What stands out to me - History of Interior Design

History of architecture and design is very rich and can be used in many ways to develop new designs, ideas and interiors. You can mix old designs with new and make it look fresh and contemporary. 

For the past few weeks i have been studying the history of architecture and design and made notes on what stood out to me the most, as well as what i seemed to like and dislike. 

What was one of the first things that stood out to me is that i don't seem to like houses and interiors who have a lot of details in them. 

For example:

Elaborate mid-19th century dining room in the Gothic Revival style, Lyndhurst, Tarrytown New York, designed by Alexander J. Davis.

This Gothic design is too dark for me, there's not a lot of natural lighting and i value natural lighting a lot. For me natural lighting is one of the most important elements in a design. This design is a bit too much for me with the details it has in the room and everything is dark. Everything looks intense and i realised i like simple and spacious and open designs. The carpet is intense, as well as elaborate details on chairs and windows. Everything is patterned, dark and heavy looking. The Gothic pointed arches which was very popular in the Gothic era is replicated in the details of the windows and details around the room. It looks and feels heavy and not the sort of room i would relax in. It is beautiful but not for me.

What i found very interesting from the Renaissance period is that a lot of new ideas were developed in architecture, painting and sculpture . A re-birth period where:

"Visual art and literature flourished and where Architecture and art had been considered “crafts”, during the Renaissance, these skills were promoted and considered alongside the work of mathematicians and musicians."

In Renaissance painting was considered decorative and was important part inside architecture. Artists work such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, was integral in the later Renaissance years, not only in their art, but through their art in Architecture – where the interior decorating and design was an inherent element of the entire building. In the present day we use paintings to decorate the room, however in the Renaissance it was more than that, the paintings were the centre of attention and enhanced the architectural details around. It was a vital element of the building. Nowadays we can change the painting in a room in a flash, replacing it with a different one. Before, everything went around the paintings and architecture, now it is more about our preferences in design, what we want to see in the room. 

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Fresco, 1508-1512 (Vatican Palace - Rome, Italy)

You can see that this fresco was designed around the architectural features inside the chapel. They are inseparable and work together. This has given me the idea of using modern painting and art as a starting point, both assessing the space that needs designing, its features and unique points and bonding the painting or art with it. For example, choosing an existent painting and using its colours, shapes and forms to develop the rest of the interior of the room, based just on the painting and the room it is in. I think its a rich enough starting point where ideas can be developed.

Arts and crafts movement has also grabbed my attention. Art & Crafts movement was a reaction to the mass production and highly decorative Victorian era, Art & Crafts was noted for handmade, simpler forms, inspired by nature and the use of quality materials. Art & Craft interiors are full of heart and harmony.

I like that they use quality materials and craft in their interiors which i believe brings a personal touch, compared to if you bring a mass production furniture. I love wood in interiors as i believe they give warmth to the room and relaxed feeling. The room is more casual and calm due to softness and warmth of the colours.

There's something about minimalism that i absolutely love. Its clean, sharp and simple. Minimalist Architecture simplified living space to reveal the essential quality of buildings. Minimal houses usually have big windows which allow a lot of natural lighting to come through into the interior space. I value natural lighting as well as big windows as it connects the space outside with the inside more. There is more of a relationship between outside and inside space, compared to more structurally complicated houses, which have elaborate Designs and smaller windows.

Although i really like the simple, sharp and clean buildings of minimalism from the outside, for me the inside space should have a bit more life to it. I love patterns and colours, however minimalism was more about neutral colour palette, simple shapes and materials. I would add more colour and pattern but leave the shapes and materials quite simple, enough to make them look in harmony with the building itself. For me colours, texture and pattern brings life to the space, making it look more vibrant and positive, compared to the interior you can see in the image above.

History of architecture and interior design is rich and often overlaps, and because it is so rich there are many ideas that can be developed and a lot of room to play around as there are many styles that are distinctive and very interesting.

~ Ev

 

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Interior Design - design breakdown

As soon as i saw this picture i fell in love with the design, the open feeling, the colors and greenery outside!

Elements of design:

Space:

The space itself is long and rectangular with big open windows on each side which seem to replace the walls. The ceilings are low and plain. In terms of length there is a lot of space but not the ceiling height or the width of the room. The space feels very intimate in the sense that it is intimate with nature. It feels as though nature is part of the interior and that interior extends to the outside or the outside extends to the inside. Both the outside space and the inside space communicate, they are one. There is an open ceiling at the end of the room, a circular opening which gives more light into the room. I am absolutely in love with this interior space, its openness to nature and allowing nature to be part of its design. This interior design sits closer to me compared to the one i went through first. It feels as though the space has been sectioned into two spaces and this has been done by a glass wall and doors which subtly divide the room into two sections, however the room still feels spacious and open. The one that is in front of us where the seating areas are and where the black and white chair is turned towards us, and the other section is where the open ceiling is. I think this very clever way to divide a room but still make it look open and spacious which i believe is key for this design idea.

Line:

The room shape is a line in itself however, there are a lot of vertical lines on the windows that are equally distanced between each other, helping to create the illusion of height which the room lacks. They add stability. But i believe that the openness of the room due to big windows links the interior with the exterior compensates the ceiling height. It would have been a different story if there wasn't as much openness and there were little windows. The carpet and the sofa follow the line of the room which lengthens it even more. There aren't a lot of lines in this interior because i believe that it looks more natural that way and goes well with the nature outside which naturally doesn't have strict lines. Maybe it has been on purpose that the lines wouldn't be so evident and disrupt the natural communication between the spaces. The line on the left hand side has been made very subtle, though the objects placed in line. It isn't sharp but very subtle and natural, just enough to add control and some kind of order. The floorboard are directed in a way that would extend the room's width, give an illusion of width in the space as the go from one window to the other side rather than follow the length of the room.

