Interior design
A look at the history of art and architecture, it is clear that architecture has undergone significant changes mostly in depiction and areas of concentration. This can be attributed to change of focus and sources of design from the exterior aspect of landscape design in building design to other aspects like space and illumination 2. The major changes in design were in the interior architecture which occurred in the 19th century. This was due to the widespread civilization that was taking place in almost all areas of the world. This also impacted heavily on building architecture as well as the filming industry 2.
One of the major impacts of changes in the aspects of interior design was exhibited in movies from Hollywood. The films shifted their changes from the exterior appearance of mega structures to the interior layout and arrangement of the structures (rooms and space utilization). This appeared to fill the gap that was missing in the refreshment and house arrangement layouts in the preceding periods of art. This was one of the major improvements to be witnessed in the filming industry that appeared to move great masses of people and designers. The other aspect that can be claimed to have accelerated and facilitated the development of interior design was space continuity. This is well exhibited in the early twentieth century structures which appeared to pay more attention to the interior organization of space and continuity. Lastly, illumination of the interior played a very important role in the development of interior design architecture 1. This was exhibited in a number of Hollywood movies that were produced around the same time in history.
- Henry R. Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Penguin Books 1977
- Holden J Universal Principles of Design, Massachusetts: Rockport Publishers 2010
The illumination part of interior design affected greatly building architecture where the designers were forced to put into consideration matters pertaining to interior organization of a building so as to ensure that all sections of the building were well illuminated.
One building design that is fully rooted in this aspect of interior design is the open floor layout or the famous pillar wall building. The most historic piece of architecture under this category is the Barcelona pavilion which was designed in 1928 and construction completed in 1932.
With the style gaining application and consideration in the building architecture, this paper attempts to look into the style and explain some of the factors that might have influenced it. The paper also tries to analyze the style and its application in modern architecture. The paper uses Crystal Palace and Exhibition Hall of 1851 which was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton in its analysis of interior design.
Crystal palace was designed and constructed in London by the above named architect. The building designed initially for exhibition of the best technologies of the time but at the end of the day became an item for the exhibition. It was built using cast iron for support and glass plates to fill the walls and the ceiling. This made the building to be well illuminated even without any lighting system. This made the place to be best suited since most technologies required enough illumination, which was taken care of very easily. The building was 564 meters long and interior height of about 39 meters. The space available for exhibition was approximately 92, 000 m2. This building was built only for the international exhibition thus the very goal was to create just a temporary and cheap building for the set purpose 1.
- Henry R. Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Penguin Books 1977
This made the economic value of the building to play a very important role in estimating and even dictating the size of the structure. However, the exhibition had to take place within the building thus the interior was to be designed in a manner that the space inside had to be maximized.
Thesis statement
The structure of this building forms the basic thesis of this paper. In short, the main thesis of this paper is: interior design of crystal palace and factors that influenced the interior structure of the building. Other factors also considered are the political aspects that appeared to have influenced the interior structure as well as the basic factors of an interior design.
Crystal palace
This building was built following a need for a quick fix so as to have an arena for international technology exhibition. Due to time constraint that the country was facing before the exhibition, the best structure would only be temporary. This made it to have some conditions which might have facilitated its structure. These conditions include: the illumination had to be efficient so as to ensure that minimal costs were incurred in lighting the palace, the building was to be as economical as possible, the floor space had to be the maximum possible and general structure had to remain simple and temporary. These were the main guidelines which made the building to have such a simple structure as it had.
Viewing this structure from an interior design perspective, it can be claimed to be a very effective masterpiece in interior design. The main aspects of the design that can be claimed to have been profoundly exhibited are discussed below.
- White A. The Elements of Graphic Design, New York, NY: Allworth Press 2011
Illumination
In many designs prior to consideration of interior design, the aspect of illumination was mostly left out in the design phase. This often led to having some elements of the design being faulty or some areas in the actual structure having poor illumination. This led to development of structures that had aerial illumination which served as the only source of natural lighting in the structures 3. However, some structures had this problem still since only the ground floor and the topmost floor had enough of this illumination. Taking a close look at this structure, the architect designed it more like a greenhouse for horticultural products. In any greenhouse, the main aspect to consider is illumination. This is led to the suggestion of the architect to use glass sheets instead of brick walls. This highly improved the illumination of the house and it can be claimed to have aided greatly in reducing lighting costs of the palace since it was well lit by the natural light. The use of glass also played a very significant role in reducing the total cost of constructing the palace. This was because hard glass sheets were easily acquired in London as per that time and iron which was to be sued for support was in plenty. This led to the interior design of the palace being a very spectacular scene that fascinated many due to the great illumination that it had.
Continuity
Though this was not fully considered by the architect, the use of open floor layout and transparent walls and ceiling played a very important role in maintaining continuity 3. This is well illustrated by use of glass as the main elements in walls and ceiling. Continuity allowed light to pass through and probably the people outside to feel that their vision is continuous through the walls of the building.
- White A. The Elements of Graphic Design, New York, NY: Allworth Press 2011
Though this aspect was not developed uniquely for interior design, it also played a very significant role in creating continuous motion within the palace for the exhibition.
