

Supervisor assignment follows a major-specific rule: it is based primarily on the subject area and language of the thesis, while supervisor workload can also affect the final allocation. Students should describe the topic clearly enough for the major to understand what expertise is needed rather than choosing supervision only by personal preference.

The formal record is managed through MyStudies. The topic, supervisor and one or two advisors are entered and approved there. The approved topic is valid for one year. If the project changes substantially or extends beyond that approval period, the student should update the formal process rather than assume that an old approval remains sufficient.

The thesis is developed in staged parts

The current ARTS Architecture process divides the 30 ECTS thesis into staged work.

Part 1 (10 ECTS) establishes the thesis plan, scope and early framework as agreed with the supervisor.

Part 2 (10 ECTS) develops the methods, design/research work, evidence and preliminary outcomes. The supervisor approves the progress stage.

Part 3 (10 ECTS) completes the research/interior-architecture/design work, written component and any production/documentation, followed by the mandatory oral presentation and final examination submission.

This staged structure is useful because it makes the thesis a sequence of reviewable academic decisions rather than one large document submitted only at the end. Students should use the stage reviews to correct scope, method, documentation and argument before the final submission period.

Interior Interior Architecture thesis methods are not universal

Interior Architecture combines design practice, material and spatial thinking, human-centred inquiry, theory and academic research. There is therefore no single method that fits every thesis.

Depending on the question, a project may use research through design, prototyping, material experiments, spatial or furniture design studies, user observation, interviews, case studies, precedent analysis, visual or cultural analysis, archival research, co-design, field documentation, theoretical inquiry, or combinations of these. A production component can be central, but it must still be connected to a clear academic problem and documented reasoning.

Students should justify the method in relation to the question, the type of evidence available and the design decisions that need to be evaluated. The current public sources do not prescribe one universal citation style or mandatory chapter sequence for all Interior Architecture theses, so the final structure should be agreed with the supervisor and made appropriate to the project.

MyStudies manages the formal thesis record

The current thesis process is administered through MyStudies. Students use the thesis area to provide and maintain the basic thesis information and metadata, add the supervisor and advisor or advisors, and submit the completed thesis for evaluation, approval and archiving.

The supervisor confirms supervision in MyStudies and approves the topic and advisor arrangements. Students should not leave these formal steps until the final submission stage. A clean MyStudies record is part of the thesis workflow.

When the thesis is finally approved, MyStudies also provides access to the grade and evaluation information.

Interior Architecture supervisor, advisors and examiners

Interior Architecture has a major-specific supervisor allocation process. The current thesis page states that assignment is based primarily on the thesis subject area and language, with supervisor workloads also influencing who is assigned. This is more specific than the generic parent instruction and should be followed for this major.

After supervision is confirmed, the supervisor approves the topic and advisor arrangements in MyStudies and is responsible for the staged thesis approvals. A thesis may have one or two advisors, and an advisor can support detailed design development, material or technical questions, research methods, field work or academic writing.

After Part II, examiners are named and the programme director confirms them. The supervisor is normally one examiner and the other may be programme faculty or an external expert. The final thesis therefore needs enough written and visual documentation for both examiners to assess the project as one coherent academic work.

The Interior Architecture oral presentation is mandatory and lasts 45 minutes

The oral presentation is mandatory and the thesis cannot be evaluated if it is missing.

For Interior Architecture, the current major-specific session is 45 minutes. The student’s presentation is 20–25 minutes, and the remaining time is for the examiners’ questions and comments. This gives more presentation time than the Architecture route and should not be shortened to the Architecture maximum-15-minute rule.

The student must confirm readiness with the supervisor at least two weeks before the presentation and send the thesis to the supervisor by email at least one week before the session. The Interior Architecture page adds an important detail: presentation material does not have to be submitted beforehand. This does not remove the one-week thesis-email requirement.

The current public Interior Architecture table contains presentation dates for 2026 only. For a 2027 final hand-in, students should confirm the associated presentation session through current major communication rather than inferring it from the final thesis submission date.

