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Rise of the Decorator It is safe to say that many people, not of the architecture and design world, assume that interior designers are a profession that formed as a branch of architecture. In reality, that is not how it happened and unfortunately, no one makes the necessary contradictions to this assumption. That’s what this section of our chapter from this week clears the air on. The book, History of Furniture by Mark Hinchmann, puts it best when it explains that, “[i]nterior decorating, being a profession, proceeds from different directions from that predicted by the work of architects also involved in producing traditionally styled houses.” Elsie de Wolfe Elsie de Wolfe is viewed as the pioneer professional interior decorating for many reasons, one of which includes the work she did on a project with Stanford White on the interior of the Colony Club in New York. Wolfe relied heavily on her social connections, especially when she moved to France and met Van Dan Truex. She was ...

  Art Deco and Industrial Design The abbreviation “Art Deco” is used to explain the design trend that came about from the exposition and has only been used since the 60s. Within the Art Deco time period, there were two groups: the functionalists and the decorators. Both these groups went about responding to the time period, however, they did so in quite different manners. Functionalists and Decorators The designs of the functionalists were aimed toward mass production and focused extensively on the social good that design could achieve. These made it possible for them to emphasize the values of engineering and assembly-line construction. On the other hand, the decorators focused on crafting exquisite objects that were far more labor intensive and aimed at an elite market. Additionally, they focused on not being burdened by a belief in the redemptive obligations of art. Art Deco – Britain When discussing Art Deco in a country such as Britain, it is nearly impossible to ove...