Space
This aspect of interior design can be closely continuity. This aspect was maximized by the use of glass walls which were thin compared to building brick walls. This was one of the major aspects that had to be considered in the construction of this building. Open floor layout made the space continuous and easily accessible from any point within the building.
Critical aspects of interior design considered while constructing this building
- Balance and focal point. This is interior design aspect that dictates distribution of things within the room. Taking the palace as a single room or many rooms with a function of exhibition, symmetrical distribution was the consideration 4. This was mostly evidenced by almost uniform illumination taking all points to have equal focus at the exhibition. If the balance was to be asymmetrical, an aspect like continuity would not have been evidenced in the design. The open layout format of the floor would also have had no significance calling for segmentation of the palace and each segment having its own focal point. However, a radial balance appears to have had also played a significant role since the distribution would have certain points of focus on top of having uniform illumination.
- Emphasis. This aspect is more like focus but deals especially with a single point of interest in an interior design. This means that the point of principal focus in the interior design have to contain the main theme of the design like artistic works and illumination. Taking a look this interior, there were trees and statues.
- James H. The 5 critical aspects of interior design, 2012, retrieved from http://www.ldbdesign.com/the-5-critical-aspects-of-interior-design
These acted as additional beauty to the interior of the palace and the power of man over nature. This emphasis created a feeling of ecological balance and the environmental diversity that existed as per that time 4. Another element of emphasis present in the palace was the segmentation. The segments appeared to have been put into sections for easier identification of what one wanted to see or the stand that he/she wanted to visit. The necessary emphasis was put by use of bright colors and oblique angle of projection to create a feeling of extension on the other side.
- Unity. This is an interior design aspect that ties the whole room or palace together 4. It creates a feeling of continuity and harmony. This is mostly done by proper organization of the floor space and other facilities in the room. To achieve this mainly in the walls, colors are used. The colors used usually flow or augur well in harmony creating a cool effect with harmonious motion. For example, the use of cool colors might create harmony and unity in an interior. In the given place, the architect used glass walls to maintain continuity. This aspect greatly increased the harmony of the palace and made it appear one room in spite of its great size. The harmony was also emphasized by the use of great artistic works on display as well as inclusion of trees to indicate ecological balance. There were not competing elements in the palace like conflicting colors or use of solid iron walls instead of continuous glass which would have created a disorganization effect in the building.
- Proportion. This is the aspect that relates what is found in a certain interior to the size of the room. If the interior is physically larger than its contents, it appears that there exists some imbalance which creates a feeling emptiness 4. On the other hand, having too many things in a certain interior creates a feeling of the space being too squeezed. Both of these scenarios create a feeling of space misappropriation. Therefore, for proportion to exist, everything must appear in its place and the place most be well organized. Looking for such features in the building, it is clear that the proportionality of the space was well managed. Taking into consideration the event that the interior had to host, it required quite a large floor space which was vital in design consideration. For this reason, open floor layout worked as the best remedy and pillars offered little obstruction to the proportionality aspect 6. As a result, this building can therefore be considered to be proportional to the use or intended occupancy during the occasion. It didn’t appear excessively squeezed of under populated to leave a lot of unused space.
- Movement. This is the last very critical aspect of interior design which tries to analyze movement within a room. It dictates that the room arrangement and construction should be designed such that movement is free and effective. To achieve this, strategic planning must be considered. Trying to find this element in the palace, movement was enhanced by continuity and illumination. The open floor layout also played a very important role in the movement within the palace. To begin with, the intended purpose of the building was exhibition. During an exhibition, items on display must be arranged in a way to allow fast and effective movement of people with minimal obstruction. To maintain support and ease of movement, the building was supported by use of iron pillars inside 5. These pillars of support offered minimal obstruction compared to using the brick walls. Continuity due to enough illumination also played a very role in ensuring that people were able to move freely without any ‘visible end’ of the structure.
- Pile J. Interior Design, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc 2007
- Kilmer W. Designing Interior, Orland, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc 1992
Looking at some economical, political and other national aspects like social norms, it appears that the most significant contribution towards this interior design was the economic status. On political aspect, the country or region was very much politically neutral thus no effects of politics in the structure were visible. Social norms were also not exhibited in any way since the design was from an agricultural perspective where everything had to remain simple and temporal 5.
Economic status of the project contributed greatly. The project was temporary thus the cost was to be minimized. This led to use of iron and glass to construct the building due to the ease or re-usability of the materials after demolition of the original building 6.
In conclusion, the building was made using simple materials for temporal use only. However, it opened up the minds of architects who then began considering better interior organization, illumination and continuity of space within a building.
References
Holden J Universal Principles of Design, Massachusetts: Rockport Publishers, 2010
White A. The Elements of Graphic Design, New York, NY: Allworth Press 2011
Kilmer W. Designing Interior, Orland, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc 1992
Pile J. Interior Design, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc, 2007
James H. The 5 critical aspects of interior design, 2012 retrieved from http://www.ldbdesign.com/the-5-critical-aspects-of-interior-design
Henry R. Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Penguin Books, 1977
