Orit Sarfatti
BA Economics and Management, BA (Hons) Interior Architecture, MA Interior Design, PCGHE
Senior Lecturer
School of Architecture
Role
Orit is interested in the human and the social factors in the design process. Orit sees an important role for the community in the design process as a form of ‘civil power’, one, which a designer should be aware of and support. The Interior Architecture programme in which Orit is involved, puts a great emphasise on the relation between the user and the space he inhabits in order to enhance the user’s experience, both as individual and as a member of a community.
As part of her teaching methodology Orit runs an annual Live project with the Interior Architecture Second Year students which involves local communities in Oxford. These projects enable both students and the local communities to aspire and understand the difference architecture could have on people’s quality of lives.
In 2015/16 Orit run a successful project in a local dilapidated community pavilion in North Hiknsey, Oxford: http://liveprojectsnetwork.org/project/louie-memorial-pavilion/
Teaching and supervision
Courses
Modules taught
Orit is the Module Leader for:
- Interior Architecture 1 (ARCH5007)
- Interior Architecture 2 (ARCH5008)
- Material Exploration (ARCH5010)
She is also:
- Design Unit leader in Interior Architecture (Year 2)
- Tutor in City, Culture and Society (ARCH5005)
- Dissertation supervisor (ARCH6008)
- Interior Architecture Alumni Coordinator
Research
Currently undertaking MPhil/ PhD titled: Communal Child Rearing on the Israeli Kibbutz between the years 1920-1960: a Case Study Approach to the Study of Relations between Built Environment and Ideologies.
Research grants and awards
- ISA Travel award, 2017- Research visit to Israel
- Oxford Brookes Teaching Excellence award 2018
Research projects
- Designing the Experience / The Experience of Design (2017 onwards):
Multidisciplinary Research Group involving members from four other universities (University of Surrey, UWE, Bournemouth University and UCL). The research includes distinctive analysis of the role of design beyond the physical presence of a building, and the evaluation of the flexible spatial boundaries that affect and determine people’s experience, the group includes academics and professional from Environmental psychology, Neuroscience, product design, Interior design and architecture. The group collaborate with the Maggie Centres as a platform for a case study.