INTE 2003 Modernism and Modernisms – Interior Design Assignment 2 2026

INTE2003 Assignment 2: Literature Review (100%) 

Lecturer: Dr. Sorcha O’Brien (Sorcha.obrien@tudublin.ie)

What is a Literature Review?

In academic research, you use published/peer reviewed literature to inform and support your argument and reach findings on a topic. A literature review focuses on the first part of this process: identify, summarise, evaluate and reflect on the arguments/perspectives put forward in literature written by experts in the field under investigation. The focus in this assignment is on reviewing quality academic sources such a book, book chapters and journal articles (NOT web pages!)

Selection of Literature

1. You will need to choose ONE source from the folder on Brightspace, which contains readings about Modernism in the countries we have covered in class, as well as several that we have not covered (e.g. Brazil, Japan, Australia, etc.)
2. You will need to choose a SECOND source about Modernist design in the same country, which may be a book, book chapter or journal article (NOT a web page!)
3. You will then need to choose a THIRD quality academic source such as a book, book chapter or journal article (NOT a web page!), which relates to your topic in some way (it may be about design the same country or a nearby influential one, about its design diaspora e.g. German designers in Brazil, etc.)

You will need to analyse each of the three texts, considering what they tell us about design in your chosen country. Remember that we are looking at the Modernist time period, so don’t go earlier than the 1910s or later than the 1960s. Illustrate your discussion with at least one image from each text, which should be fully captioned, including the source.

Schedule

1. Presentation of Proposal for Literature Review (formative assignment, not graded)

This will be submitted to Brightspace on the 18th March 2025 and presented in class on the 18th and 25th March 2026. The presentation should be submitted as a PowerPoint file with at least four slides, including a bibliography in the last slide(s).

2. Final Literature Review (summative assignment, graded)

The Literature Review will be submitted to Brightspace ONLY by 29th April 2026, 5pm (no submissions will be accepted by email). It must be approx. 2,000 words in length and should follow the TU Dublin essay writing guidelines, be properly referenced and include a full bibliography, following the Chicago Manual of Style: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html  

Any instance of plagiarism, of any kind, will result in a fail and may result in further penalties, up to and including expulsion. Late submissions will be accepted for one week, and will result in a 10% penalty, unless an agreed extension is in place, for medical or similar reasons. Any use of Chat-GPT or similar Large Language Models must be declared at the start of the Literature Review.