The interior design business had reason to cheer and reason to worry in 1985. On the positive side, interiors have taken on a heightened significance as a means of expression, both in the corporate world and at home. Industry-wide sales were good. An industry study reported that total dollar volume for the industry was $37.5 billion, $30 billion in the contract or nonresidential segment, while the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers? Association estimated that the annual shipment of office furniture would reach $6.6 billion, a healthy increase of 14 percent over 1984. The only note of hesitation to enter the picture for interior designers was the sobering scenario offered recently by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), which said that of all the buildings projected to be in place by the year 2000, 90 percent have already been built. In other words, the focus of work will undergo a change: there will be a shift toward renovation and design of existing structures, and this will increasingly bring interior designers into direct competition with architects for these projects.
Changes in the Home and on the Job.
Residential and corporate venues continue to be the favored commissions for contemporary designers. In the home, the influence of fashion and architecture is being seen as never before. Colors tend to reflect recent fashion trends, and the still increasing popularity of architect-designed furniture and accessories further entwines the disciplines of interior design and architecture. Meanwhile, the recent growth of white collar employment and the advance of electronic technology?which requires new concepts of work surfaces and seating, wire management, and lighting and new attention to other task-specific factors?has seen a total restructuring of the office landscape.
This in turn has affected leading design firms. Steelcase Inc., the largest manufacturer of office furniture, with sales in excess of $1 billion, reported that nearly half of its sales are in systems; that segment alone provides Steelcase with more in sales than the total sales of its closest competitor, the high-end Herman Miller Inc. Knoll International, another design leader, with a 40-year reputation for classic pieces by modern masters such as Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, and Eero Saarinen and contemporary ?name? architects such as Richard Meier and Robert Venturi, now plans to focus on systems furniture. Knoll?which became a public corporation in late 1983-will supplement its Stephens and Zapf lines with its Bruce Hannah line in 1985 and Andrew Morrison line in 1986.
The Growth of Showrooms.
The development of the furniture industry as an important and fast-growing business was further demonstrated by the opening of a number of showroom design centers. The year saw the opening of the Houston Design Center, the Denver Design Center, and the Dallas Infomart (exclusively for computers and computer support equipment), while the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles announced plans for expansion. Expected to open late in the year was the Boston Design Center. The International Design Center, New York, opened in October. The Contract Design Center in the Dallas Decorative Center District announced that it would open in late 1986 or early 1987.
All this activity puts pressure on the manufacturers who lease space in these vast wholesale emporiums to commission showrooms that will accurately and dramatically reflect the company?s image. Quality, efficiency, and sales appeal are what the companies want to convey; the outstanding example of design for this purpose in 1985 was unquestionably the Steelcase showroom in the Pacific Design Center, designed by Orlando Diaz-Azcuy of Gensler and Associates. A shimmering all white ?envelope? arranged on a diagonal grid, the installation sends out an image of eminence and leadership while demonstrating the functional excellence of Steelcase products. Diaz-Azcuy?s clean-cut exposition also reverses the trend of postmodern decorative symbolism established by the architect Michael Graves; first introduced to much acclaim in Sunar showrooms nationwide beginning in 1979, this style is now being criticized as overwhelming the product itself.
Architects Versus Designers.
With the tapering off of new construction apparent even to the layperson?who can easily notice the amount of renovation, retrofit, historic preservation, and adaptive reuse of buildings being done in every city?architects are increasingly confronted with substantial projects that call for expertise in interior design disciplines, something they are swiftly attaining. Consequently, interior design firms have come to find themselves threatened by the intrusion of architects onto turf long regarded as secure. In reaction, the American Society of Interior Designers has proposed a system of registration that would reserve the right to practice interior design to those licensed to do so. Naturally, the AIA has not taken this strategic move lightly, and the battle lines became drawn by the two factions. A middle course advocated by some observers of the impasse is the resumption of multidisciplined practice by generalist practitioners, as was the tradition prior to the post-World War II construction boom. Indeed, many firms are already equipped to offer comprehensive services, including interior design, product design, and graphic design, as well as those considered strictly architectural, such as feasibility studies, programming, site supervision, and the creation of actual design and construction documents. Though the outcome of the controversy is still unresolved, its existence is evidence of the emerging significance of the interior space and its furnishing.
Design People.
Angelo Donghia, one of the most influential interior designers in the United States, died in April. He was 50 years old. Donghia?s eclectic approach, featuring bold, clean lines and unusual combinations of textures and patterns, brought him a diverse, admiring following. He was sought out by major corporations (he decorated Pepsico?s world headquarters in Purchase, N.Y.) and celebrities (such as the fashion designers Halston and Ralph Lauren, singer Diana Ross, and real estate developer Donald Trump), while to the general public he was best known for the mass-produced furniture, fabrics, sheets, china, and glassware that carried his name.
Another designer was given a type of belated ?coming out? party. Charlotte Perriand?who from 1927 to 1937 was an associate of the famed architect Le Corbusier but who many feel was never accorded a suitable amount of acclaim?was given, at the age of 82, a retrospective at the Mus?e des Arts D?coratifs in her native Paris. In addition to her work with Le Corbusier and other artists of that era, Perriand worked in Japan and South America, exploring the possibilities for adapting designs from one country to another.
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