Interior Design - Hkida

CHAPTER 2History and Interior Design – The Orient and the Occident.by Dr.ir. Gerhard Bruyns and Dr. Tung Kwok-wah, HenriHistory and DesignHistory is part and parcel to the discipline of design. History of design or the history of theenvironment remains central to foundational knowledge of any design discipline, interior orexterior in nature. In a broad sweep, the position of history has over years and decades changedfrom, on the one hand, being a mirror of the past, whilst on the other, an instrument to formulatefuture tendencies and a source from which designers draw inspiration.To understand the history of interior design, one should understand the history of its context, orin other words, the history of the city. The city provides a context by which one can understand howsocial and technological factors influence interior styles. The interior is as much part of the cityas the city is to the interior. Everything that the city produces, documents or designs, is eithermade within, or is drawn into the lived interior. Interior and exterior is therefore indisputably fused intoa coherent whole.In the beginning, human settlements consisted of singular one or two room dwellings, fenced in forprotection. Interiors in this sense were multi-functional spaces, serving several uses at any given time.Gradually, single houses became collections of dwellings, generating the first cohesive settlements,villages, towns and, in time, fully fledged cities that we recognize today. In a similar light, the interior’sdevelopment was from a sparse space, minimal in nature, to intricate spaces molded from volumes,sculpture and geometries, off-set with specific effects of light and mirroring. In its present format,interiors have returned to either a minimalist setting or as spaces that have become obsessed withexcess and opulence.Architecture and interior design developed in tandem in the East and West, evolving accordingto the changing needs and prevailing cultural influences. The chart below offers a comparativeperspective on the development in cultural, architectural and design in both the Orient (East) aswell as the Occident (West). Contextually aligning the history of the interior to both European andAsian narratives offers a parallel understanding of history that allows for cross referencing mutualconditions within the historical streams. Global events may cause certain transformations tooccur in design, but the actual response within both cultures may differ in significant ways.The overview provided here, however brief, steers clear from stylistic emphasis of one style overanother. Each stream is to be read in relation to design development occurring in three distinct periods;the pre-industrial (1500 -1800), industrial (1800 -1900) and post-industrial period (1900- present).4

nacularLingnan/CantonAntient Greece:(900 – 30 BCE)East – Chinese wooden frame construction (more than 4000 years ago)A cultural style expressed inpainting, art and architecturethat has had fundamentalimpact on Western culturesand their approach to the builtand decorative arts.Common Chinese wooden framesystems include the post and lintelconstruction (抬梁式木結構), whichwas more popular in North China, andthe column and tie construction (穿斗式木結構), which was a more vernacularpractice in South China. The latter wassimilar to Tudor Revival style in terms ofmaterial and structure.The mainstream wooden frameconstruction involved a relatively fixedset of architectural vocabularies andgrammars (especially in the case of thepost and lintel construction) for a verylong time. It thus contributed to similar/coherent built circumstances (bothinteriors and exteriors), which wererare in other civilisations.1 Due to itspermanence and prevalence, the woodstructural system became a prominentrepresentation/icon of Chinese culture.Spatial layout:Spatial layout:The geometric periods gaverose to the canonical typologiesof the Greek temple, withdouble portico’s and central‘Cella/Naos’ surrounded by aseries of single row columns.Stylistically Greek spatiallayouts followed the Egyptianpost and lintel method ofconstruction.Building complexes are characterizedby groups of individual buildingsconnected by courtyards, coveredwalkways and porches, resulting in richlayers and transitions of interior spaces.The corresponding spatial hierarchyis socially and politically significantas it reflects the house owner’s familystructure and social status.Architectonic:Architectonic:Most noticeable is thedevelopment of theandIonic orders of construction,with the later addition of theCorinthian Order.The wooden frame construction givesthe freedom in walling and fenestration,which is comparable to Le Corbusier’sDom-ino system (1914). By adjustingthe proportion between walls andopenings, the wooden system canadapt to different climates.25Fig. 2.1 The drawing of large woodproduction, no. 1 7Fig.2.2 Drawingproduction, no. 26oflargewoodSource: Liang, Yingzaofashizhushi(營造法式註釋), 265.

