Designing Interiors

1
Interior Design, an Introduction

Interior design is one of the most exciting and creative professions. A combination of art, science, and technology, interior design, in practice, manipulates space, form, texture, color, and light to enhance the quality of human life. This book is about interior spaces and their design and about interior design as a profession. The practice of actively designing interior space is a major commitment by those who enter the field, that is, people who work toward improving our built environments.

We spend an increasing amount of our lives indoors in built environments. We wake from a night’s sleep in some form of interior space and go to learn, work, or play in another space that gives a sense of purpose to our lives. We may briefly go outdoors to get to the site of our day’s occupation, but the amount of time spent outdoors is usually only a fraction of the time spent indoors.

Why should we be concerned about the design of interiors? Well-designed spaces can contribute substantially to our sense of well-being, not just serve as shelters. They can be positive influences on our socialization, learning, and general appreciation of life. People’s behavior can be positively or negatively reinforced by interaction with environmental forces.

The task of those who design our interior spaces becomes increasingly important as more people spend greater amounts of time indoors. Designers must devise spaces that serve the basic needs of the users and at the same time create positive and uplifting effects. Properly designed environments are efficient and harmonious (Figure 1.1). They can have a pervasive positive influence, which interiors that are not carefully designed may not have.

Figure 1.1 This Haworth showroom, in San Francisco, is an excellent example of a well-designed interior that serves the needs of the users and creates a positive and uplifting effect.

Courtesy of Perkins + Will; Photo Courtesy of Haworth, Inc.; Nick Merrick © Hedrich Blessing

CURRENT ISSUES IN DESIGN

Interior design is a dynamic profession that changes over time as the result of technological advances, research, codes, culture, and environmental factors. Some of the current issues facing interior designers include universal design, globalization, and sustainable design.

Universal Design

Universal design is a concept that encompasses the design of worldwide environments, spaces, objects, and communication with the intent of serving the widest range of users, regardless of age and physical abilities. Universal design can include accessible design, which specifically focuses on people with disabilities and their right of access to entities. However, the two terms should not be used interchangeably. Universal design is involved with more than providing minimal compliance with specific accessibility requirements and guidelines. It seeks to integrate accessible features into the design of the building, interiors, and objects. It addresses the usability issues of spaces and equipment, instead of merely setting standards and minimum requirements, which accessible design does. See Chapter 10 for more detailed information on accessibility. Interior designers are also involved with designing for special populations, which include people of all abilities and ages, including children, the elderly, and those with temporary or permanent special needs (Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2 Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA is designed to serve the needs of its special population.

Courtesy of Perkins + Will; © fotoworks/Benny Chan

Globalization

Interior designers often work on a global scale and with multicultural communities and people. This is particularly true today as the Internet and other digital media allow designers and others to communicate worldwide. Designers may encompass a multitude of nationalities, cultural traits, physical needs, and preferences. The use of space and the meaning of color may vary among different cultures, regions, and countries. Materials indigenous to a region may also affect how environments are built. Therefore, designers must be aware of particular cultural beliefs and preferences in order to propose appropriate design solutions for a global market (Figure 1.3).

Figure 1.3 The Park Hotel in Hyderabad, India, infuses a modern, sustainable design with the local craft traditions, and is influenced by the region’s reputation as a center for the design and production of gemstones and textiles.

© Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP | © Robert Polidori

Sustainable Design

Sustainable design seeks to reduce the negative impacts on our environments, eliminate nonrenewable resources, and promote the interaction of people and the natural environment. The need for sustainable design is a direct result of global growth in human population, economic activity, damage to the earth’s ecosystem, and depletion of natural resources. Sustainability principles include energy conservation and efficiency, recycled or sustainably produced materials, improved indoor environmental quality (such as air), and requiring performance standards for the quality and durability of products that last longer—reducing or eliminating their replacement cycles (Figure 1.4). Sustainable design is also referred to as green design, although the latter term can be somewhat overused to include many things that may not be up to sustainable standards.

Figure 1.4 Purdue University’s net-zero energy house utilizes hickory flooring, white oak cabinetry, and poplar ceiling beams, which are all environmentally friendly, have longer life cycles, and need less replacement.

Jim Tetro/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon

The 2030 Challenge is an initiative first put forth in 2003 by the architect Edward Mazria that sets the stage for world reduction of greenhouse gases. It is believed that buildings produce over half of the greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. The challenge asks the global architectural, design, and construction communities to adopt a series of target dates (2010–2030) as milestones that would result in decreased fossil fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy consumption. By 2030 the standard is projected to achieve a carbon neutral state for buildings.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Presenting a history of interior design is a difficult task since no specific date, person, or space can be documented as the beginning point. The desire to create functional and pleasant interior environments existed long before freestanding buildings were being constructed. Designing interior spaces can be traced back to early cultures that painted pictures on the walls of their caves and furnished them with pelts for comfort. As people began to plan and construct buildings, the structure and the interior space within it were considered interrelated parts of a whole, which became known as architecture. Interior design, like architectural design, has been a basic part of the planning and building process from the beginning. Yet, the use and acceptance of the term interior design did not occur until after World War II. Previously, the term interior decoration described the finishing touches applied to the inside of a structure, but “interior decorating” was not recognized as a profession until the turn of the twentieth century. Like architecture, interior design and its practice have evolved from primitive enclosures to highly sophisticated structures and space enclosures.

Before the Nineteenth Century

Developing civilizations created shelters to protect people from the elements and serve other basic needs (Figure 1.5). As people became less nomadic, they began to build more permanent shelters. As farming replaced hunting, people gathered into communities, with structures for storage, shelter, and protection from enemies.

Figure 1.5 Basic shelters use natural forms of grasses and thatch as design elements to protect the occupants from rain and wind.

CC-BY-SA-3.0/© Justin Smith

The Egyptians produced enough crops that they often needed to store or trade off the surpluses. As their civilization developed, they began to construct temples, ceremonial spaces, and monumental tombs (Figure 1.6). This specialization of buildings and their interiors became more common and could be considered the beginning of nonresidential design.

Figure 1.6 The Egyptian pyramids at Giza (2723–2563 BC) provided permanence and concealment.

CC-BY-SA-3.0/Ricardo Liberato

Greek and Roman civilizations constructed more elaborate and specialized spaces, such as temples, bath houses, and large arenas. They also pondered the meaning of beauty and the proportions of their structures, seeking to create “perfect” buildings (Figure 1.7). Many of these early structures were monumental. Architecture and the design of the interiors were an integral act, not separate endeavors.

Figure 1.7 Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis, Athens. This small temple (427–424 BC) is an excellent example of Greek architecture. The ionic order of columns is graceful, and the symmetry of the structure is well conceived.

CC-BY-SA-3.0/Dimboukas

As civilizations prospered, structures improved...