Q&A with Steven Webber
By: Emily Gumal, Jamie Rager
It may be what’s on the inside that counts, but Steven Webber, an associate professor with Florida State University’s Department of Interior Architecture & Design, teaches his students that when it comes to interior spaces, what’s on the outside is also quite important.
With more than 20 years of experience in architecture and interior design, Webber has left a mark on the field as an author, educator, scholar and leader. His background in interior design and architecture has led him to develop a holistic approach to design and helps him guide students as they tackle complex design problems.
The first edition of Webber’s textbook “Interior Design Fundamentals,” has sold 3,500 copies, helping the next generation of designers learn the basics of design thinking and the design process. A second edition of the book, published in Fall of 2024, expands upon the original, offering a more in-depth view of design history and featuring examples of interior design and architecture.
Another recently published book, “Serving the Marginalized through Design Education,” explores the transformation of multidisciplinary design education, as educators prepare their students to address complex social design problems for all people in society.
In his latest research, Webber is diving into what makes designers tick by studying the emotional intelligence traits, and empathy and systemizing quotients of interior design students.
In addition to teaching, writing and research, Webber is also dedicated to service in his field, he has served as director of the department’s graduate program, helped manage the department’s annual Charrette, and recently, president on the Board of Directors of the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC).
We sat down with Webber to learn more about his approach to teaching, his research, and how his background in architecture informs his work as a designer and scholar.
Q: Can you tell us about your current research?
A: What makes designers tick? That is the basic question behind my long-running research on emotional intelligence and empathizing and systemizing quotients of designers. Over the last several years, I have been collecting data on these traits of our interiors students. I published an article several years ago on emotional intelligence and the data is now ready on empathizing and systemizing quotients.
Think of empathy and systemizing as two sides of a coin, and each of us has fundamental traits in these two areas that we can measure. Empathy is the foundation of design thinking and provides us with the ability to relate to the people we design for. Systemizing is the fundamental trait that seeks to make rules and systems and then use them to design and build new space. Together, emotional intelligence, empathy, and systemizing could provide a tailored roadmap to students and practitioners alike for career development in an ever-evolving design practice.
Q: You recently became president of IDEC – can you tell us a bit about your work in the role?
A: I have had the privilege of serving on the IDEC Board for 5 years, most recently as President, and I have now transitioned to Past President on May 1. During this time, I have been very blessed to work alongside amazingly talented and dedicated educators from throughout the Americas. Recently, the organization has found itself in a challenging position financially that resulted in hiring a new management company, organizational reconstruction, and governance changes over these last two years. We have reinvented how we conduct our annual conference and how we engage with industry and students. I am pleased that IDEC is emerging from the financial challenges as a stronger organization, poised to address the broader needs of our discipline in the years to come.
Q: You’ve recently published two books, a new edition of “Interior Design Fundamentals” and “Serving the Marginalized through Design Education.” Can you tell us a little about these projects?
A: I am very grateful that Interior Design Fundamentals has been well received over the last five years, and a second edition is now in print with Fairchild Publishing (imprint of Bloomsbury). As an interior designer with a background in architecture I address the wide range of topics from a different perspective than other authors writing books of this type. Interior design as a discipline resides at the intersection of many other disciplines ranging from architecture to environmental psychology and materials science, all of which are addressed in the book. Writing a book of this nature requires a wide view and the ability to see the connections between seemingly unrelated topics. Communicating these multidisciplinary connections both verbally and visually is a highly rewarding creative endeavor that will hopefully continue to yield results into the future as new technologies and research further inform the discipline.
“Serving the Marginalized through Design Education” was a multidisciplinary design education effort that focused on the positive impacts of design education for the overlooked members of society, including our own students at times. I served as the editor of this work and as author of the introduction chapter that set the stage for the book content and highlighted the connections between the chapter topics. My primary intent for the introduction was to emphasize the importance of worldview as it provides the foundation for pedagogical models that we use in the classroom.
Q: As you address in your books, designers often deal with complex social issues. What are some of the ways you and your colleagues are preparing FSU design students to tackle these problems in the real world?
A: Speaking for myself, and I think others might agree, I can see that educators generally have a tight line to walk on social issues in course content and in the classroom. I believe it is my role to present information to students, help them engage with fundamental topics of design, and support them as they seek to apply their own views on those topics. I do my best to remove my bias from the discussion and simply ask questions to help them see other viewpoints, because, in practice, designers conduct their work on behalf of the client and the end users of the built environment. Designers do not design for themselves, so, in that way, I am modeling the design process in the way I teach.
Q: What else would you like your students and colleagues to know about you?
A: I am blessed with a wonderful wife and two daughters – they keep me grounded and remind me to not take life so seriously that we forget to have fun. I also like old trucks, and I am in the process of restoring and modding my grandfather’s ’71 F100. I have learned a lot about rebuilding carburetors, steering columns, fuel systems, and disc vs drum brakes. The progress has “stalled” a bit due to recent board service commitments, but I am looking forward to making progress in the coming year and getting the old beast back on the road.