Interior Design Theory Research Articles

From Theory to Practice – Interior Design Education for More Sustainable Future

This article discusses the role interior design education plays in the development of greener buildings. Through the encouragement of making sustainable design choices along the design process, the education cultivates a sustainable mindset that contributes to the development of greener spaces, buildings and communities. Even though United Arab Emirates (UAE) shows relatively low per capita CO2 emissions, its building energy efficiency score lags behind that of other nations. This research applies a two-step methodology (qualitative and experimental) to investigate the nexus between interior design, education, and Leadership in Energy Efficient Design-Interior Design and Construction (LEED ID+C) in promoting sustainable buildings design in the UAE. Qualitative methods are applied for the review and analyses of the relevant literature, while experimental measures the efficiency of integrating the LEED ID+C framework into an interior design studio as a teaching method. This experimental teaching method challenges students to comply with LEED ID+C v.4.1 reference guide from the very beginning of the design project and throughout all phases until project completion. The success of the experimental teaching methods is measured through a set of criteria that include information acquisition, knowledge and skills development, and awareness enhancement. As the participant pool varies from level two to level four students, the experiment reflects a comprehensive educational perspective. The results of this study show that such experimental teaching methods contribute to bridging the gap between sustainable interior design theory and practice by instilling sustainability consciousness and skills in students. The results also demonstrate that the experimentation eradicates the barriers to sustainable interior design practice as it relates to Information, Knowledge, and Awareness. The study concludes by highlighting the benefits of the experimental teaching method and suggests how the method can be further improved.

On Italian Interior Design Theory in relation to kitchen (cucina) and bathroom (bagno)

On Italian Interior Design Theory in relation to kitchen (cucina) and bathroom (bagno)

A TALE OF TWO VISIONS: Representing the Orientialized West, Representing the Orient

Starting in the eighteenth century, the West’s interest in the exotic was matched with a rival gaze from the East. The fluid seams where the so-called dualities met have generated powerful spaces of tension: Occident, Orient; master, colonized; and public, private. The elite Muslim Ottoman women’s agency in dress via adoption of corsets, tight-fitting dresses and the adoption of overstuffed seating furniture modeled after the Turkish divan in the West resulted in an unprecedented conflict between furniture, the body and the dress. The inclusion of the body and its dress in the discourse helps to construct an interior design theory that deals with the immediate, experiential role of the body unlike the abstract body in space, which served architectural theory for centuries. Furthermore, the body fosters social manifestation of spaces. This is the fascinating story of a cultural exchange between women: an exchange of divans and corsets.

Color Module Computer Aided Design in Indoor Environment

In this study, a comprehensive solution set of strategies is proposed for interior color design. Computer aided design methods are utilized to solve the problems in the color scheme process, the existing circumstances, shortage and trend of current color scheme tools are analyzed based on interior design theory and modern design methodology. The appropriative color space is constructd to redound the process of special color selection，the tone harmonizing tool is built based on architecture exterior design，and the color knowledge database and scheme database are contrived，the rationality of the color scheme method is validated by integrated cases, the effective way of computer aided color design is obtained and this method is applied to the instance of interior design, it provides a key module for the interior design system software. In the design process, the factors are taken such as color space property，color harmonizing effect，color tone classification, material and texture effect, a viable color enactment is provided for modern interior design.

The First Interior? Reconsidering the Cave

As a relatively new conceptual narrative, the history of interior design has various potential starting points. Thus far, interior design histories have followed either art, architectural or decorative arts histories in order to establish a coherent, progressive narrative that might both contextualize and frame possibilities for contemporary practice. While older historical surveys of the discipline typically located the origins of interior design in ancient civilizations such as Greece or Rome, recent historical surveys have followed an art historical convention in locating the origins of interior design in the Paleolithic caves of Europe. This paper contains a review of literature on the beginnings of interior design's historical narrative, as well as a reconsideration of the cave as a conceptual foundation for interior design theory and practice. The Paleolithic cave is here re–evaluated as both an historical origin that distinguishes interior design history from architectural and art history, and as a speculative, theoretical space rich with possibilities.

