What do you think?
Rate this book
The Modern Interior
Today’s home is filled with pieces from Pottery Barn, IKEA, and Crate & Barrel, and we pore over glossy catalogs in hopes of achieving the “modern interior.” This idealized aesthetic is the subject of Penny Sparke’s study, as she explores the style in both its absolute form and the diverse decorating approaches seen in the contemporary home.
The shift from Victorian to modern style, The Modern Interior reveals, was not as simple and smooth as it is often perceived and the book probes the complicated history behind that transition. Sparke examines the work of such designers as Marcel Breuer, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles and Ray Eames, and Mies van der Rohe, and draws upon design examples from the United States and Europe to reveal that, unlike the designed exteriors of buildings and institutions, the idea of the “interior” has been a largely abstract conception promoted through exhibitions, retail stores, and mass media.
A comprehensive and in-depth investigation of the design environments we live and play in, The Modern Interior will be essential reading for all scholars and interested observers of architecture and modern design culture.
The shift from Victorian to modern style, The Modern Interior reveals, was not as simple and smooth as it is often perceived and the book probes the complicated history behind that transition. Sparke examines the work of such designers as Marcel Breuer, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles and Ray Eames, and Mies van der Rohe, and draws upon design examples from the United States and Europe to reveal that, unlike the designed exteriors of buildings and institutions, the idea of the “interior” has been a largely abstract conception promoted through exhibitions, retail stores, and mass media.
A comprehensive and in-depth investigation of the design environments we live and play in, The Modern Interior will be essential reading for all scholars and interested observers of architecture and modern design culture.
240 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2008
6 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Penny Sparke
77 books6 followersPenelope Anne Sparke is a writer and academic who specializes in the history of design. She is a Professor of Design History at Kingston University, London, where she is also Director of the Modern Interiors Research Centre.
Sparke received her B.A. in French Literature and her P.G.C.E. in Education from Sussex University, and her Ph.D. in Design History from Brighton Polytechnic.
Sparke received her B.A. in French Literature and her P.G.C.E. in Education from Sussex University, and her Ph.D. in Design History from Brighton Polytechnic.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 27, 2022
another spur-of-the-moment choice from the library. i found this really difficult to follow and i'm really not sure why? it was an interesting and not too technical history of interior design since the mid-C19, how it's interacted with architecture, art and industrial design, and how it's developed as through the interplay between domestic and public settings.
November 5, 2024
Sparke makes a lot of important points within many of the periods of the modern interior, addressing the why and how’s. I struggled at times with how the information is presented.
As much as I love a good, long sentence, this book was actually somewhat taxing to read. I found myself rereading paragraphs as so much information was contained within a sentence that it was tough to absorb it all.
I think a better editor would have helped as the giant paragraphs of long sentences were somewhat taxing to read and digest.
As much as I love a good, long sentence, this book was actually somewhat taxing to read. I found myself rereading paragraphs as so much information was contained within a sentence that it was tough to absorb it all.
I think a better editor would have helped as the giant paragraphs of long sentences were somewhat taxing to read and digest.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews