Читать книгу Professional Practice for Interior Designers - Christine M. Piotrowski - Страница 16

The interior design profession has changed in many ways since it was first thought of as a profession. Not the least of those changes is whether there remain two classic divisions. It has always been thought that residential interior designers design private residences, especially single‐family dwellings, while commercial interior designers focus on one or more types of spaces used for business and government, such as offices, stores, hotels, restaurants, schools, airports, hospitals, and so on.

For the most part, those two classic divisions do still exist. However, the line between residential and commercial interior design as “divisions” of the profession has blurred due to changes in lifestyle and work style throughout the world.^* Many of those who think of themselves as residential designers occasionally do some small offices or other types of commercial spaces. Of course, those who are primarily commercial designers also occasionally design a client's residence.

Another topic that continues to blur the distinctions is the term contract design. The term originally came from the fact that commercial projects more frequently were executed based on contracts for services. Today, both those who design residences as well as those who do commercial projects utilize contracts with clients.

In the 21st century, it is not as important to define a division as it is to define the profession. The definition of interior design provided below does not differentiate any particular number or types of divisions of interior design. Perhaps it is time to recognize that neither is a less or more important part of the profession.

*Martin and Guerin, 2006, p. 90.