Thrice: Blurring Demarcation between Inside and Out

Demarcation between inside and outside is generally regarded as essential to architecture and is a defining aspect of interiority. In many instances this demarcation takes the form of architectural planes. Current theory ranges between a desire to move beyond such a demarcation and the urge for its return, but focuses mostly on global forms of architectural design, in disembodied abstract geometric elements. The relationship between interiority and landscape will be discussed in the following paper using embodied elements. Landscape theory and interior design theory will be drawn upon to show new forms of spatial demarcation. ‘Three Natures,’ as discussed by landscape philosopher John Dixon Hunt and the notion of ‘Third Space’ applied to architecture as expressed by theorist Tom Loveday, are two notions that will inform the theoretical position taken to describe demarcated interiority. The ‘Three Natures’ provide a framework to understand types of landscapes and levels of human intervention, whilst ‘Third Space’ clarifies building spaces prior to their becoming architectural. This paper will suggest that by linking the two, and utilizing it within interior theory, a more holistic understanding of spatial demarcation may emerge.

Domestic Terror and Poe's Arabesque Interior

THUMBING THROUGH THE PAGES of a May 1840 Burton's Gentleman's Magazine reader alights on a curious essay about of interior design written by editor, Edgar Allan Poe. Beginning a quote from Hegel that affirms philosophy as utterly useless and therefore sublimest of pursuits, Poe proceeds to argue for a philosophical approach to internal decoration that implicitly establishes furniture as a potential source of sublime (Furniture 243). Poe's subsequent claim, though, is that this philosophy of furniture is nevertheless more imperfectly understood by Americans than by any civilized nation on earth, to which he adds that in terms of internal decoration the English are supreme and the Yankees alone are preposterous (243). Considering Yankee composition of Poe's own audience, it is not surprising that critical response to Philosophy of Furniture stresses its intentionally tone (The Edgar Allen Poe Society of Baltimore). What this dominant approach ignores, though, is Poe's investment in modeling cultivated for an American audience whose own primitive precludes domestic access to sublime. (1) To this end, Poe, posturing as cultural critic, concludes article an invitation to his readers to watch as he sketches a small and not ostentatious chamber whose decorations no fault can be found (244). Prominent among these faultless decorations is arabesque. An analysis of Poe's arabesque reveals link between his humorous theory of interior design and his theory of literary affect, ultimately providing scholar a pattern that elaborates hitherto under-appreciated influence of Orientalism on Poe's aesthetics. (2) Ensconced in voluminous drapes, thick carpet pile, and diffuse light, proprietor of chamber with whose decorations no fault can be found dozes peacefully as Poe ushers his readers through a diorama of eclectic furnishings which include a Saxony rug, Sevres vases, and an Argand lamp. The atmosphere is one in which Poe insists speaks in all. This sphere of repose is not only achieved through obscure lighting and plush materials, it is conducted by meditative arabesque designs which adorn wallpaper, carpet, and all upholstery of this nature. However, when these very same arabesque images appear in Poe's fiction, they effect not pleasant dreaming but nightmarish terror. Indeed, only a few months prior to appearance of Burton's article, Poe had published Tales of Grotesque and Arabesque, a document in which he credits his peculiar taste for arabesque establishing tenor of that defines his serious tales. (3) The arabesque, which operates as a rigid representation of leisure in Philosophy of Furniture, becomes animate in these serious tales--a metamorphosis which allows terror to infiltrate domestic sphere. What then is relationship between Poe's use of static arabesque as a signifier of invigorated American and his use of animate arabesque as a signified American terror? Answering why Poe perverts into terror necessitates unraveling arabesque convolutions of his Romantic aesthetics. In his major essays on style, Poetic Principle (1848) and Philosophy of Composition (1846), Poe mimics voice of a traditional Continental Enlightenment aesthete when he extols supernal beauty, rational methods of composition, and equivalencies between morality and taste. In these public treatments of aesthetics, Poe ostensibly conforms to what Michael Davitt Bell has theorized as theory of American Romance, an approach which emphasizes balance and integration and is best exemplified by Nathaniel Hawthorne's definition of romance as controlled, serious, moral, and conservative (Bell, 36). However, if progressive project of Enlightenment was, as Horkheimer and Adorno put it, liberating men from fear and establishing their sovereignty, (3) Poe's tales of domestic terror, in particular, consciously undermine fearless, sovereign self and exhibit a predilection for an aesthetic reification not of Beautiful or moral, but of monstrous, grotesque and inhuman. …