Turnitin and final integrity checks

The current Department of Architecture process requires an originality check through Turnitin according to programme practice. The thesis page also states that originality and AI-detection reports are generated when the final work is submitted and made available to the supervisor.

Students remain responsible for the academic integrity of the thesis. Sources, quotations, images, datasets, design precedents, external contributions and AI-assisted work should be handled according to the latest Aalto and programme rules.

Maturity test: the thesis abstract

For Interior Architecture, the thesis abstract serves as the maturity test and the curriculum records the maturity component as ARTSa.matr, 0 ECTS. The supervisor approves the content.

Language checking depends on the student’s language-of-education situation and on whether the relevant maturity obligations were already completed at bachelor’s level. Students with Finnish or Swedish obligations should verify the applicable process with the programme.

Aalto’s current AI guidance prohibits language models in maturity examinations. Students should therefore keep the assessed maturity-test abstract outside any AI workflow that may otherwise be permitted for drafting, language support or research under separate current guidance.

Production and artistic components

An Interior Interior Architecture thesis may include a production or artistic component alongside the written academic publication. The current submission instructions recognise this possibility.

If a production component cannot be fully represented inside the written PDF, separate digital documentation such as images, audio or video can be archived as media appendix material with appropriate metadata and credits. Students should coordinate the examination of a production component with the examiners if it has not already been examined during the earlier stages.

The existence of a production component does not remove the requirement for a written academic thesis, research-founded reasoning, documentation and examination.

Submit the Department of Architecture exhibition poster

The current Department of Architecture workflow requires an exhibition poster at the same deadline as the final thesis. The poster is part of the department’s thesis showcase and is submitted in both PDF and JPEG formats.

The poster template asks for key project metadata, keywords, an abstract of up to 2,000 characters and selected visual material such as diagrams, site plans, drawings or perspectives. This poster belongs to the Department of Interior Architecture thesis workflow and should be planned alongside the final thesis rather than treated as optional.

Final file: PDF/A and under 100 MB

The final thesis is submitted through MyStudies. The current ARTS instructions require the thesis file to be in PDF/A format and below 100 MB. Submission will not go through if those technical requirements are not met.

Aalto recommends checking the PDF/A conversion carefully and ensuring the archived file is identical to the intended final thesis. Students with image-heavy or production-heavy work should plan file preparation early rather than trying to solve format and size problems at the submission deadline.

The approved thesis is public

The thesis and its metadata are archived in Aaltodoc. Permission to publish the full text openly online is a separate question from whether the thesis is a public document.

Aalto allows the online publishing date to be postponed by up to one year for reasons such as another publication, a patent application or corporate concerns. However, postponing online publication does not make the approved thesis confidential. The public copy remains accessible according to Aalto’s public-document process.

For company-linked, commercially sensitive or unpublished design projects, confidentiality must therefore be planned before material is placed in the thesis. Information that cannot lawfully become part of a public thesis should be handled outside the public academic document under the applicable agreement and Aalto rules.

Assessment and Programme Committee approval

The thesis is evaluated by the appointed examiners. The current parent thesis page says the supervisor is normally one examiner, with another programme faculty member or external expert potentially serving as the second examiner.

The Programme Committee makes the thesis grade decision based on the examiners’ statement after the relevant hand-in deadline. Students should therefore distinguish between submitting the thesis, receiving examiner evaluation and the formal committee decision.

Current 2027 Interior Interior Architecture thesis submission dates

The parent graduation page confirms four final thesis submission dates for 2027:

• 26 May 2027: Programme Committee grade window 14–18 June 2027;
• 30 July 2027: grade window 23–27 August 2027;
• 17 November 2027: grade window 7–10 December 2027;
• 31 December 2027: grade window 17–21 January 2028.

These are the confirmed thesis-submission rows. Other monthly graduation dates on the same page are not automatically thesis deadlines.

The current Interior Architecture presentation table still shows 2026 sessions only. A 2027 student should therefore plan the final hand-in from the confirmed dates above while separately rechecking the presentation session with the major.

Graduation planning

Graduation is requested in Sisu using the student’s up-to-date primary study plan. The student must be registered as attending on the graduation day.

