CULTURE,

CONTEXT,
DESIGN
Nadine Dragan
IA 410
Fall 2020
Professor Marquart
22 November 2020
MY THESIS
My research project topic is cultural context
and how it relates and used in interior design.
Also to explore definitions of culture and
begin to identify how standards relating to
design and culture might evolve in the future.
Globalization is “a process of interaction
and integration among the people,
companies, and governments of
different nations, a process driven by
international trade and investment and
aided by information technology”.

— SUNY Levin Institute.

 Interior design and architectural firms, like
other companies, are embracing this and
making changes to their business strategies.
There are three identified major aspects of
globalization that designers and architects
should consider in order to move to the
forefront of the design industry: Cultural
Knowledge and Research, Identifying Global
Cultures, and Education.
CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE &
RESEARCH

MISSION VISION

A research-based design Educating interior design

approach helps firms students with a feeling of
understand their clients to empowerment to take
ensure culturally sensitive responsibility and gain
and responsible interior knowledge surrounding
design. diverse people, customs, and
social
organizations to understand
other cultures.
AUDIENCE
DEMOGRAPHICS
WHERE? WHO? WHY?
To apply this same framework
Worldwide Families when designing for a global
market, cultural knowledge and
research are critical. Many
Companies
aspects of the built environment
vary drastically from one culture
Schools to another, but there is also
much common ground when it
Healthcare
comes to interior design and
architecture.
IDENTIFYING GLOBAL
CULTURES
● Transformative projects change the rules of
engagement between the use and the user,
reformatting existing ideas of identity and in doing so
they become ‘famous’ brand ambassadors for the
designers and firms they represent.
● Identity as a platform for architecture and design is
nothing new.
○ Over the last twenty years, northern European
architects have delivered exciting new
perspectives and projects globally from studios in
Copenhagen, Rotterdam, and Oslo.
● It is quite possible that we are able to offer a fresh and
exciting interpretation by seeing identity through a
new lens.
 ACADEMIC JOURNAL
RESEARCH
● A new expectation for student learning about culture might read:

○ “Interior design programs provide exposure to questions around how

‘‘culture’’ is constructed and the role that interior environments play in
the process”.

● The term “exposure” recognizes the multiplicity of ways by which students

can respond to questions around culture and is open-ended enough to
position the role of faculty as a facilitator in the process rather than an
authority with all the answers.

● Focusing on “how” culture is constructed concentrates on process rather

than an end, setting in motion the questioning and inner reflection that is
instrumental to these dialogues.

● Placing ‘‘culture’’ in quotes aligns Professional CIDA Standards with current

interdisciplinary debates and allows room for thought and criticism.

● Lastly, by creating parameters to which interior design students can

relate—interior environments—this revised language enables them to focus
their questions and enhance their contributions to theoretical and practical
knowledge around this arena.
EDUCATION
RESOURCES
Students, instructors and
professionals need to have
the resources and skills to
research a culture and
incorporate what they learn
into their designs.
ORGANIZATIONS
Professional organizations
like ASID, IIDA and AIA offer
continuing education
opportunities in
international business
strategies and global design
trends.
OPPORTUNITIES
Whether through a study
abroad program or
real-world projects with
diverse communities here
at home, colleges are
providing ever more
opportunities for students
to learn from and work with
members of different
cultural groups.
TECHNOLOGY
Technology allows us to
connect, share and
collaborate internationally.
 Reflecting on the importance of globalization in 2014, ASID
President Rachelle Schoessler-Lynn laid out a vision for a more
connected society, saying that
“stronger connections with the design world
around the globe should mirror our members and
their firms who already embody globalization.”
 NEW PARADIGM
With increased opportunity comes a
realization that the design of the built
environment has a significant global
impact; that realization signals the need
for us to collaborate on issues that unite
the design professions.
 WHAT ABOUT THE
FUTURE?
Future-changing architecture and design
takes on a massive dual responsibility – to be
both authentically relevant to the identity of
physical and social context while also
challenging assumptions on how buildings
should ‘behave’ relative to their users.
FUTURE GLOBAL
DESIGNERS
● Increased understanding of diverse cultural groups
around the globe is a worthy goal for anyone.
● For a design firm, it will also strengthen your firm’s
reputation as a global market leader.
○ Having a design team that is versed in world
history and current international trends will help
build consumer confidence in your firm’s ability to
deliver.
 The goal of this presentation is to challenge faculty in interior design
programs to move beyond teaching about ‘‘other cultures’’ and toward
facilitating student discoveries of what culture means within specific contexts
and how such meanings come to be defined. Inspiring interior design
students with a feeling of empowerment to take responsibility and gain
knowledge surrounding diverse people, customs, and social organizations to
advance the understanding around various cultures.