Aesthetics:Aesthetics:Interior detailing is richly detailedin full colour palette, off-set withthe use of translucent marbleroofs and prominent buildings.The post and lintel construction waswell documented in Yingzao Fashi“The State Building Standards” ofthe Song dynasty (1103). Knownas the official pattern book, it is asystematic document characterizedby rules and formulae basedon a modular system (i.e., theCai system) for determining thepositions and modellings (e.g.,dimensions, shapes, forms anddetails) of wooden elements, whichessentially express the uniqueaesthetics of Chinese buildings.For example, the rule of juzhedetermines the elegant curvy andup lifting shape of the Chinese roof(which is the quintessential symbolof Chinese culture).ROMAN PERIOD: (753 BC –337 CE).Spatial Layout:Taking precedence from the Greekbuilding orders, the Roman addedto the spatial oeuvres with thedevelopment of Roman Concrete.The construction of vaults andarches typified Roman technologyand the construction of Barrel(Tunnel) Vaults, Groin (Cross)Vaults and Hemispherical Domes.In addition, the possibilities offenestration and clearstory windowsimproved light qualities, withfriezes, wall murals and sculpturaldevelopment influencing both thecivic and domestic interiors.Civic buildings such as forumsand public baths became largerin scale, forming complex spatialarrangements.Domestic interiors followed thecourtyard or atrium layout withperipheral spaces arranged aroundcentral yards and water features.6Fig.2.3 - Chinese column orders 8Fig 2.4 & 2.5 Chinese DougongColumn detail. 9 10The bracket system/dougong,which is a complexification of theChinese corbel invented more than2,000 years ago, also deservesattention for its aesthetic quality:The dougong was originallyconceived as a structural element,but its decorative potentiality wassoon discovered and exploited tothe utmost degree. 3Functionally, the bracket systemacts as a cantilever system for theroof eave. Aesthetically, it borrowsthe natural form of a flower toexpress the pleasant visual effectof ‘a flower coming into bloom’, 4which is comparable to the visualeffect of Greek/Roman capitals. Allin all, the bracket system involvesa significant synthesis of functionaland aesthetic considerations. 5 Itsmodelling relates to an appropriatecomposition of well-formed parts,exemplifying the fact that thearchitectural and interior design isessentially “an art of theensemble”.6Fig 2.6 Greek classical orders, Ioniccolumn analysis 11Fig 2.7 & 2.8 Doric and Ionic columnfooting, Athens, Greece. 12Fig 2.9 Typical Greek peripteraltemple plan. 13

Aesthetics:Although dimly lit in some instances,rooms have sufficient ventilation.Geometricproportioningisemphasized within the paneling anddecorative aspects of the interior,in rich colour usage and detailing.Apart from the panels and muralsdepicting nature, sculptures andrelief friezes added to the aestheticquality of spaces.Period of importance following theRoman period include:Early Byzantine Period(324–726),Middle Byzantine Period(843–1204),Late Byzantine Period(1261-1453),Fig 2.10 Elemental analysis, Gothicchurch interior. 14Early Medieval Period(1261-1453),Romanesque Period(1000 -1200),Gothic Period(1140 – 1500),Later Medieval Period(1200-1400),The Renaissance Periods(1385–1500),The Baroque Period(1600 – 1700),Rococo &Neo Classical Periods(1700 – 1800),7Fig 2.11 Groin vault, Gothic interior,Spain. 15

ation in Architecture,modernism’s stylistic toneexiledexcessivenessininterior and architecturaldesign. With the mass scaleproduction of steel, concreteand the further developmentof reinforced concrete, theideals were to strip buildingsbare to their essence andmaterial ‘nakedness’.West East (juxtaposition) Chinese Renaissance style:ThemodernizationofChinesearchitecture was first conducted inNorth China against the politicalbackground of attempting to strengthenChina’s national power throughWesternization after the Opium Wars.Chinese craftsmen and builders, whenexposed to modern knowledge fromthe West via different channels, beganto speculate that Chinese architecturalpractice ‘might benefit from technicaland engineering innovations madeAdolf Loos’ essay “Ornament beyond China’s borders’. 17and Crime” (1908) formulatedthestylisticminimalism Since then, mergers between Chinesemantra for spatial design. and Western building techniques/Working across the decorative elements of different extents had beenand spatial arts, the minimalist attempted. The key issue was howagenda advocated an honesty the Chinese identity can be retainedof materials, primary colours during this process. This resulted in theand a return to the platonic Chinese Renaissance style in the firstshapes.half of the 20th century.In an urban sense, thespatial grid delivered auniversal design instrument.As developmental tendency,especially in the USA, thegrid become a unifying factoracross space and time. In duecourse, what was meant to actas unifying elements resultedin the functional separation ofurban functions, architecturesand spaces.8According to its methodologies andfeatures, the Chinese Renaissancestyle can be subdivided into twocategories: the adaptive approach ofconcrete construction and the stylisticadaptive approach (or revivalist style).Fig.2.12a & 2.12b Adaptive approachusing concrete construction: TenThousand Buddhas Hall of Miu FatBuddhist Monastery, Tuen Mun, HongKong.