Other studies included in the degree should be completed and registered when the graduation request is submitted. The final thesis must be returned to MyStudies for grading according to the applicable thesis-submission schedule. A thesis grade may be entered after the graduation request if the Programme Committee decision occurs later.

A clean Sisu study plan matters because Sisu generates the degree certificate based on the approved study plan and graduation request.

Practical planning sequence

First year and early second year

Build the interior-architecture design and research foundation needed for a thesis. Keep track of possible questions, relevant subject areas, potential supervisors, users, spaces, materials, precedents and design/research contexts. If the project may include a production component, begin thinking early about how the written and design components will work together as one thesis.

Seminar and topic clarification

Use the Aalto ARK-E5520 Thesis Seminar to clarify the problem. Contact relevant teaching staff, identify a suitable supervisor, and enter the topic, supervisor and one or two advisors in MyStudies. Remember that topic approval is valid for one year.

Part 1: first 10 ECTS

Agree with the supervisor what constitutes the first progress package. Establish the scope, conceptual/research framework, design or empirical strategy, source base and working schedule. The goal is to make the project examinable as a 30 ECTS thesis rather than simply ambitious.

Part 2: second 10 ECTS

Develop the actual research, planning/design work, evidence and preliminary findings. Record decisions and iterations so the written component can explain how the work developed and why the resulting claims or proposals are justified. When Part 2 is complete, the programme can move toward naming the examiners.

Final 10 ECTS and presentation

Complete the written component and any production/design work. Run the originality check early enough to fix citation or attribution problems. Confirm presentation readiness with the supervisor at least two weeks before the presentation and send the thesis to the supervisor at least one week beforehand. Complete the mandatory oral presentation and use the discussion to make final corrections.

Final submission

Prepare one compliant PDF/A under 100 MB, include the thesis abstract/maturity component, submit any separate production documentation as instructed, and submit the Department of Architecture exhibition poster in PDF and JPEG by the same deadline. Then submit the final thesis through MyStudies and, when appropriate, request graduation in Sisu.

Final Interior Interior Architecture thesis checklist

Before final submission, confirm that:

• your route is Interior Architecture, Master of Arts (Art and Design) under the 2026–2028 curriculum;
• advanced studies are ARTS3105 90 ECTS plus 30 ECTS electives;
• SARK.thes is 30 ECTS and ARTSa.matr is 0 ECTS;
• ARK-E5520 Thesis Seminar and the separate research-method choice have been planned correctly;
• the topic fits spatial design, furniture design or another defensible interior-architecture area;
• the subject/language-based supervision process and MyStudies approvals are complete;
• the three 10 ECTS thesis stages have been completed as agreed;
• the written component follows the current 50,000–140,000-character instruction and any production component is documented as part of one thesis;
• the mandatory 45-minute presentation has been completed, with 20–25 minutes for the student presentation;
• you have distinguished the one-week thesis email from the rule that presentation material itself does not need prior submission;
• Turnitin and maturity-test requirements are complete;
• the final thesis is PDF/A under 100 MB and separate media documentation is prepared where needed;
• the Department of Architecture exhibition poster is ready in PDF and JPEG;
• confidential material is outside the evaluated public thesis;
• Sisu and attendance requirements are graduation-ready; and
• the current final thesis date and separate oral-presentation session have both been rechecked.

Final planning principle

Interior Architecture should be planned around its own route identity: ARTS3105 90 ECTS advanced studies, SARK.thes 30 ECTS, ARTSa.matr 0 ECTS, ARK-E5520 Thesis Seminar, three 10 ECTS stages, 45-minute oral presentation, MyStudies, exhibition poster, examiner review and Programme Committee grading.

The project itself can range from spatial or furniture design to research-led or production-rich work. What should remain exact is the administration. Do not borrow ARK.thes, ARTSt.matr, Architecture’s three topic categories or its 30-minute/max-15-minute presentation format.

For 2027, the four final hand-in dates are confirmed current evidence, while the oral-presentation schedule is still a live major-specific variable. Recheck that presentation timing before locking the final production, writing and revision calendar.