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MINIMALISM IN INTERIOR DESIGN

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 MINIMALISM
IN
INTERIOR DESIGN

Rithish.K
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 2

2. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MINIMALISM 2

3. APPLICATION OF MINIMALISM IN INTERIOR DESIGN 3

3.1 Concept of minimalism 3
3.2 Characteristics of minimalist style 3
3.3 Green initiative and sustainable concept of minimalist style 3

4. DESIGN METHODS 4
4.1 Proper division of the space 4
4.2 Selection of materials and colors 4
4.3 Selection of furniture 5
4.4 Application of light 5

5. CASE STUDY - FARNSWORTH HOUSE 6

5.1 Overview 6
5.2 Why minimalist style 6
5.3 Minimalist style in Farnworth house 7
5.4 Justification 7
5.5 Critique 8

6. CONCLUSION 8

7. REFERENCES 9

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 1. INTRODUCTION
Millennials (age from 18-34 years) likes to posses a minimalistic life-style.
This open-minded age group people prefers to pay their resources on
experiences instead of paying on materialistic things. The people of this age
are earners and they opt for an easy life-style, because they must save for
emergencies and not to purchase things they do not need. These people
desires their building to be spacious, convenient for transportation or
reasonably planned.

The minimalist concept is so popular everywhere the globe, particularly in

Australia. It takes notions of modern design and simplifies them further. The
style of a minimalist design is extremely distinctive, modern, and is generally
represented as "less is more". To follow with the trend of minimalism, popular
marketeers like IKEA and many other are designing and manufacturing
products that has the characteristics of minimalist style.

2. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MINIMALISM

Minimalism officially appeared in 1950s and 1960s. It created a movement
called ‘The minimalist art movement’ in 1960s and 70s. It was initially
appeared within the field of painting and sculpture, it emphasized that the
most important expression of the painting is the relationship between form
and color, advocated to express the artistic language with simple elements,
colors and simplifies to the extreme. As a kind of concept of removal of
complex and back to the nature, it spread to the visual, music, literature and
many other areas.

Under this core, minimalist has a great influence on the development of

many fields. It is used in book binding design and shows information fully. It
does not have the complicated decorations like the other rich and classical
design style has and displays the logical language of the designer or the
author in all aspects. Minimalist clothes would be more comfortable, the
fabric of cloths would be soft and smooth. They prefer it to be simple and cut
fit.

Minimalist style furniture first appeared in the German Bauhaus Institute.

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 3. APPLICATION OF MINIMALISM IN INTERIOR DESIGN
3.1 Concept of minimalism
Minimalist style is basically originated from art forms. After applying the
minimalism in interior design, it inherits minimalist concepts like "less is
more“ and "return to the original“. Therefore, it reduces the violence within
the emergence of works and creates a powerful visual experience and obtain
the essence of art. So minimalist style is to get rid of the extra decoration and
pursue the most essential part by the most basic means of expression. So it is
simple and neat in sense and more elegant in taste and thinking.

3.2 Characteristics of minimalist style

It is greatly simplified in form and takes the function as the core of design. It
is no longer the design just for form because it obeys "less is more". In
addition to the simplification of decorative elements, the form of furniture
also has characteristics. Minimalist piece of furniture and accessories
specialises practicality on functionality and practicality. The colors must be
simple & less. The material should be environmental-friendly and safe. There
are no extra decorative elements, but it emphasizes on the design of the
visual integrity and formal simplification. Highly patterned furnishings and
accessories can not be seen in this style Because they focus on the purity and
simplicity of the shape and form. Clear and clean benchtops and surfaces,
bare walls with minimal artworks also are essential.

3.3 Green initiative and sustainable concept of minimalist style

The green initiative of minimalist style is mainly reflected in the application of
materials. In the materials of furniture, they don’t use fur even though it
represents elegance, noble and quality. This is often as a result of the fur
comes from animals, that is unacceptable in minimalist. Therefore, the
materials of indoor furniture are mainly cotton material and carbon fiber,
transparent environmental-friendly. Fabric’s texture feels comfortable at
people’s 1st sight. Furniture materials are close to nature, mostly are wood
and alternate natural materials. The basic paint on the wall is latex paint,
that is simple to color, easy in form and minimises many troubles when
painting 2nd time.

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 4. DESIGN METHODS
4.1 Proper division of the space
Interior design is people-oriented and the division of space and function is
the most important. In minimalist style, the division of spaces should be done
carefully. The use of space should be reasonable, should not have too many
partitions and should follow the principle of keeping unity to reduce the
waste of space.

Orientation of furniture Level difference

4.2 Selection of materials and colors

Minimalist style interior design is the product of leading the minimalist life, so
the choice of materials is also affected by minimalism. Materials such as
brick, steel, latex paint and other sustainable materials can be used. The wall
is an important element to highlight the style, so the material of the wall
should be selected carefully. Fabrics are mainly cotton and linen without too
much textures & should maintain material’s original touch. The colour
scheme is also simple which are monochromatic colors consisting of whites,
beiges and greys are typical of minimalist-designed spaces.