Spatial layout:With functionality being the drivingforce, spatial and interior designsaw a simplification based oneither Loos’ spatial (Raum) planor on Le Corbusier’s Free plan.The spatial plan opened all spatiallayout to focus on the interior,with limited fenestration withinthe perimeter walls. The free planopened all aspects of the design,layout, structure, fenestration andfunctional arrangements. Principlesof the free plan was later formalizedby Le Corbusier in his treaty ofArchitecture under the 5 points ofArchitecture: pilotis, free groundplan, free façade, horizontalwindows and roof garden principles.The adaptive approach of concrete construction:This approach mainly involved therealization of the spatial layout andform of traditional Chinese woodenframe construction in Westernconcreteconstruction.Thisapproach is comparable to theBeaux-Arts’ attempt to integrateClassical styles with engineering.Key examples of the adaptiveapproach of concrete constructioninclude the campuses of YenchingUniversity in Beijing (1919)designed by Henry Murphy, andGinling College for Girls in Nanjing(1921) and Ten Thousand BuddhasHall of Miu Fat Buddhist Monasteryin Tuen Mun (1973).Architectonic:Architectonic and aesthetics:Influence of reinforced concreteopened architectonic expressionof buildings and spaces. Thereturn of platonic shapes andvolumes delivered cubic volumesin architectural sense, with interiorsbeing spare and open. Windowsbecame expressive features openingall perspectives into as well as outof the spatial forms. Furthermore,the ‘free’ plan brought a newsense of design freedom to space.Both the spatial and architectonicexpression of the free plan deliveredunsymmetrical layouts, emphasisedby the functional qualities of eachpart and its elemental arrangements:columns, ramps, staircases andbuilding edges.This approach may not be quitesuccessful because it wasconceptually inconsistent to usereinforced concrete on the outsetas concrete buildings were not“Chinese throughout” from astructural viewpoint. 18 Moreover,aesthetically the change ofmaterial and the correspondingcraftsmanship often lead tothe distortion of proportions,detailing, visual appearances andcompositions of building parts oftraditional Chinese wooden frameconstruction.9Fig. 2.13 Stylistic adaptive approach:Morrison Building of Hoh Fuk Tong,Tuen Mun, Hong KongFig 2.14 Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye,France, 1929. 30Fig 2.15 Frank Lloyd Wright, RobieHouse, 1907 - 1909. 26Fig. 2.16 Frank Lloyd Wright, RobieHouse Stain Glass Detail, 1907-1909.27

Aesthetics:With most buildings painted white,their characteristics were of lightfilled interiors, accent of colour andthe openness of flow of the interiorplan. Columns varied in scale butwere circular in preference andof reinforced concrete. A stronginfluence in the approach to the freeplan was the mechanistic approach(automobiles, airplanes, and shipliners) to design, giving expressionto all functional components of thespace.Bauhaus School:Founded by Architect Walter Gropiusin Weimar (1919),the BauhausSchool of thought reconceptualisethe all forms of art, architecture,graphic design, interior design,industrial design and typography.As one of the most influentialschools in Europe of the 20thCentury, Bauhaus’ ideas andconcepts was an off-set against theBeaux-Arts movement, free fromhistorical reference or precedent.Documented in its official manifesto,the school advocated strong basicdesign – which included strongprinciples of composition, thedevelopment and application ofcolour theory and two and threedimensional explorations.With the ‘simplification’ of design,new materials were explored, withthe infusion of disciplines with oneanother. Or rather “the coordinationof all creative efforts” 16, as forexample pottery, weaving, paintingand the design of space was seenas a “collective work of art inwhich no barriers exist between thestructural and the decorative arts”(ibid).(cf. Bauhaus Weimar 1919 – 1925,Bauhaus Dessau 1925 – 1932,Bauhaus Berlin 1932 – 1933)10The stylistic adaptive approach(Revivalist style):This approach is characterizedby a juxtaposition of a Westernstyle main body (e.g., the classicalrevival, classical eclecticism, ArtDeco, modern/ International Style)with a Chinese-style roof structure(which represents the Chineseidentity). This kind of compositionwas first introduced and practisedby forerunners including Westernmissionaries and educationalistsin the late 19th century, with theintention of expressing theirrespect for the Chinese culture.Key examples include the MainHall (1879) and Science Building(1923) of St. John’s University inShanghai). This approach wasthen practiced by foreign and localarchitects.Since the 1930s, the stylisticadaptive approach has beencontinued and modified particularlyby the Beaux-Arts design method(of the American Tradition)practiced by the Beaux-Arts trainedChinese graduates who studiedabroad. Significant examplesinclude the Yale-in-China campusin Changsha designed by Murphy(1914), the Friendship Hotel inBeijing designed by Zhang Bo(1954) and the Morrison Buildingof Hoh Fuk Tong in Tuen Mun(1936).Spatial layout:The Western-style main bodies ofbuildings constructed according tothe stylistic adaptive approach didnot necessary follow the interiorlayout of the traditional woodenframe construction.Fig 2.17 & 2.18 Walter Gropius,Bauhaus, Housing complex andbalcony detail, Dessau, 1925 -1926 28