A World of Unmentionable Suffering: Women's Public Conveniences in Victorian London

This 9,500 word paper provides an in-depth analysis of a dispute that broke out in 1900 over a proposal to construct a women's public lavatory in Camden Town. Its aim is to provide a detailed account of how the decision to build an everyday object such as a lavatory for women was implicated in producing, maintaining and contesting the patriarchal power structure of late Victorian London.It seeks to build on the work of feminist cultural geographers like Doreen Massey and Gillian Rose and feminist architectural historians like Beatriz Colomina, who have argued that space does not merely reflect social identities, but is actively involved in producing them. Excerpts from this article have also been reprinted in Intimus: Interior Design Theory Reader, eds. Mark Taylor and Julieanna Preston, (Wiley-Academy, 2006). This research was also presented as a 30-minute documentary for BBC Radio 4, called “The Ladies' Room” which aired May 30, 1998. Reviewed by Lucinda Lambton, At whose convenience? New Statesman, (5 June 1998).

Living in Glass Houses: Domesticity, Interior Decoration, and Environmental Aesthetics

In his Philosophy of Interior Design, Stanley Abercrombie writes that "we can live happily with art-some cannot live happily without itbut we cannot live in art or even in a 'white cube."'" This is a strange assertion by someone writing a book on interior design theory. Interior design is presumably an art and since we live in interiors, we must also live in art. Of course, what Abercrombie means is that we cannot live in interiors entirely given over to an aesthetic vision and, consequently, divorced from all consideration of what it might really mean to inhabit them. Abercrombie's examples include Piet Mondrian's Salon de Madame B. and Kurt Schwitter's Merzbau. I think we could add, by implication, a number of what are typically thought of as extreme examples of modern architecture, notably Philip Johnson's notorious Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut.2 The Glass House is a canonical example of high modernist architecture and interior design. The walls are made of plate glass, enclosing the structure while retaining a complete 360-degree view of the property outside. From the outside, one gets a free view into the interior as well. The interior itself is sparsely but carefully furnished in the characteristic high modernist mode. Johnson's Glass House captured a great deal of attention when first built. It is still widely hailed as a high modernist masterpiece and is regularly included in surveys of modern architecture. At the same time that Johnson's house is celebrated as great architecture, it is sneered at for being unlivable. Despite its art-historical significance, the Glass House is thought by most to be unlivable not necessarily because it is aesthetically displeasing, but because it subordinates all other goals to this aesthetic pleasure. If the interior of the Glass House is thought of as ugly by many, it is perhaps because the attractiveness of an interior depends not just on visual spectacle but also perceived livability. The Glass House lacks what we judge today as livability: comfort, casualness, and a certain degree of dowdy familiarity. The building serves more to make an aesthetic point or an art-historical splash, and these motivations turn out here to be separate from the more mundane pleasures of domestic life. At first glance, the Glass House seems to be very much a work of environmental art. Surrounded by glass walls, the occupant is immersed in, though not physically subject to, the shifting atmospheric conditions of the outdoors. Perhaps no other house allows the occupant a more intimate sense of its natural surroundings. But is this what is meant by an environmental aesthetic of domestic space? A basic precept of any introductory interior design course is that the role of interior design is to provide artistically satisfying and practically effective solutions to the organization of the environments in which we must do particular things, like cooking, entertaining, sleeping, bathing, and lounging. The art of domestic interior design would be to create an environment that facilitates domestic practice while at the same time making the environment worthy of aesthetic attention and admiration. On this view, the Glass House fails as full-fledged interior design (that is, as environmental art) because it never recedes into the background, never becomes an environment for the practices of everyday life.3 The glass walls render the occupant perpetually self-conscious of being watched; the sparseness of the furnishings and the extreme orderliness of the house, where even table-top bric-a-brac are discreetly marked with indications of their correct

Living in Glass Houses: Domesticity, Interior Decoration, and Environmental Aesthetics

