Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design

VOLUME 8 ISSUE 2

The International Journal of

Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design __________________________________________________________________________

Interiors Seeking a New Design Language

NILUFER SAGLAR ONAY

designprinciplesandpractices.com

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTONIC, SPATIAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN www.designprinciplesandpractices.com First published in 2015 in Champaign, Illinois, USA by Common Ground Publishing LLC www.commongroundpublishing.com ISSN: 2325-1662 © 2014-2015 (individual papers), the author(s) © 2014-2015 (selection and editorial matter) Common Ground All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the applicable copyright legislation, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. For permissions and other inquiries, please contact [email protected]. The International Journal of the Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design is peer-reviewed, supported by rigorous processes of criterion-referenced article ranking and qualitative commentary, ensuring that only intellectual work of the greatest substance and highest significance is published.

Interiors Seeking a New Design Language Nilufer Saglar Onay, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey Abstract: Interior design is about the integration of numerous interior elements and products that are chosen to satisfy various spatial requirements. The unity of all surfaces, materials and products create an integral architectural character and language. Important architects of the modern period believed in “total work of art” and they felt responsible for the design and overseeing of the building's totality: shell, accessories, furnishings, and landscape. Even if they were industrial products, the same design language shaped them. Today, different designers design most of the components that shape the built environment. In other words, design and manufacturing phases of “space” and “spatial components” are considered as independent processes. On the other hand, space has contextual determinants and every specific interior is fed with different contextual data. Therefore, the most important requirement of today’s design approaches is to create a new design language in relation with new technologies and new ways of living without neglecting the local and cultural differences that create architectural identity and sense of place. In this paper, contemporary design approaches will be discussed through examples in order to evaluate the role of spatial components in interior design. Keywords: Interior Design, Spatial Components, Design Language

The Changing Role of Objects in Interior Space

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nteriors are the spaces that are composed of objects that are nearest to the human scale. Most of these objects have very close relationship with human body and perception. According to Cecla (2008), objects are never as they are, they have an evocative power and they are often tools to create symbolic ties with other people. For Weinthal (2011), architecture, body and objects all meet at the scale of the interior, where external forces find their way into the representation of the architectural interior through comparisons of body and world, objective and subjective, natural and artificial. Weinthal (2011) also states that the interior begins with the elements that are closest to the body, forming concentric and more complex layers. As it progresses from the body into spaces, where larger scales are accommodated, the elements keep their relatedness to the body and emotion. Working with interiors means working at full scale in order to determine all aspects of objects surrounding the human body. Every object in interior space has a potential to communicate meaning through human experiences. The material culture of fashion, furniture and interior design narratives identity and reveals the traces of inhabitation, or “being in the world”. “Being in the world” is defined as the most important human mode of perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1945). We accord purpose and meaning to the world around us through our bodies. Shouwenberg (2011) argues that before we can give a name at conscious level to what we see, we have already accumulated by purely somatic means our knowledge about space, the objects in it and our relation to those objects.

Figure 1: An example of Victorian interior Source: Kebble, 2009

The International Journal of Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design Volume 8, Issue 2, 2014-2015, www.designprinciplesandpractices.com, ISSN 2325-1662 © Common Ground, Nilufer Saglar Onay, All Rights Reserved Permissions: [email protected]

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTONIC, SPATIAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN

