Determining the opinions of interior architects towards waste material utilization

This research is qualitative research that aims to determine the opinions of interior architects regarding the use of waste materials in interior design. Five interior architects selected by purposeful criterion sampling participated in this qualitative research conducted with a phenomenological pattern. When selecting participants for this study, the criteria taken into account were that they had been practicing interior architecture/architecture for at least five years, were doing interior design, and had used waste materials in interior design. Within the scope of the research, semi-structured interviews were held with interior architects about the use of waste materials in interior design. After deciphering the interview records, qualitative data were analyzed with content analysis using the NVIVO 12 program. As a result of content analysis, six themes were reached. The findings showed that interior architects designed commercial spaces such as cafes, restaurants and hotels, as well as residential and office designs, that they attached importance to the use of waste materials in addition to the materials typically used in interior design, that they saw waste materials as valuable materials in interior design and that the design process with waste materials consisted of different stages. In addition, interior architects pointed out that their customers generally reacted negatively when using waste materials in interior design, but positive reactions were also increasing, that waste materials would be used more in interior design in the following years, that these materials would become more valuable, and that interior architects should be trained on this issue and awareness should be raised in other people. As a result, it is thought that interior architects can take more responsibility and lead in this regard in terms of both ensuring material sustainability and raising awareness about the use of waste materials in other design areas.