PROJECT TITLE
American Student Dialogue with Mexico: Introduction to the Mexican Interior Design Experience Activity Series

AUTHOR
Paulette R. Hebert, Ph.D.
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Lafayette, LA
prh2239@ucs.usl.edu

PROJECT LEVEL
2nd Year Students

ABSTRACT
In order to begin a Post-NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) dialogue with Mexico, American interior design students participated in an elective independent study class which introduced them to the Mexican interior design experience. All of the students enrolled in the class were newly declared interior design majors and had a strong interest in Mexico, mostly due to the recent success of NAFTA, and Mexico's relatively close proximity to the their university. Some of the enrolled students had Latin American ancestry but none were fluent in Spanish, nor had ever lived in Mexico. Some were interested in pursuing possible career opportunities in Mexico. The students enrolled in the class were allowed input into the course's content. A series of special activities were designed to provide students with a background for their Mexican dialogue. Students were exposed to the metric system and to basic interior design terms in Spanish. Students utilized tools including the "Spanish Assistant" DOS computer program in order to translate Spanish into English and English into Spanish as required for their class activities. Students gained hands-on experience with metric architectural scales when they converted plans, which were originally produced in Spanish and the metric system, into the English language and dimensional system. Students utilized computer programs to draft plans of an existing interior design studio, which they translated and then labeled in Spanish.

Students also produced reports on Mexican architecture, artists, interior designers and artists. Their reports included written information as well as graphic images.

After their introduction to Mexico, American interior design students communicated with their counterparts in Mexico via a "pen pal" activity. To expedite their dialogue, letters and "Culture Capsules" were sent via fax machine and Federal Express due to the challenges with the Mexican mail delivery system. Letters described daily interior design students' activities, their projects, their personal lives and their hopes for the future. "Culture Capsules" contained small, inexpensive mementos of the students' lives and work.

Near the end of this successful endeavor, the Mexican peso fell abruptly and the Mexican people's relationship with their government became very strained. The Mexican university that the pen pal students attended was closed early, before the end of the semester, for fear of student riots. The students on both sides of the border were very frustrated. The American students realized that Mexico was indeed a "foreign country." The students were unable to complete their last dialogue, nor receive the Mexican culture capsules, but the American culture capsules were delivered and the project was deemed a great learning experience by all involved. The American students were successful in learning about the Mexican interior design experience while sharing a bit of their own design culture. All offered that they felt richer from their dialogue.

OBJECTIVES
1. To raise student awareness of Mexican interior design, culture and language.
2. To teach design students about historic and contemporary Mexican interior designers, architects or artists, their lives and their work.
3. To translate and convert interior plans which were originally written in Spanish with dimensions in the metric system, into English using the English dimensional equivalents.
4. To establish a dialogue with a "pen pal" interior design student (or related discipline) in Mexico in order to encourage interaction between American Interior design students and their Mexican counterparts.
5. To encourage feedback for interior design students' daily experiences through the students' participation in an on-going dialogue with their Mexican counterparts.

CRITERIA
You are starting a dialogue with interior design students in Mexico. Your job is to learn background about Mexico in order to prepare you for your dialogue. Your communications with Mexican students will include personal letters and a "culture capsule." You will produce a report on Mexican architects, interior designers or artists. You will learn some of the Spanish language and have hands-on experience with the metric system through the translation of interior design drawings which were originally produced in Spanish/metric and in the drawing and labeling of an existing space in Spanish.

PROCESS
1. Students attended a lecture by a guest professor on the architecture and interior design of Mexico.
2. Students located important architectural sites on a map of Mexico.
3. Students utilized the Spanish Assistant computer program in order to have hands-on experience translating articles about design and culture from Spanish to English and vice versa.
4. Students participated in discussion groups with instructor concerning Mexican design and cultural issues.
5. Students utilized metric scales and converted drawings into the English system.
6. Students produced reports on selected architects, artists or interior designers.
7. Students sent and received faxed letters to their counterparts in Mexico.
8. Students developed and sent "culture capsules."

PRESENTATION
Students were required to turn in all letters and "culture capsules" to instructor for review before faxing/delivering to Mexico. Earlier, students had submitted their preliminary designs for the exterior of their culture capsules (which were highly decorated shoe boxes filled with mementos, maps and other information related to America which the students had personalized and selected). Student translations of interior design plans from Spanish/Metric into English were produced as markups directly over blue lines. Student reports were produced in a 5" x 7" card format, included graphics, and were bound into booklets.

EVALUATION
Grading was based on an 100 point scale:
90 - 100 = A, 80 - 89 = B, 70 - 79 = C, 60 - 69 = D, below 60 = F

Evaluation was based on the following:
Clarity, Composition, Craftsmanship, Thoroughness, Use of Language, Accuracy, Creativity and Communication Skills

Note: Students' 2 reports on architects, interior designers or artists were counted as take-home mid-term and final examinations.

PROJECT LENGTH
Lab Activities: Translation of assigned readings, 1 week each
Pen Pal Letters and Culture Capsules: 3-4 weeks each
In-Class Activities: Translation of Spanish/metric plans into English, Documenting existing space and labeling in Spanish, 1 week each
Take Home Exams: Mexican Interior Designers, Artists and Architects reports, 3 weeks each

RESOURCES
Aveni, A. F, Claneck, E.E. & Hartung, H. (1988, April). Myth, environment and the orientation of the Templo Mayor of Tenochitian. American Antiquity, 53, 287-309.

Betsky, A. (1990, May). Mexican architecture today. Architectural Record, 59-61.

Graham, I. (1990). Exposing the Maya. Archaeology, 43, 37-43.

Jones, L. (1993). The hermeneutics of sacred architecture: A reassessment of the similtude between Tula, Hidalgo and Chichen Itza, Yucatan. History of Religions, 32, 207-232.

Lozano, J. A. (1994, February). Monterrey, golf and country club. Interior Design, 126-131.

Masuoka, S. N. (1988). Architecture of the turn of the century: Mexico enters the modern world. Journal of the West, 27, 33-40. (June, 1994) Mexico City, community center, centro deportivo Israelita, complex. Interior Design, 146-149.


CREDIT
Professor George Wachob, Louisiana State University, is credited with inspiration and encouragement during this project. Professor Wachob also provided a lecture based on his experiences in Mexico.

DOCUMENTATION
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