The interiors of the nineteenth century were full of objects that expressed social meanings. The role of every single component of the interior was extended to become narratives telling stories about the past (Figure 1). This was because objects were all hand crafted and unique and they were usually utilized by successive generations. Most interiors before the industrial revolution were full of characteristic objects that expressed their ages and history, as well as the tale of their birth and human use. Even an object created with the same materials and techniques by the same craftsman, changed during its life span according the way it was used. Objects were created to last longer and they gained value in time because their power to represent their owners and their way of life. A teapot was not just a teapot, but it was maybe a resemblance or even the substitute of one’s grandmother. They were reminders of memories and beloved family members. According to Nierhaus (2009), the ensemble of things are visualized as ‘atmosphere’ and dramatized to be an event. The modernists saw the interior as intrinsically linked to the architectural shell and belonging exclusively to the domain of the architect (Keeble, 2009). They strongly criticized the overabundance of objects in interiors and they were more interested in designing minimalist spaces. For them, all these old objects created with older techniques were things to be simplified so that the interior could be a “total work of art” or Gesamtkunstwerk. Le Corbusier discussed that it is nonsense to have objects that do not serve a specific function in modern interiors. Gesamtkunstwerk has long been recognized as an integrated design ethos that saw all components of the interior as a complementary or harmonious whole. Among modern architects Adolf Loos was the most convinced one about the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk. He designed every detail of the interiors and anticipated everything even the pattern on the fabric of the slippers that one should wear inside the space. The architect was the only master of space (Andersen, 2010). According to Anderson (2010), this vision led to a dictatorship in which the interior no longer functioned as an expression of originality or individuality but was controlled by the thought of Gesamtkunstwerk. Especially in private interiors, the exaggeration of unity stopped the narrative flow of individual objects. In the 1950’s postmodern thinking and the attempt to diverge from the reified discussions of the modernist era, enabled the interior to find a new expression (Keeble, 2009). The move towards a more interdisciplinary understanding of enquiry shed light upon design objects of study; such as fashion and dress, interior design and craft each of which had previously fallen foul of the dominant dogma of modernism. Just like the period before the industrial revolution, objects started to gain importance and they started to become individual objects of design.

Design Language and Interior Space Contemporary understanding and practice of interior design is affected by certain factors that need to be discussed in terms of spatial continuity and design language. These factors can be classifies as: • • •

The speed of change and temporality The variety of products The emergence of new technologies and materials.

Private or public, historic or contemporary, all interiors we live in are subject to continuous change because of the shifting dynamics of everyday life. Interiors do not only change because of changing needs and expectations but also because of the effects of fashion. According to Potvin (2010), interior design marks out a liminal space and enterprise dubiously situated somewhere between fashion and architecture. Fashion is not simply what is displayed on the runway in a magazine or a department store window; it permeates every aspect of the quotidian. Clothing, architecture and interiors all respond to fashion. Clothing and interiors register these changes

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ONAY: INTERIORS SEEKING A NEW DESIGN LANGUAGE

more quickly than architecture. Commercial interiors change in order to demonstrate that the business they represent is up to date. Public interiors change because of public expectations, needs and tastes. Private interiors change to show that their inhabitants are able to catch up with the changing world around them. The speed of technological change is reflected on the objects people use and objects are continuously disposed and replaced for the desire to stay current or up to date. Architectural construction has higher costs, both in terms of funds and its marks on the landscape compared to fashion and interiors that thrive on the immediacy of change. Weinthal (2011) argues that because of their changing character, interiors are sometimes considered subordinate to architecture, as if lack of permanence consigns them to a superfluous existence. This ephemeral nature contributes to the identity of interior space as frivolous, excessive and without content. Today’s interiors are subject to change more than any other period of time and temporality becomes one of the key factors in their definition. Today, it is almost impossible for the architect to decide every single aspect of space since the field of architecture has been decomposed to various specialized disciplines. Contemporary interiors are made up of many components and objects that are designed by different designers and produced by different production methods and materials (Figure 2). Today, we can observe companies like IKEA that sell ready to assemble furniture designed for a global market. Because of the great variety of products in the market, designers and consumers have many alternatives for every single spatial component. This increases the number of possible combinations and diversity, but there comes the problem of technical, functional and visual synchronization. The organization of all these components requires an interior designer in order to coordinate all the surfaces, furniture and all other objects within the space. Therefore today, interior design is concerned with choosing the most appropriate materials and components in order to create a unified space.

Figure 2: Spatial components, IKEA Source: www.ikea.com

Another factor that determines design language in contemporary interiors is the use of emerging technologies and materials. Today, it is possible to use various design and production techniques in interior design. New technologies can be generally discussed in two groups in terms of the character of interior components: • •

Mass production and predefined components Customization and project-specific components

Design language generally refers to a style or scheme that guides the character and relationship of different components in an architectural setting. So design language in interiors needs to be discussed in terms of the relationship between interior components. Therefore, in the

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fallowing part of the work, the character and production method of spatial components will be discussed through examples in order to understand their roles in the definition of design language in interiors.

