The industry

An article written for the BIDA Review magazine by Iris Dunbar

 

The Business of Interiors  - Past, Present, Future

 

Before considering what’s in store for the future, it helps to reflect on the past and understand where we are in the present.

 

During the nineteenth century, the development of the home as a place of domestic leisure and entertainment was one important factor in interior decoration. Almost exclusively in the hands of women, intimacy and cosiness signalled a new trend in domestic display, grouping specific pieces of furniture and objects to assert the value of family, status and social position. However the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain and America sought to simplify interior design by the creation of total environments that aimed to harmonise furniture, applied decoration and wall surfaces to create the ideal home. Simplicity became essential and  in these new interiors, design began to replace decoration.

 

Design in the early twentieth century rested largely in the hands of three groups: architects, professional decorators and homemakers. Only in the last forty years has interior design emerged as a profession in it’s own right. Now, alongside these traditional practitioners, there are leading design practices that specialise in commercial and residential interiors.

 

People now have expectations about the quality of interior design both in public and private spaces. Visual awareness about the past and the present has become much more sophisticated and for this reason interior design is seen as a service they have come to expect.

 

The role of the interior designer is to see into the future. A large part of our business is research – constantly exploring new products and techniques to create innovative interiors.

 

At one of our recent CPD events, Wayne Hemingway gave a very stimulating talk. He began by describing the designer’s role as being “unsettling” – always questioning, never satisfied with the result. This process is what keeps us ahead and is the reason that clients seek our expertise.  Wayne gave us a brief glimpse into his career from a degree in geography to the fashion house Red and Dead to budget wallpaper to interiors for the Institute of Directors. And now mass housing where there is an interactive screen at your door to check the weather forecast and book the baby sitter. The sponsors of the day, Sub Zero and Wolf proceeded to enlighten us the latest refrigerated storage and induction cooking.

 

Research into new materials and synthetics evolves everyday and the scope for their application is immense. Already, functional electronics are being merged into clothes through advances in safe touch electronic circuits, microchip memory power and conductive fibres. Could mini flexible display screens integrated into the lining of a jacket allow us to watch the news or the latest match whilst waiting for a friend? Could subtle embroidered buttons and switches enable us to make and receive phone calls from the sleeve of an overcoat? Will we be able to change the colour of synthetic textile materials to suit a whim? What new applications will advanced composites and artificially intelligent components herald? Such ongoing progressions continue to spell out new opportunities for the future.

 

As Interior Design turns to intelligent use of materials and to minimum dependence on energy-hungry mechanical systems, buildings can be made less destructive to the environment and natural resources.

 

Thanks to