Interiority

Exploring the Dutch Bruynzeel Kitchen Through the Negotiations of Its Two Designers, Limperg and Zwart

Selin Geerinckx — 2024-07-30

During the interwar period, numerous endeavours were made to develop a rational kitchen, also called a laboratory kitchen, namely one that prioritised labour-saving efficiency through thoughtful layout and design. Catherine Beecher's work is often credited as its starting point. By synthesising household reformers' experiences and architects’ design expertise, scholars have extensively examined how rational kitchens evolved. This paper discusses the conception of the standardised Dutch Bruynzeel Kitchen (1938) by the collaborative efforts of two designers with distinct yet complementary interior design profiles. Renowned Dutch designer Piet Zwart, widely recognised for his contributions, finalised the technical drawings and promotional materials for this iconic kitchen. Less acknowledged is the early involvement of Dutch architect Koen Limperg, son of a business economics professor, who drew the preliminary designs. Interestingly, this kitchen design was developed while body culture emerged in the Netherlands. Complementing already existing research from art history, anthropology, the history of technology, and gender studies, this paper, based on literature and archive research, investigates through an interior design lens how both designers integrated their respective practices and expertise into the Bruynzeel Kitchen's design, incorporating elements of physical activities (dance, gym, sports) and household economics.

Uncertain Future Dwelling: Emergent Interiors of the Metaverse

Belinda J. Dunstan — 2024-07-30

Contemporarily, a flood of digital interior architectural imagery has emerged of spaces developed for the Metaverse, a forthcoming immersive 3D virtual world. These spaces are not bound by the conventions of architectural practice nor the demands of the physical world, providing an opportunity for design exploration and innovation in the future of interiors and positing challenges to core architectural concepts that have accompanied traditional practice. This research offers a visual analysis of aesthetic trends and new typologies present in the interior architectural spaces designed for the Metaverse. The analysis features a curated and collaged collection of works from ten creators of Metaverse spaces, categorised to examine the impact of digital architectural spaces that increasingly detach from the needs of physical dwellings. The research reveals commanding visual trends in Metaverse interior imagery that challenge traditional notions of interiority and dwelling and finds aesthetic signifiers of belonging in spaces that Augé (1995/2009) would neatly classified as an empirical 'non-place.' Positioned as a form of heterotopia in a realm where architecture is being designed for the purely visual, we posit that the less recognisable these spaces become, the more potential they hold for innovation in both the Metaverse and in dialogue with real-world interior architecture.

Assessing Relations Among Visual Variables in Hotel Lobbies Using Deep Learning

Taraneh Saniei — 2024-07-30

To understand the relationships between cognitive variables like visual complexity, coherence, and colour contrast in interior spaces, direct numerical analysis is crucial. Conventional approaches are limited due to the brain's struggle to process visual information without cognitive manipulation. However, advancements in artificial intelligence enable direct examinations. This study used a convolutional neural network to assess the intensity of colour contrasts in images of 5-star hotel lobby interiors with high levels of coherence and complexity. The results indicated that visually complex lobby interiors have less warm-cool and dark-light contrast but more pronounced complementary contrast than coherent lobby interiors. Additionally, a negative correlation was identified between complementary and warm-cool contrasts across all perspectives. These results underscore the potential influence of specific colour contrast types on the cognitive experience of interiority.

Inheritance and Development of Chinese Kang in Interior Space

Long Yang — 2024-07-30

The Chinese kang is an ancient technology that combines an integrated household system for cooking, sleeping, and heating. Most of the existing research focuses on the energy performance of Chinese kang and its impact on the interior environment and tries to adapt it to the modern interior space through the improvement of its technology. However, if we only focus on the research and improvement of the technical level of Chinese kang, it is not conducive to the effective inheritance and development of the culture. This paper studies the concept of 'inheritance and development' of Chinese kang culture more comprehensively from the perspective of interior design. The study proves that Chinese kang is not only a survival necessity to cope with cold, but also an expression of people's emotional catharsis and psychological needs, and that the intangible values of Chinese kang culture can be integrated into tangible modern living spaces and developed in the process of modernisation. The results of the study can be used as a starting point for enriching the Chinese kang culture and interior living culture from different perspectives in the future.

Examining Dwelling Interior Conditions for Informal Settlement Upgrading Along the Mae Kha Canal, Chiang Mai

Patcharaporn Duangputtan — 2024-07-30

This article delves into the internal features of habitat in slum-like informal settlements, focusing on the challenges faced by the locale in the Mae Kha Canal informal settlements in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The study aims to clarify the dwelling characteristics as well as understand the interplay between housing and the living circumstances of the occupants. A mixed-methods approach was utilised, primarily employing field surveys, house investigation including arrangement and utilisation of space, and in-depth interviews with residents. A total of 80 households were sampled and analysed. The findings reveal that the previous relocation plans made by local authorities, which offered only a single room per family as a one-size-fits-all strategy, are not suitable for the current inhabitants' living conditions. Consequently, this article concludes with alternate suggestions for the forthcoming practical Mae Kha Canal Housing Upgrade project. It emphasises the potential of applying the idea of interiority to examine the distinctive interior conditions, thereby contributing to better dwelling design for the locals.

Framing and Visualising Nationhood: Istiqlal Mosque and the Interiority of the Independence Square, Jakarta

Tutin Aryanti — 2024-07-30

Studies on interiority have profoundly shifted the perspective of looking at urban space as a socially constructed architectural product. This study examines the meanings invested by Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia and the patron of the mosque, in Istiqlal Mosque (1962) and the Independence Square using the lens of interiority. Rather than looking at the mosque as a single monument, this study considers the mosque and its time and spatial contexts as an architectural unity to make Sukarno's vision of nationhood manifest through the interiority of the Independence Square area in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital city. This study employed an architectural survey and documentation of Istiqlal Mosque and its surrounding built environment and analysed them using Derrida's (1978/1987) centre and margin theory. It is found that the Istiqlal Mosque was designed as part of the frame that reinforces the meaning of the interior of Independence Square, where the National Monument (1964), Sukarno's major monumental project, stands. Istiqlal Mosque was constructed to claim the newly established nation as the world’s most populous Muslim country and to communicate Sukarno’s idea of uniting Indonesia's diverse cultural and religious backgrounds through religious tolerance while declaring his firm standpoint in the 1960s Cold War.

Revisiting Bodies in Interior Design Practice

Paramita Atmodiwirjo — 2024-07-30

Addressing human bodies is inevitable in interior inquiries and practices. Integrating knowledge about human bodies into design practice can extend beyond the idea of bodies as merely static entities with fixed dimensions. The idea of bodies as the basis for spatial design practice views the human body as a living entity that dwells, occupies, moves, and engages in space. Knowledge about bodies as the basis of practice also needs to view bodies' presence as sociocultural entities. The emergence of the virtual environment provides another context with a shifting materiality of bodies and interior spaces. This issue of Interiority acknowledges the breadth of knowledge about bodies in spatial design disciplines. The articles demonstrate various ideas that reflect some challenges surrounding the integration of knowledge about bodies into design practice.