Design Language in New Approaches Mass Production and Predefined Components During the last decades, the most wide spread and economic way of adapting interiors to new uses and requirements has been by using predefined spatial components. The use of new materials and technologies increase the variety of these components and many specialised firms develop complete system solutions composed of elements that complement each other, such as raised floors, modular wall and ceiling systems (Figure 3). These system solutions usually lead to the definition of additive surfaces that make-up a continuous secondary envelope.

Figure 3: The interior envelope defined by predefined components Source: http://www.tr-interiorsystems.co, September 7, 2014

Definition of a secondary envelope by using predefined components increases the physical performance and the quality of interior details. Today, we can observe that necessary technical systems are usually hidden inside additive wall or ceiling surfaces. Additive layers provide the opportunity to conceal what the designer wants to hide. Moreover, layers make it easy to control spatial boundaries and define a particular interior atmosphere. The flexibility obtained by predefined components can be a very strong tool for the interior designer. On the other hand, if the secondary envelope is treated as a decorative mask or superficial interface that hides structural elements and technical equipment, it can weaken contextual ties of space and destroy the spatial continuity between the interior and the rest of the environment that surrounds it. Using standard spatial components do not really lead to standardization of the interior. Even if they are predefined, there exist numerous ways to combine these components. A great number of architects and designers try to maintain spatial originality and diversity with the help of the language in which these components are put together or synchronized. The most important problem appears to be the relationship of predefined components with the context in which they are utilised. As predefined components are usually designed to be sold in global or regional markets, cultural and social factors cannot be effective in their design process. Today, the success of a predefined product is evaluated by its usability in wider markets. On the other hand, the use of the same products and components in completely different contexts results with the underestimation of social and cultural values.

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Customization and Project-Specific Components During the last decade, the design and production process of interiors has changed with the emergence of customization. Also the design task shifts from designing definitive invariable products to designing product platforms and architectures as well as the sets of design rules that define a range of product-solutions. The new design processes also include designing the design tools and interfaces for consumers as co-designers that configure or determine the kinds of choices. While mass produced components lead to comparatively anonymous interior environments, design based on customization has the potential to acknowledge the individuality of each component. In other words, customization gives the opportunity to adjust spatial components according to their particular context and helps to maintain spatial originality and diversity related to the specific context. According to Oostherhuis (2011), architecture based on customization acknowledges the individuality of each component and builds a completely new aesthetic. Each shape is no longer an exception but one of many possible instances of the rule. Having one single parametric detail mapped on all surfaces, render the values of the parametric system unique in each local instance, thus creating variety and richness. So for every building, there would be a new consistent set of interlocking components designed together. Moreover as these components are designed only for that particular context, the designer will have the possibility to integrate social and cultural factors into the design process. Although this approach seems to solve the problems of integration of spatial components, the further use of such interiors and their adaptation to new requirements still remains a question. Today, especially for high budget projects, many designers and architects take the advantage of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) techniques to produce custom output. Instead of making a selection of predefined components from catalogues, they tend to design and build project-specific components. These file to factory processes support the ever-changing character of interiors, as they give the opportunity to build complex structures in shorter time periods. The restaurant interior in Figure 4 can be an example for the use of interior components produced by CAM systems. The wood-slatted ceiling helps to conceal views of the mechanical, plumbing and lighting systems while offering a virtual canopy and a particular interior atmosphere under which to dine. Even if all other interior components and furniture are predefined products, the interior is remarkably identified by the presence the customised ceiling units.

Figure 4: Banq, Boston, Office dA Source: Browne, 2010

The Prada Store designed by Herzog de Meuron is an example that is built of customized components as a whole including structural elements, the building shell and all interior

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components (Figure 5). The building shell acts like an interface between the interior and the surrounding environment generating facetted reflections, which enable viewers, both inside and outside the building, to see constantly changing pictures and almost cinematographic perspectives of Prada products, the city and themselves. As the same design language is applied to all building components including interiors, the Prada Building can be regarded as a "customized work of art". This approach and the developed design language can also be considered as another manifestation of the concept of a total work of art. Only the design and manufacturing tools are different. But if a new interior is introduced to this building, the validity of the approach needs to be reconsidered.