2020

GOAL FOR
EDUCATION
 CONCLUSION
Thanks to the constant evolution of
information technology,
globalization looks like it’s here to
stay, and design firms that
embrace the challenge will propel
their businesses to the next level.
DIRECT CONTACT
ROBERTA
COPPERSMITH
Main Mentor from Internship at
Precision Floors & Decor

JEFF STRASSER
Main Mentor from Internship at
Marc-Michaels Interior Design
PRESENTED QUESTIONS
Reflecting on the current practicing designers, do you believe
that they are often true global citizens of how well-rounded they
are in the design and how would you describe them?
Since the evolving urban setting changes frequently in the
design world how would you suggest implementing global
topics in higher-level courses in education?
How important is it valued in your company to hire/employ
designers with additional global knowledge about cultures and
being able to incorporate that into their designs?
PRESENTED QUESTIONS
Personal Inquiries:
Would you consider yourself to be a globally inspired designer? If
so, what kind of qualities or resources do you use as credit to the
global knowledge?
Due to your prior experience, how long do you think it has taken
you to develop this globally educated knowledge? If you have an
example of when it impacted you or a particular mostly, please
share that information as well.
 RESOURCES
● Amara Editors. “Amara Living.” Worldwide Homeware & Gifting, 10 Aug. 2020, www.amara.com/us/editorial/style/future-interior-design.
● Case, DISD, Mae, and Rick Hess. “Interior Design + Globalization.” DISD Interior Design Blog, 24 Jan. 2019,
www.disd.edu/blog/interior-design-globalization/.
● Coppersmith, Roberta. Interview. Conducted by Nadine Dragan, 15 October 2020.
● Conklin, Emily. “Resident Alien: Austrian Architects in America Explores the Globalization of Locality in Design.” The Architect's Newspaper, 4
Oct. 2019, www.archpaper.com/2019/10/resident-alien-austrian-architects-america-globalization-locality-design/.
● Hadjiyanni, Ph.D., Tasoulla. “Rethinking Culture in Interior Design Pedagogy: The Potential Beyond CIDA Standard 2g.” Interior Design
Educators Council, Journal of Interior Design, vol. 38, no. 3, ser. 2013, 2013, pp. v-xii. 2013.
● Li, Weiwei. “The Inheritance and Development of Traditional Culture in Interior Design and Three Dimensional Structure.” Published by
Atlantis Press, 2016, pp. 627–635., DOI: ICC6227.
● Marini, Barbara. “Small World, Big Needs.” Technology and Globalization, FASID, IDEC, American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), 1
Mar. 2013, www.interiorsandsources.com/article-details/articleid/15312/title/small-world-big-needs/viewall/true.
● Perspectives Editorial Staff. “Culture, Context, Design.” Warren & Mahoney, 3 Dec. 2017,
warrenandmahoney.com/articles/identity-matters-1.
● Schoessler-Lynn, Rachelle. “Worldwide Reach: The Impact of Globalization on Design Education and Practice.” ASID Icon, American Society
of Interior Designers, 7 May 2014,
icon.asid.org/index.php/2014/04/10/worldwide-reach-the-impact-of-globalization-on-design-education-and-practice/.
● Strasser, Jeff. Interview. Conducted by Nadine Dragan, 21 October 2020.
● Vela, Mike. “Civic & Cultural.” HKS Architects, 2018, www.hksinc.com/what-we-do/project-types/civic/.