Completion Date
Summer 10-2-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Program or Discipline Name
Project Management
First Advisor
Dr. Tedd Wheeler
Abstract
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into luxury interior design and furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) practice has outpaced the governance structures needed to protect creative authorship, craft traditions, and cultural intelligence. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine how project management frameworks could govern the responsible integration of AI in luxury interior design and FF&E specification. The study was grounded in the Adopt a Holistic View principle of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide, Eighth Edition, and addressed three research questions on governance frameworks, tensions between technology and handcraft, and art historical literacy. Twelve practitioners completed a written, open-ended questionnaire, and the responses were analyzed using a six-step phenomenological process supported by a researcher-verified AI-assisted coding tool. Thirteen themes emerged. Participants described no formal framework for governing AI: tools were vetted centrally for security and cost, while project-level use relied on informal designer review. Participants positioned handcraft as the source of luxury value, compared AI with earlier technologies while noting its reach into creative judgment, and described art historical literacy as the filter through which they corrected AI output. The study recommends a phase-gated governance framework comprising expanded tool vetting, AI concept freeze points, designer-owned review, and client disclosure. The findings may support positive social change by protecting craft livelihoods and cultural knowledge.
Recommended Citation
Hachem, J. (2026). Project Management Frameworks for the Responsible Integration of AI in Luxury Interior Design and FF&E Practice. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.harrisburgu.edu/dandt/107