Pamela K. Evans, Ph.D., FIDEC, IIDA, LEED AP

Professor Emeritus
Kent State University
Principal and Owner
pique, inc., Akron
CIDA Standards Committee

Expertise/Specializations/Interests: hue discrimination and visual perception, design pedagogy, sustainable environments and materials, textile design arts

What is the highest and best purpose of interior design?

To design, by definition is to have purpose or intent. Interior design by extrapolation is the purposeful or intentional design of an enclosed environment. Intentional interior design means to be deliberate in the conveying and execution of that environment. For the last 100 years, interior design has developed from several points of view but at the heart, the purpose has always been about accommodating the needs and desires of the human occupants. Interior design has embraced both a functional and aesthetic vision but at the center of designing interior environments is answering human needs, teh basic needs of ALL individuals.

However, that view has been myopic. Although education has exposed the student of design to historical art and architecture, interior design has been developed in a western European view. It has not fully embraced the cultural diversity of a worldwide vision. Knowledge is power but design knowledge should be inclusive information that fully prepares individuals to serve humanity worldwide.