In his Philosophy of Interior Design, Stanley Abercrombie writes that can live happily with art-some cannot live happily without itbut we cannot live in art or even in a 'white cube.' This is a strange assertion by someone writing a book on interior design theory. Interior design is presumably an art and since we live in interiors, we must also live in art. Of course, what Abercrombie means is that we cannot live in interiors entirely given over to an aesthetic vision and, consequently, divorced from all consideration of what it might really mean to inhabit them. Abercrombie's examples include Piet Mondrian's Salon de Madame B. and Kurt Schwitter's Merzbau. I think we could add, by implication, a number of what are typically thought of as extreme examples of modern architecture, notably Philip Johnson's notorious Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut.2 The Glass House is a canonical example of high modernist architecture and interior design. The walls are made of plate glass, enclosing the structure while retaining a complete 360-degree view of the property outside. From the outside, one gets a free view into the interior as well. The interior itself is sparsely but carefully furnished in the characteristic high modernist mode. Johnson's Glass House captured a great deal of attention when first built. It is still widely hailed as a high modernist masterpiece and is regularly included in surveys of modern architecture. At the same time that Johnson's house is celebrated as great architecture, it is sneered at for being unlivable. Despite its art-historical significance, the Glass House is thought by most to be unlivable not necessarily because it is aesthetically displeasing, but because it subordinates all other goals to this aesthetic pleasure. If the interior of the Glass House is thought of as ugly by many, it is perhaps because the attractiveness of an interior depends not just on visual spectacle but also perceived livability. The Glass House lacks what we judge today as livability: comfort, casualness, and a certain degree of dowdy familiarity. The building serves more to make an aesthetic point or an art-historical splash, and these motivations turn out here to be separate from the more mundane pleasures of domestic life. At first glance, the Glass House seems to be very much a work of environmental art. Surrounded by glass walls, the occupant is immersed in, though not physically subject to, the shifting atmospheric conditions of the outdoors. Perhaps no other house allows the occupant a more intimate sense of its natural surroundings. But is this what is meant by an environmental aesthetic of domestic space? A basic precept of any introductory interior design course is that the role of interior design is to provide artistically satisfying and practically effective solutions to the organization of the environments in which we must do particular things, like cooking, entertaining, sleeping, bathing, and lounging. The art of domestic interior design would be to create an environment that facilitates domestic practice while at the same time making the environment worthy of aesthetic attention and admiration. On this view, the Glass House fails as full-fledged interior design (that is, as environmental art) because it never recedes into the background, never becomes an environment for the practices of everyday life.3 The glass walls render the occupant perpetually self-conscious of being watched; the sparseness of the furnishings and the extreme orderliness of the house, where even table-top bric-a-brac are discreetly marked with indications of their correct

Interior Design Theory and Action

This paper argues for imaginative reasoning in the formulation of interior design value claims and in the conduct of interior design research. Concrete design decisions depend as much on assent to value claims as on belief in the truth of factual claims. At issue are the human values that guide decisions in the design process. Designers and educators are most familiar with the action component of the model of theory and action because it encompasses behavior decisions in design, education, and research. The action is the conclusion of a full argument that is often left unstated. A specific conclusion about what action to take depends on assent to two distinct premises: a value claim and a factual claim. In arriving at a design decision, it is just as important to focus on the conceptualization of values as it is to determine the truth of the value–relevant facts. An examination of the experiences of people in physical settings can clarify or transform the values of designers, users, and educators. Sensitivity and imagination must be used in clarifying and transforming values. An analysis of several specific characteristics of the field of interior design suggests that people in the field are in a good position to use imaginative reasoning to contribute to the lives of people in a diverse society. The recommendation is that research issues be formulated to go beyond a description or a taxonomy to a prescription for action based on well–grounded value claims.

Interior Design Theory and Research: A Paradigm Shift

Interior Design Theory and Research: A Paradigm Shift

A Theoretical Base for Interior Design: A review of four approaches from related fields

There is presently no body of literature comprising the theory of interior design. There are, however, many theoretical approaches from related fields that have application to the field of interior design. In response to the need stated by others for a body of interior design theory, this paper reviews four theoretical approaches and gives examples of existing literature within each approach. This paper focuses on theory as an organizational tool and is limited to theories that are relevant to “concept” and “form”. Examples of each theory point toward a potential area of exploration in the development of interior design theory, with the intention that such a body of literature would hold meaning for both students and practitioners of interior design.