Figure 5: Prada Store, Tokyo, Herzog de Meuron Source: http://daof.co, September 7, 2014

As previously mentioned, interior design has a temporal and an ephemeral character when compared to architecture. Therefore, today the concept of total work of art is difficult to realize. Even if a building is designed and built with all of its interior components, it is difficult for interiors to remain unchanged until the building is demolished. While the architectural shell and structure often remain as they are, the interiors are subject to several interventions according to changing needs. During these interventions interior designers take advantage of new technologies and materials and try to adjust spaces to meet new requirements. At this point, interior design and architecture often differentiate from each other in design language, as they are produced independently at different times. The use of customised components in the interiors of existing buildings gives the opportunity to adapt new interior elements to the existing architectural language. By using the advantages of customization, it becomes possible to design and produce components, which have specific connections to the social and cultural background of the building and surroundings. In this sense, customised components can help to create sense of harmony with the architectural environment. But today customised components are usually used to create interiors that differentiate themselves from the rest of the environment. In some cases creating a fascination and contrast with the interior atmosphere, becomes the main objective of the designer. In this sense, the hotel rooms designed by Zaha Hadid Architects in Madrid create a spatial experience completely different than the rest of the hotel building (Figure 6) (Figure7). The furniture, beds, chairs, wardrobes look as if they are moulded in one piece creating a continuous interior landscape. All these continuous surfaces conceal the existing architectural elements only giving reference to the windows of the building.

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Figure 6: Interior, Hotel Puerta America, Madrid, Zaha Hadid Architects Source: Schittich, 2008

Figure 7: Hotel Puerta America, Madrid Source: espanis.tumblr.com, September 7, 2014

In commercial interiors custom products and CAM helps to catch up with the unstable character of fashion. For instance, today the interiors of shopping malls tend to change as fast as fashion with changing season collections and especially pop-up stores provide the platform for experimentation in the synthesis of brand identity and the realization of a physical space. The Louis Vuitton Pop-Up Store in Selfridges London (Figure 8), is a recent example in which the carbon fibre self-supported shell acts like a clothing just like the new seasonal collection of the brand. The production techniques used in commercial interior design can be compared to the constantly changing trends of fashion.

Figure 8: Louis Vuitton Pop-Up Store in Selfridges, London Source: www.fadwebsite.com, December 1, 2014

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By considering industrial products, customization is seen as a tool that increases the individuality of a design object. Some companies try to use the advantages of customization by integrating it to the design process with a method where a customer can individualize space according to their preferences. By offering a combination of preconfigured choices, consumers can make design decisions, which would normally be made by the designer. A caravan producer company has developed a process in which the configuration of the caravan is generated by an online interface using the customer’s inputs, and then the designers determine the final layout (Figure 9). While considering the importance of customization in interiors, individuality is not the only concern. Interiors belong to their environment and they are all unique because of their innate ties to their context. In this sense, what is expected from customisation in interiors must be different. Customization, CAD CAM technologies and all other emerging technologies need to be evaluated in order to adjust interior components to their context and the contextual characteristics of interiors need to be regarded as an advantage to maintain originality and spatial identity.

Figure 9: A caravan interior that can be customised online Source: www.mehrzeller.com, October 1, 2014

Even though there are many different customizable options available, we need to understand that space is to be lived in. Pallasmaa (2011), argues that the detachment of construction from the realities of matter and craft turns architecture into a stage set for the eye, devoid of the authenticity of material and tectonic logic. Traditional building and production techniques and materials have their own limitations, which play an important role in the determination of architectural identity. In the Florence of Early Renaissance every constructional form and detail had a reason. Material was the strongest instrument of the architect in order to create a unique architectural language. Its structural capacity, physical and aesthetic aspects determined constructional principles, dimensions, and even architectural forms. The columns of the Church of San Lorenzo were only thick enough to carry the load of the arches below them, the arches only wide enough to carry the roof above (Figure 10). Technology was developed as the result of the logical proportional relations and constructional principles that respected the nature of material. But today technology is often used to go beyond limitations. Many interiors are designed to create a fascination with their presence which causes a need for human experience and psychology to be re-considered. Augustin (2009) argues that a well-designed interior enhances life experiences, provides people with energy and supports their need to communicate. Technology can help us in achieving these goals only if we see it as a tool in order to create interiors that supply inspiration and comfort that enhance lives on a continuous basis in harmony with the environment.