Color palette Material board

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4.3 Selection of furniture
Minimalist furniture is comfortable in function, simple in appearance and it is
designed to be geometric. The materials like fiber, fabric, metal, plastic,
wood and so on can be used. While designing furnitures, lines and basic
geometry should be adopted. Furniture should be placed in line with the
whole environment and match the surrounding environment. The color also
complies with the minimalist framework, so they are mainly black and white.
It should give the users a sense of relaxing, comfort and freedom.

Minimalist furnitures

4.4 Application of light

Light is very important in the indoor environment, whether it is natural light or
artificial light. Minimalist style obeys the great importance to external natural
light. While using artificial lighting, the hue should not be too high because
that may affect the person’s thinking, so the white or light color is usable.

Natural light Artificial light

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 5. CASE STUDY - FARNSWORTH HOUSE
5.1 Overview
Farnsworth house, the temple of domestic modernism is designed by famous
architect Mies van der Rohe in the year 1951. It is one of the most
paradoxical houses of the 20th century. It is specially designed for his
favourite female doctor Edith Farnsworth. The client wanted it as a weekend
retreat and it has to have a sense of relaxing, like a poetry, playing music,
kind of thing. The Farnsworth is a separate house in a jungle. It looks like a
plain white box with structural frame & glass walls.

Façade of Farnworth house Axonometric view

5.2 Why minimalist style

The site of Farnsworth house is in a jungle & the doctor wanted a house like
a retreat in that site. The designer didn’t want to create something that can
destroy the character of the site. So he has designed with the materials that
are sustainable and that makes the user connected with the surrounding
nature. Since it is a vacation home, maintenance should be very less and
also the house should maintain the essence of relaxation. The minimalist
interior style satisfies all of these & hence that particular style is preferred.
And also during that period, the minimalism was the trending style.

Floor plan of Farnworth house Interior showing the minimalism

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5.3 Minimalist style in Farnworth house
The house is a mix of minimalism and modernism which are almost similar.
Aside from the glass walls in the center of the house enclosing toilets, the
floor plan is open exploiting true minimalism. It contains all the services, two
bathrooms, a kitchen with a continuous stainless-steel countertop, a wood
living space, and a fireplace on the south side. Smoothness and continuity
are also maintained. The permeability of glass replaces the obstructed wall,
connecting indoor and outdoor space together visually, weakening the
division of space. It reflects the extremely minimalist ideas. The roof is
painted white & the central box of toilets is in the contrast color that makes
user feel good. The furniture is in brown. The cloth is mostly cotton and linen
fabrics & leather. It is soft and comfortable and give the user feel of relaxing.
The floor is in beige color which is slightly obsolete, which is more nostalgic,
increasing design quality. The variety of light coming into entire space is very
soft. Everything is done to make the building appear simple and weightless. It
follows the proportions and geometry as all Meis designs have.

Axono view showing interiors Axono view showing interiors

Living room Kitchen Work space

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5.4 Justification
The style of minimalist justified the site and the era in which it was built, but it
is said that the client Dr. Edith Farnsworth was not happy with the overall
design because of lacing the privacy from surroundings, having very less
storage and she felt minimalism is boring.

5.5 Critique
I personally like the design which is justifying the site context and meets the
requirements. The mix of modernism and minimalism is interesting. But from
the point of the client, having few walls or partitions can be better for privacy
and can be helpful with the sudden change of weather.
Something could have been done for the storage. This deviates from the
minimalist interior style, but if the client (user) has to be satisfied, the
minimalist style interior design should not have used.

6. CONCLUSION
After the research on minimalist style, I have understood well about the
minimalist interior design. Understood how the interior environment works in
this style. All the rooms in this space seem to be separated by not using
walls, but in a smart way. Every space have it’s own set of characteristics
without deviating from the integrity. I felt there are 5 key points that should be
kept in mind while designing minimalist style of interior design:
1. The colour white radiates peace and tranquillity and can also give a
luxurious effect, so it is important to go ‘back to the basis’.
2. Normally dark colours are not appropriate as the basis for offices, but it
can have a good function in details and accessories. Black details in a
white environment exude a special luxury.
3. The balance between the amount of furniture and accessories is very
important: ‘less is more’.
4. Natural materials can add more atmosphere and warmth in a minimalist
office design, by using plants, wood or bamboo.
5. The use of smooth lines in furniture, the placing of furniture and lighting
creates a cohesive working environment.

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 7. REFERENCES
1. https://academicjournals.org/journal/JFSA/article-full-text-
pdf/3A668BC6040

2. http://essay.utwente.nl/81024/1/Brager_MA_BMS.pdf

3. https://home.tarkett.com/en_EU/node/what-is-minimalist-interior-
design-style-8860

4. https://adorable-home.com/smart-home/most-popular-interior-design-
styles-54284#Minimalist

5. https://www.atlantis-press.com/article/25881341.pdf

6. Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe: A bond between the House
and Nature - RTF | Rethinking The Future (re-thinkingthefuture.com)

7. https://www.essentialhome.eu/blog/mid-century-modern-icons-
farnsworth-house-mies-van-der-rohe/

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