Shape:

The exposed ceiling at the back of the room is quite dominant and captures your attention. It is architecturally pleasing and is of interest. It brings even more light into the room but from above and acts like a big circular light source, from far away it looks like a big circular lamp. The big open windows on each side arent coverd in curtains or anything at all, this adds intimacy to the space as you are part of nature, part of the outside space. The shape of the windows is simple and therefor doesn't distract from the beautiful nature outside. It feels as though the windows arent even there because they cover a vast amount of space and because the outside is quite dominant to the inside.

Colour:

There is a variety of colour in this interior space and for me they seem to work very well together and look quite intimate and warm. The red frames of the windows seem to emphasise the windows and capture what can be seen through them. The patterned colourful carpet seems to center that particular area where everything seems to be. It centers and captures the furniture and stuff around it such as the sofa, tv on the opposite side and the arm chair. The colours in this space feel vibrant, happy and work amazingly well with the outside which i love. Not only the colours bring life to the inside of the room but also the outside. There seems to be a constant conversation between the outside the inside spaces.

Texture:

Textures in this room are warm and both look formal and informal at the same time. For example, the texture of the sofa is smooth and the lines are strict giving a formal feeling, however, the playful texture of the carpet and the natural texture of the wood table give the room an informal feel. Everything works together and is balanced.

Light:

The main light source in this space are the big windows that are on both sides of the room that provide light throughout the day. The other natural light source is the circular window on the ceiling, that provides light for the tree that grows below it, again connecting the room to the nature outside. It breaks the barrier of outside and inside space adding intimacy between the people inside with the outside nature and greenery. I cant see any artificial lighting in the space and therefore i assume that room is only used in the day time to enjoy natural sunshine and light as well as the scenery outside, or there are artificial lights that the picture isn't showing.

Pattern:

The patterned carpet draws attention due to the pattern being bright and colourful. The carpet is inline with the sofa and therefor the patterned carpet is used to emphasise the sofa and its shape as well as that particular area of the room. The colour of blue in the pattern communicates with the similar colour of a piece of furniture that you can see in the bottom right hand corner of the image. The yellow in the pattern however could be related to the outside such as leaves, sunlight or other things. The pattern of the armchair next to the sofa is more strict an elegant and adds more structure into the room.

Principles of design:

Balance:

The opposite windows on each side of the room are balanced and run parallel to each other, however the furniture in the room is asymmetrical and gives an informal feeling in the rom which i believe works with the space, as it tries to work with the natural scenery outside which is informal too. If the room was symmetrical i believe that it would have given a feeling of too much control and less flexibility. The heavy looking sofa which looks quite dominant is balanced out by the smaller furniture in the space, such as the wooden table, plants and the tv on the opposite side of it. It is also balanced out by the positive colours that surrounds it as well as the big windows which add space. The informal feeling in the room adds an intimate feeling in the room.

Rhythm and repetition:

Repetition is made through the use of plants and greenery in the room which relates to the space outside and is repeated naturally there. The windows themselves are a repetition where everything is visible and open. The windows add intimacy in the room as well as the colours and textures present. The colour of the wood is present throughout the interior both working together and the outside to make it work.

Emphasis:

The focal point i believe is the tree that is at the far wall, that seems to grow out of the ground and is supported by the light source above which was particularly made for the tree. The circular gap in the ceiling that provides sunlight to the tree emphasises the tree and makes it stand out even more in the sace. The wall behind the tree also adds a background and focus so the tree would be visible. The tree also grows in the middle of both sides of windows emphasising them a well, making them meet in that focal point.

Proportion and scale:

As mentioned before the sofa looks big compared to other objects in the room, it is solid and heavy. However it has been balanced by other smaller objects in the room round and the colors that interact with it. The greenery that is present in the space is big and tall which is quite dominating, however it is part of the intimate feel that links the outside space with the inside interior.

Harmony:

For me everything seems to be in harmony although there are a lot of pattern and textures around. It feels intimate to me as it gives a sense of bonding with nature and the outside. 

~ Ev

Interior Design course!

I have recently started an online course in Interior Design. I have been considering doing something like this for a year now but this time it felt right, especially when i can see links between my fine art practise and interior design. 

For nearly two months now i have been dedicating my time to interior design, reading history of architecture as well as different types of design and its elements and principles. I have been very enjoying myself and i hope the knowledge that i am gaining from this course will feed into my fine art practise. 

Throughout the first year of university and the foundation final piece the year before, i became more and more aware being drawn to walls and floors of the space and physically engaging with it. I look at the space and make art for that particular space and it only meant to belong in that space. I don't bring anything new but work with what is already there in the space. For example, in the foundation year of fine art my final piece consisted of me working with the floor of the studio, physically engaging with the marks and stains on it. Throughout uni too it was more about the space and the process.  I was playing around in the studios rather than creating something new, i made sure it fit the space. For the solo show in May it was also site specific with me going round the imperfection on the wall with a UV pen and bringing them forward.

I enjoy both fine art and interior design at the moment, however both practises are very different from each other. One requires more control and rules and in the other you can do anything. I guess i need to find that middle. 

From now on i will be blogging about both my uni experiences and the interior design course.

Lets see what comes out of this experience!

~ Ev