Key buildings and interiorsrepresentativeofmodernisminclude: Robie House, Chicagodesigned by Frank Lloyd Wright(1907 – 1909), The Bauhaus,Dessau designed by Walter Gropius,(1925 – 1926), Villa Savoye, Poissysur-Seine designed by Le Corbusier(1929) and Schröder House, Utrechtdesigned by Gerrit Rietveld (1924).Other influential European schoolof thought of the period includes:Supermatism, Constructivism, theArt Deco Movement, Surrealismand De Stijl.Aesthetics:It seems as though most of thebuildings of this approach wear “aWestern suit and a Chineseskullcap”. 19 The two parts simplydo not match – the approach ‘hadnot succeeded in giving to thelower portions of the buildings asufficiently Chinese look to be inharmony with the strongly definedChinese character of the roofs’. 20Since then, many practitioners ofthis trend have gradually shiftedtheir design approach by adoptingthe modern style/InternationalStyle.Fig 2.19 & 2.20 Walter Gropius,Bauhaus, Curtain wall and window,Dessau, 1925 -1926.West/East(synthesis)-Vernacular Lingnan architectureFig 2.21 Walter Gropius, Bauhaus,Door handle detail, Dessau, 1925 1926. 29The geographic condition of SouthChina or Lingnan region (includingCanton and Guangxi provinces)gave birth to an ocean culture,which had an “open and inclusive”attitude toward overseas cultures.This resulted in the intended andactive syntheses of overseaselements, and hence a culturalprocess of “glocalization”, uponwhich the cultural identity of theLingnan region largely depended.This “glocalization” relates to“a complex interaction of global[Western] and local [Lingnanvernacular] elements”, leading toa cultural/architectural ‘hybridity’that “cannot be reduced to clearcut manifestations of a total‘sameness’ or ‘difference’” 21–neither mere East nor West.11Fig 2.23 Aligned arcade buildingson West Embankment Street, ChikanAncient Village, Kaiping 31

Western styles were commonlyappreciated in the region. Theimport of Western building andinterior elements were mainlycaused by trade and emigration:i) contact with Western (building)culture via the Ocean Silk Road; ii)building precedents in the region,e.g., the Western style buildingsof the Thirteen Hongs of Cantonbuilt for foreign traders in the1820s; iii) architectural knowledgebrought back by overseas Chineseworkers in the 20th century. Thesecontributed to the emergence of thevernacular Lingnan architecture,which was mainly designed andbuilt by the local people andbuilders.Vernacular Lingnan architecturewas characterized not by directcopying but innovative synthesesof various building elements,which were largely driven by theaesthetic sense of the locals. Thesyntheses involved distinctiveexecution of details, skilledcraftsmanship (such as moulding)and harmonious compositions ofelements by breaking establishedarchitectural rules. Its aestheticachievement is thus comparable tothat of the architectural eclecticismthat was adopted in the West fromthe late 19th century to the early 20thcentury. Moreover, its preferencefor plants, flowers, leaves and fruitsfor the pattern design adopted onthe interiors and exteriors is similarto the practice of the Arts & Craftsmovement.12Fig 2.24 Façade details of the arcadebuilding at 41 West EmbankmentStreet, Chikan Ancient Village, Kaiping32

Three typical examples of thevernacular Lingnan architectureare listed below.1. Arcade buildings (1920s1930s)Typolog

is a need for interior design textbooks to reflect this context and allow interior design students to keep pace with rapid development of the industry. This series of interior design textbooks is aimed at satisfying the needs of Hong Kong interior design students at different academic levels from diploma, higher diploma to bachelor's degree .