Interior Design Since 1900

World of Art

by Anne Massey

Interior design experienced an extraordinary amount of changes in taste and style during the twentieth century. From William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement to expressionism, postmodernism, and green design, Interior Design Since 1900 charts them all.


Featuring more than two hundred color illustrations of interiors from around the world, this book reveals the fundamental changes in style that occurred throughout the century. The 1900s saw the emergence of professional designers and a growing appetite to redesign homes to keep up with popular fashion. In recent decades, the focus has shifted toward public spaces and sustainable design. In this survey, Anne Massey explores the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of these developments.


This book has been a classic introduction to interior design for almost thirty years. The new, fourth edition is brought up-to-date with a chapter on transnational design, encompassing mid-century modernist work in Singapore and Sri Lanka, as well as more recent interior spaces, including luxury hotels in Dubai and a contemporary art museum in Cape Town. Through this book, Massey shows how a shared language of design and cutting-edge technology are reshaping interiors around the globe.

Genres: Design, Interior Design, Art, Nonfiction, Architecture, History, Business

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 2008

About the author

Anne Massey is professor of design and culture at Huddersfield University and professorial fellow at the University of the Creative Arts, England. She is the author of The Independent Group: Modernism and Mass Culture, 1945–1959; Interior Design Since 1900; and six other books. She has edited five volumes, including A Companion to Contemporary Design Since 1945, and was founding coeditor of the journal Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture. She lives in London.

Reviews

[Martin Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting. Actually starts way back in the 1800s with the Arts & Crafts movement. The book focuses on upper and middle class design (since colloquial design was and still is more eclectic and functional), but later on it talks about commercial interiors and pop interior design. It covers a broad range of history and social context for everything.

I feel like the book didn't go into much detail into the ideas that informed interior design theories. I'd have been interested in that.

Also, it explains how interior design and architecture are closely linked but I feel like the last few chapters focused too much on big architectural projects and didn't talk much about domestic interior design.

Importantly, this book has also cemented my belief that the 60s were hell for interior design.

[Edie Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

By now we all know that women have had fewer opportunities to learn and practice design (and in the early years none at all), men have taken or been given credit for work actually designed or produced by women, and women were paid less then their male counterparts. None of this surprises anyone anymore, but it still infuriates me every time I think about it!

Although familiar with some of the names and works presented, many were unknown to me. Their fascinating stories often transcended their creative capacity. They served as suffragettes, anti-fascists, resistance fighters, and did many other good deeds. In truth not all women designers lean to the left (In a book about the women of the Bauhaus you’ll come across a few Nazis) but you aren’t going to learn about them here.

The illustrations were small but good and mostly in color. We’re given a lot of new material to digest. I found the writing so gripping I read the bulk of it in one day!

So I highly recommend, “Women in Design” and hope it will travel beyond the design community.

[Carlo Mazzanti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this on a whim, but ended up enjoying it quite a lot more than expected. Very well-written with some amazing and well-chosen photos.

[Edie Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t think you can successfully make a small comprehensive book on such a large subject. Rapidly going from one artist to another didn’t give the reader a time to breathe.

Pictures are critical, but in my opinion the limited illustrations we got weren’t big enough, and not all of them were in color.. of course this is the price you pay for a small inexpensive book.

However, I noticed some problems in content.

The author constantly refers to a certain style as Art Deco. That’s how most people know it. The term “arts decorates” was first used in France in 1858 when style made its debut at the 1925 World's Fair in Paris—the “Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes” or in English, “The International Exhibition of Modern and Industrial Decorative Arts”. But she neglects to mention that the actual term, Art Deco, was coined in a 1966 newspaper article by Hillary Gelson I think using this anachronistically and without explaination confuses the reader.

She also refers to Busby Berkeley’s famous films from the 30s as MGM productions. Berkeley’s work for MGM came later. The “Gold Digger” movies and “Footlights Parade” were all created at Warner Brothers. And how can you mention the Astaire-Rogers films without crediting art director Van Nest Polglaise?

The “World of Art” series has produced many fine books. I just don’t think of this particular title as a successful effort.