Every built structure has an interior: whether it takes the rough form of a rudimentary shelter, the grey walls of a hospital or the finessed decoration of a one-off residence. We spend most of our time inside buildings. Shut your eyes and you will find yourself in your own interior. You will always be inside. Mastering the language, thinking and history of the interior is critical to understanding and designing spaces. This essential primer transcends the boundaries and genres that often define interiors, providing a comprehensive view of the concepts and vocabulary of interior design. Written as an accessible ‘treasury’ of principal terms and ideas, Inside Information engages with the past, uncovering the future potential of the interior, and its design. Introduces the reader to 26 key terms, from ante- to zeitgeist. Covers areas of study from the very practical – structures, decoration and sustainability – to the philosophical – gender, space and light. Features sources, ranging from: Le Corbusier to Norman Foster; Jacques Derrida to Noam Chomsky; Virginia Woolf to George Orwell. Highly illustrated with over 100 photographs and drawings.

DIV In the world of interior design, thousands of bits of crucial information are scattered across a wide array of sources. The Interior Design Reference & Specification Book collects the information essential to planning and executing interior projects of all shapes and sizes, and distills it in a format that is as easy to use as it is to carry. You’ll also find interviews with top practitioners drawn across the field of interior design. —Fundamentals provides a step-by-step overview of an interiors project, describing the scope of professional services, the project schedule, and the design and presentation tools used by designers. —Space examines ways of composing rooms as spatial environments while speaking to functional and life-safety concerns. —Surface identifies options in color, material, texture, and pattern, while addressing maintenance and performance issues. —Environments looks at aspects of interior design that help create a specific mood or character, such as natural and artificial lighting, sound and smell. —Elements describes the selection and specification of furniture and fixtures, as well as other components essential to an interior environment, such as artwork and accessories. —Resources gathers a wealth of useful data, from sustainability guidelines to online sources for interiors-related research. /div

The new comprehensive bible of interior design, from a home styling guru who has coached an entire Scandinavian generation in the art of creating a harmonious home. Frida Ramstedt believes in thinking about how we decorate, rather than focusing on what we decorate with. We know more today than ever before about design trends, furniture, and knickknacks, and now Frida familiarizes readers with the basic principles behind interior and styling—what looks good and, most of all, why it looks good. The Interior Design Handbook teaches you general rules of thumb—like what the golden ratio and the golden spiral are, the proper size for a coffee table in relation to your sofa, the optimal height to hang lighting fixtures, and the best ways to use a mood board—complete with helpful illustrations. Use The Interior Design Handbook to achieve a balanced, beautiful home no matter where you live or what your style is.

The study of human body measurements on a comparative basis is known as anthropometrics. Its applicability to the design process is seen in the physical fit, or interface, between the human body and the various components of interior space. Human Dimension and Interior Space is the first major anthropometrically based reference book of design standards for use by all those involved with the physical planning and detailing of interiors, including interior designers, architects, furniture designers, builders, industrial designers, and students of design. The use of anthropometric data, although no substitute for good design or sound professional judgment should be viewed as one of the many tools required in the design process. This comprehensive overview of anthropometrics consists of three parts. The first part deals with the theory and application of anthropometrics and includes a special section dealing with physically disabled and elderly people. It provides the designer with the fundamentals of anthropometrics and a basic understanding of how interior design standards are established. The second part contains easy-to-read, illustrated anthropometric tables, which provide the most current data available on human body size, organized by age and percentile groupings. Also included is data relative to the range of joint motion and body sizes of children. The third part contains hundreds of dimensioned drawings, illustrating in plan and section the proper anthropometrically based relationship between user and space. The types of spaces range from residential and commercial to recreational and institutional, and all dimensions include metric conversions. In the Epilogue, the authors challenge the interior design profession, the building industry, and the furniture manufacturer to seriously explore the problem of adjustability in design. They expose the fallacy of designing to accommodate the so-called average man, who, in fact, does not exist. Using government data, including studies prepared by Dr. Howard Stoudt, Dr. Albert Damon, and Dr. Ross McFarland, formerly of the Harvard School of Public Health, and Jean Roberts of the U.S. Public Health Service, Panero and Zelnik have devised a system of interior design reference standards, easily understood through a series of charts and situation drawings. With Human Dimension and Interior Space, these standards are now accessible to all designers of interior environments.

The basics from lighting to building materials providing a vocabulary of interior design through brief descriptions and more than 100 selected illustrations.