Interior Design and Architecture Explained
Interior design is the discipline that designs the inside of the building, and it is the branch of architecture that works on the room after architecture has designed the shell, the space between the walls the building gives it. The 2 disciplines are the same work at 2 depths, architecture designing the building and interior design designing the rooms the building contains, and the division is the line between the structure and the fit out, the wall the architect draws and the surface, the fixture and the furnishing the interior designer draws. An interior design project runs on the building the architecture has delivered, the 4 walls and the floor and the ceiling, and it makes the space inside them the space the user lives and works in, the room finished, fixed and furnished to the use it is for.
What interior design is
The interior design is the design of the inside, and the 3 things it designs are the surface, the fixture and the furnishing. The surface is the finish of the 6 planes of the room, the wall, the floor and the ceiling, and it is the material and the color and the texture the room is seen in, the paint and the tile and the wood and the stone. The fixture is the fixed element, the thing built into the surface, the built in cabinet, the stair, the fireplace surround and the window treatment, and it is the element the user cannot move. The furnishing is the movable element, the furniture, the lighting and the object, and it is the element the user places and replaces. The 3 together, the surface that finishes the room, the fixture that builds into it and the furnishing that fills it, are the scope of the interior design, and they are the scope the discipline works inside the shell the architecture delivered, the room made usable by the 3 layers the design adds to the 4 walls.
How it differs from architecture
The difference between the interior design and the architecture is the depth of the work each carries, and it runs on the 2 lines that divide them, the structure and the surface. The architecture carries the structure, the frame and the wall and the roof that hold the building up and keep the weather out, and it works to the code of the structure, the load and the span and the fire rating that the building must meet. The interior design carries the surface, the finish and the fixture and the furnishing that make the room the space the user is in, and it works to the code of the use, the light and the sound and the flow that the room must give. The 2 meet at the wall, the architect drawing the wall the interior designer finishes, and the line between them is the line between the building and the room. The 2 are the same discipline at 2 depths, the architecture the building and the interior design the inside of it, and the work is complete when the 2 agree, the structure the surface sits on and the surface the structure was built to carry. The division is the line of the wall, and each discipline works to its side of it, the architecture to the outside and the interior design to the inside.
The process an interior project runs in
The process of the interior design runs in the 4 stages the architecture runs in, and each stage produces the drawing the next reads. The first stage is the brief, the meeting where the user says what the room is for, the use, the budget and the feeling, and the output is the written brief that fixes the constraints of the room. The second stage is the concept, the design of the room at idea level, the layout of the furniture and the scheme of the surface and the fixture, and the output is the concept drawing the user approves in principle. The third stage is the development, the drawing of the approved concept at detail, the material of each surface and the specification of each fixture, and the output is the set of working drawings. The fourth stage is the installation, the fit out of the room, the surface applied and the fixture built and the furnishing placed, and the output is the room the user moves into. The 4 stages, the brief, the concept, the development and the installation, are the process the interior design runs in, and they mirror the 4 stages of the architecture, the brief and the concept and the development and the construction, the 2 disciplines running the same process at the 2 depths of the building and the room.
What the interior designer does
The work of the interior designer is the 4 tasks the process runs on, and they are the space plan, the material scheme, the fixture design and the furnishing plan. The space plan is the first task, the layout of the room, the placement of the furniture and the fixture that makes the room flow to its use, and it is the task the interior design shares with the architecture, the plan that orders the space. The material scheme is the second, the selection of the surface, the paint and the floor and the wall covering for each plane of the room, and it is the task that gives the room its finish. The fixture design is the third, the design of the built in element, the cabinet and the stair and the surround, and it is the task that draws the fixture the carpenter builds. The furnishing plan is the fourth, the selection and the placement of the movable element, the furniture and the lighting and the object, and it is the task that completes the room. The 4 tasks, the plan, the scheme, the fixture and the furnishing, are the work the interior designer does, and they are the work the room is made by, the space planned, the surface finished, the fixture built and the furnishing placed, the room the architecture delivered made the space the user lives in.
Where the 2 disciplines meet in practice
The meeting of the 2 disciplines in practice is the hand over of the building to the room, and it runs on the 2 documents that pass between them, the architectural set and the interior set. The architectural set is the document the architecture delivers, the drawings of the shell, the wall and the floor and the ceiling and the opening, and it is the document the interior design reads, the building the room is designed in. The interior set is the document the interior design delivers, the drawings of the finish and the fixture and the furnishing, and it is the document the builder of the fit out reads, the room the shell is fitted with. The 2 sets meet at the wall, the architectural set drawing the wall the interior set finishing, and the hand over is the moment the building becomes the room. In the large project the 2 sets are drawn by the 2 firms, the architecture firm and the interior firm, and the hand over is the contract between them. In the small project the 2 sets are drawn by the 1 firm, the architecture firm that carries the interior as well, and the hand over is the line inside the office. The 2 ways, the 2 firms and the 1 firm, are how the 2 disciplines meet in practice, and the meeting is the hand over of the shell to the room, the building the architecture designed made the space the interior design finishes.
