Interior Design
the Inside Story
Back in the 1960s a scathing column appeared in a leading architecture magazine titled: “The Solid Chintz Skyscraper!” An interior decorator had been hired to design the inside of a sleek new glass and steel building in Manhattan, and the magazine was outraged. Justifiably, given the period.
But times have long since changed. A profession of architecturally responsible interior design, with its own education and licensing standards, has evolved. At the same time the presumption that architects alone should decide what interior finishes and furnishings belong in their buildings has been effectively challenged. Yes, what might be called the ‘Frank Lloyd Wright Syndrome’ of total design control by a master designer – the architect, of course – still has proponents. But the days when walls were, inevitably, white and the furniture as predictable as the pages of architecture magazines are, largely, gone.
Architecture has become more complex, given technology, codes and other demands. At the same time interior design choices in carpeting, wall-coverings, lighting and other products have exploded. And there is, too, a greatly increased sensibility to the nuances interior design brings to the spaces people use. This survey explores the partnership between architects and interior designers evident in practice.
The skyscraper isn’t going chintz. But it’s really into fabric your mother never heard about.
