A History Of Interior Design

John Pile

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Review

The study of interior design and its development through history is an ambitious project requiring a knowledge of architecture, construction, art and furniture design, as well as an understanding of more recent technologies such as lighting, heating and ventilation.  Only then are we able to consider this amorphous subject, the scope of which stretches from the caves at Lascaux to the complex interiors of Frank Gehry’s titanium-wrapped museum in Bilbao.

Earlier fragments apart, the first impressions we have of a complete interior environment come from the astonishingly well-preserved treasures of ancient Egypt, whence author John Pile takes us to the high spots of the Greek and Roman empires where newly-mastered skills in making domes reflected an emphasis on public buildings celebrating collective civic pride.

In both public and private through the medieval era and the “dark ages”, the ascendancy of the Christian church was celebrated in cathedrals, abbeys, monasteries and fortresses, but it is not until the Renaissance – turning to Vasari’s Lives Of The Painters, Sculptors And Architects box £30 – that we can identify the individuals who were responsible for some of the era’s greatest achievements.

Thereafter, in both Britain and Europe, we have evidence of the visual references from the palaces, villas, chapels and art galleries of royal dynasties, which still surround us today.  It is not until the middle of the 18th Century however, that we meet the brothers Robert and James Adam, who, through a series of grand projects involving architecture, construction, furniture design and decoration, can truly be identified as “interior designers”.  The importance of this role increased throughout the 19th Century with the emergence of great practitioners such as William Morris who successfully appealed to a wider audience, and whose ideals in the Arts and Crafts movement led directly to Modernism and the roots of our taste today.

Although Professor Pile has assembled a great deal of fascinating information, he wears his learning lightly and has produced a volume which is not just a work of reference with an impressive range, but also a pleasure to read. - review by Stewart Grimshaw