Interior Design

By - John F. Pile

Floor - Floor 3

Published - H.N. Abrams, New York, 1988

ISBN 10 - 0130991325

ISBN 13 - 9780130991324

Book Status - 1 Qnty Available with us.

Subject - Interior decoration

Shelf No - 1

Call Number - 729 JOH 1988

Edition - 3rd ed 1988

Physical Description - 41 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 30 cm

Notes - Includes index

Book Information

Interior design touches the lives of all of us in a very direct way. We all live in interiors, and most of us work, study, shop, and travel inside buildings, vehicles, and other enclosures. At one time or another, almost everyone has been an interior designer on a limited scale, when choosing a paint color or a rug, when buying furniture, or when arranging furniture in a new living place. For these reasons, interior design is—or should be—of interest to everyone. This book is concerned with the full range of interior design challenges, from the modest and everyday experiences at home and at work to full professional involvement in large projects. It is not a substitute for the level of professional training offered in design schools, for no one book of reasonable size can deal with every aspect of interior design at a level that will support professional practice. It is, rather, a survey of the field of interior design as it now exists. Thus, students embarking on a career in interior design will find in this book a comprehensive introduction to professional study. Readers interested in organizing residential interiors will find the basic information that they may need. This book will also provide a useful guide to those who will be choosing a designer or dealing with professionals in the field from time to time. Interior design is a complex and constantly changing field that has extensive overlap with related professions—architecture in particular. Almost from its beginnings, the field of interior design has faced a division between a focus on historicism through the decorative reproduction of historical styles in interiors that most often were residential and an architectural orientation allied to the early twentieth-century movement known as Modernism that was more concerned with larger projects, such as offices, hotels, restaurants, and public buildings. This polarization into two conflicting approaches to interior design has now become obsolete. Contemporary architecture has developed an interest in historicism, not in terms of imitation, but with a willingness to learn from the past and incorporate historical reference into contemporary design. Meanwhile, the general public has moved toward an awareness and acceptance of modern design even in residential spaces, which for many was a last holdout against anything contemporary. These changes in attitude have given rise to a new design vocabulary, less concerned with decoration in formal historic styles and more focused on developing good solutions to the real problems of modern environmental circumstances. At the same time, designers are increasingly interested in seeking help from other specialized fields, such as sociology, economics, and psychology, in an effort to bring creative artistic expression and practical service into a stronger unity. In this book there is no intention to take sides in a nonproductive conflict of views. Rather, the intent is to introduce the reader to the best of past and present thinking, the best practices of both residential and professional design, and to provide a starting point for further reading, study, studio work, and practice. This third edition ofInterior Deignhas been extensively revised in text and illustrations to take account of design issues that have become of particular concern in the first decade of the twenty-first century. These issues, although touched on in previous editions, have now assumed greater importance to every designer, making it necessary to promote them to major themes in this edition. Three themes stand out as dominant new concerns. The first of these themes is social and environmental responsibility. In addition to concern for the needs and wishes of individual people, this edition reflects a growing concern for work that moves beyond the desire to please a client or generate a strong visual impact and toward increasing focus on consideration of social and environmental responsibility. Designers and often their clients are now aware of the impact of designed environments on the sustainability of the natural resources they consume and of other ways in which they themselves influence the world in which they exist. The choice of materials, products, and systems with awareness of these issues is known asgreen deign,and it can generate work as aesthetically satisfying as any earlier work. Many projects and materials illustrated here demonstrate this. The influence of the ideas of green design can be felt in almost every chapter. The second theme taking on new importance is the role of digital technology in the practice of interior design and in realized interior projects. Although most designers continue to value the hand skills associated with T square, triangle, and pencil, the computer and the techniques associated with its use are now essential elements of professional practice in even the smallest design firms. Use of the computer as a tool for drafting and perspective drawing has come into wide acceptance, while its value in researching, estimating, specifying and ordering, communicating, and marketing is now generally recognized as well. Early fears that individual creativity would in some way be reduced by electronic intervention have now largely given way to an understanding of how computers, intelligently used, can simplify and expedite design work, ultimately contributing to superior results. Spatial forms that were difficult or impossible to achieve are now in use thanks to computer capabilities, as many new illustrations suggest. Also, the entrance of computer technology into many residential and commercial spaces as a utility that must be designed for and as a tool for the control of a building's mechanical systems (lighting, heat, and air-conditioning) has called for new documentation in this edition. The third major theme of this edition is the increasing professionalization of the interior design field. Licensing laws and qualifying examinations are based on the growing realization that interior design is a serious matter with impact on the health, safety, and general well-being of the larger population that lives and works almost entirely within interior spaces. The responsibility that designers may have felt toward their clients and the larger public as a matter of conscience is now mandated by standards and codes having a legal basis. Specifics of such formal requirements are a significant part of this book. The increasing professionalism of the field has brought it into closer accord with the related design professions. Architects who were, in the past, often at odds with "mere decorators" are increasingly active as participants in the interior design field. At the same time, designers with recognized status as professionals find acceptance in cooperation with architects, often working within architectural organizations. The role of the amateur designer also survives, growing and prospering as those who design their own living space (perhaps with the aid of books such as this) approach the competence of professionals. The transition from amateur to professional, long a common route into design, is by no means closed, but the field now , demands much more than a sense of style. Since the appearance of the second edition, newly active designers and design firms have become known and have produced outstanding work. Many new illustrations and a number of new case studies document these developments. Older, well-established designers and firms continue to produce work that often incorporates fresh ideas. New illustrations make such current practice visible. The history chapter now includes expanded emphasis on non-Western traditions, and new technical developments, particularly in the field of lighting, are reviewed. An expanded and updated bibliography with a list of useful websites provides access for further research into every aspect of the interior design field, while an enlarged glossary makes it easier to check the meaning of technical terms of the field. In almost every chapter the concerns discussed above—those of social and environmental responsibility, the expanding role of computer technology, and the increasing professionalism of the field—are subjects of expanded concern and discussion. The interior designer of the twenty-first century, whether amateur or professional, faces a broadening and deepening sense of responsibility to the complex demands of the modern world. The field is more difficult now than it was in past years, but, as compensation, it is now more interesting than ever, offering greater service to its ultimate audience, the users of designed interior space. It is hoped that this book will constitute for the reader only the beginning of the learning process and that it will be supplemented by the identification, observation, and study of good work, which is the most significant form of education in any design field. JOHN F. PILE

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