Challenges Facing the Field of Interior Design in the Coming Decade - Essay Example

The curricula in colleges are software specific, to the extent that in cases the act of design itself is limited by what can be designed then displayed with the available software. Design firms use colleges like training grounds for their own recruitment, by encouraging instruction in software and technology used by their firm. The use of technology in all its forms is a boon without a doubt, but the challenge is the need to propagate the use of technology as a tool, rather than as a set of design-defining parameters.

Another challenge that is faced by the field of interior design is the corporatization of the field, where a relatively small group of design firms amass the resources and the means to dominate every aspect of the profession. To deal with this, Interior designers have to redefine themselves and the way they project their skills and their profession, so as to enable their potential clients to see the innate value in personal interaction. This would also make the skills of an interior designer accessible to the common man.

The challenge, therefore, is to humanize the profession.The primary challenge facing the profession is the loss of purity of design. This is a problem that is partially caused by the influx of technology, and rampant eclecticism. We shall face, in the coming years, a struggle to define our own selves, our own style, and the ability to sift through Interior Design's rich past to distill our own individual sparks of inspiration. Perhaps we need to look into the past and find for ourselves the values that can make our field nobleMy personal distillate for my inspiration is Le Corbusier and his work.

It is his interpretation & propagation of the international style, his simple yet poignant commentary on the human state by calling a house ' a machine to live' speaks of a design philosophy that is far more than a profession. I would, personally, deal with the challenges facing the field by looking at a vision that is not one decade, or two, in the future but perhaps several, and charting a path towards that vision through the practice of my craft.