Historical Preservation and Interior Design
Building the Future, Preserving the PastBy Kathy A. Johnson
kathy.johnson@interiordesignschoolreview.com
Interior Design School Review Columnist
According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, historic preservation means "having the good sense to hang on to something - an older building or neighborhood or a piece of landscape for instance - because it's important to us as individuals and/or as a nation."
Some buildings are preserved because they are beautiful or historically important. Others are reborn through "adaptive reuse": a train station becomes a restaurant, an office building becomes apartments. This is where interior design comes in.
Learn more about The Art Institute Online's Bachelor Degree program in Interior Design.
Architects study historical buildings in the course of their education and have long focused on historic preservation. Interior design schools offer the study of historical preservation so that designers can match their designs to the appropriate historical period of a project. Some interior design firms even specialize in historical preservation.
Preservation Design Concepts
Architects and interior designers working on historical preservation projects generally follow some of the same principles. These include preserving original features, repairing (rather than replacing) worn architectural features if possible, and "treat[ing] sensitively distinctive stylistic features or examples of skilled craft work." These principles help designers and architects create new, useful spaces while safeguarding what is special about the existing structure.Historic Preservation Programs
Many community colleges and technical schools have one- to two-year programs in the study of historical preservation, and colleges and universities offer bachelor's, master's, and doctorate programs.Some architecture and interior design schools offer a historical preservation major or minor, and others offer courses or workshops with topics such as preservation research and technology, historic interior design, and so on.
Preservation makes good sense both economically and environmentally. Historic preservation allows interior designers and architects to work together to bring beauty and usefulness into the future by preserving the past.
Sources
About the Author:
Kathy A. Johnson has written articles on health, fitness, and many other topics in her career as a freelance writer and editor. She lives in Florida, and is the features editor of Forum, a bimonthly publication of the national mothers group, Mothers & More.
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