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Figure 10: The interior of the Church of San Lorenzo Source: Author

Conclusion Today most objects we have in interiors are industrial products designed and produced to fit in any space. This means that the components that characterize interiors are no longer contextbound objects. An industrial product such as a chair or shelf is considered as a successful design object if it has the potential and flexibility to be used in interiors with different functional, physical and contextual requirements. Interior space is a part of a broader context in which it is defined and every interior has ties with its particular context. These can be apertures, thresholds, views or simple objects that remind us where we are. Use of spatial components designed for “any space” lack contextual ties and spaces created in this way suffer placelessness to some extent. Therefore, today’s interiors do not only suffer from abundance of objects or dominance of imposed unity but from abundance of objects without contextual ties and lack of an overall design language to form a unified whole. New design and manufacturing tools such as CAD CAM technologies increase the creativity of the designer and extend the limits of interior design beyond imagination. Nevertheless, because of the great will to be distinguished today’s interiors are mostly designed to catch the eye, to be visually different. Although customisation and new technologies give us the possibility to adapt spatial components to the context in which they are defined, they are often abused by designers, customers and users. As interiors begin with spatial components that are closest to the body, the primary concern of interior design needs to be the interpretation of technology in order to enhance spatial experience and strengthen contextual ties. Contextual ties in interiors do not only refer to their architectural setting and surroundings but it also refers to the local values of that setting. What gives an interior its unique character is its relationship to the rest of the world. Just like architecture, the interior has to convey a message about its existence, context and content. This is only possible if design components are developed and integrated to each other with a design language that considers the natural and built environment as a whole without ignoring human scale and senses.

REFERENCES Augustin, Sally. 2009. Place Advantage. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons Browne, Beth. 2010. 21st Century Interiors. Victoria: The Images Publishing Group. Cecla, Franco L. 2008. Contro Architettura. Bollati Boringhieri, Torino

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Keeble, Trevor. 2009. “Introduction: The Late Twenteeth Century Interior.” In Designing the Modern Interior: From The Victorians To Today, edited by Penny Sparke, Anne Massey, Trevor Kebble and Brenda Martin, 218-231. New York: Berg Publishers. Merleau-Ponty, M. 1945. La Phénoménologie de la Perception. Paris: Gallimard. Nierhaus, Irene. 2009. “The Modern Interior as a Geography of Images, Spaces and Subjects”, In Designing the Modern Interior: From The Victorians To Today, edited by Penny Sparke, Anne Massey, Trevor Kebble and Brenda Martin, 107-118. New York: Berg Publishers. Oosterhuis, Kas. 2011. Towards a New Kind of Building, A Designer’s Guide for Non-standard Architecture. Rotterdam: Nai Publishers. Pallasmaa, Juhanni. 2011. “An Architecture of Seven Senses” In Toward a New Interior: An Anthology of Interior Design Theory, edited by Lois Weinthal, 40-49. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. Potvin, John. 2010. “The Velvet Masquerade: Fashion, Interior design and the Furnished Body.” In Fashion, Interior Design and the Contours of Modern Identity, edited by Alla Myzelev and John Potvin. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Schittich, Christian. 2008. In Detail: Interior Surfaces and Materials: Aesthetics, Technology and Implementation. Basel, Boston, Berlin: Birkhauser Publishers for Architecture. Schouwenberg, Louise. 2011. “For the Love of Things.” In Toward a New Interior: An Anthology of Interior Design Theory, edited by Lois Weinthal, 191-198. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. Weinthal, Lois. 2011. “Introduction” In Toward a New Interior: An Anthology of Interior Design Theory, edited by Lois Weinthal. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Nilufer Saglar Onay: Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

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The International Journal of Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design is one of six thematically focused journals in the collection of journals that support the Design Principles and Practices knowledge community—its journals, book series, conference and online community. The journal’s primary interests are building design, landscape design and sustainable design practices. As well as papers of a traditional scholarly type, this journal invites presentations of practice—including experimental forms of documentation and exegeses that can with equal validity be interrogated through a process of academic peer review. This, for instance, might take the form of a series of images and plans, with explanatory notes that articulate with other, significantly similar or different and explicitly referenced places, sites or material objects. The International Journal of Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.

ISSN 2325-1662

Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design

Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design

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