The ever-evolving world: From Space Decor to Spatial Experiences

Spatial Service Design

As humans of the modern world, we have surrounded ourselves with something known as man-made spaces. Besides the indigenous cultures and tribes who live amongst nature in the forests, most of the human population in the modern world has confined themselves into spaces that are made by man. As the planet started to grow a new jungle made of concrete, new professions started to emerge for this demand to be completed. Architects were born. Construction companies were born. Revolutions from the industrial era to housing changed employment and created new professions. And in the millennial era, a new emerging profession known as Interior Design was born.

Interior Design is a profession like many others which requires a lot of thinking, attention to detail, technical knowledge, practicality, and planning. However, most people perceive interior designers as designers who decorate the space with colors or cushions/fabrics/vases, etc to make an interior space look aesthetically beautiful. There is a distinct difference between this function and the other. The latter is also something that exists and we call them Interior Decorators.

Now that we have briefly defined what Interior Design as a profession is, let’s get to the interesting evolution of it. As the concrete jungles have now started to take over our planet and more and more spaces are being built for every single function in the human world from healthcare to education to entertainment and leisure, culinary and hospitality, we Architects, Engineers, and Interior Designers have had huge opportunities to make a difference in the way Humans experience spaces. We have literally played a huge part in the way people live, work and play. As Interior Design grew as a profession, we got the power to control how humans interact with spaces, how they feel when they enter a space, how they perceive a space, how their moods get affected, how their day goes, and how their productivity level changes or how much they’re able to relax!

As an Interior Designer, I realized the importance of my profession to human-kind. I realize how I am the alterer of moods for humans. The newer forms of design keep emerging every day suchas design for senses, design for wellness, design for sustainability, design for immersive experiences and ephemeral spaces, and so on. These are the deeper aspects of design where interior designers actually have the ability to solve real-world problems just by their skills and expertise. The skill of this profession remains the same but the outcome has now changed. Interior Design, just like any other design, is a problem-solving profession where we started off by solving problems of space functions and fitting our human functionalities comfortably within confined spaces on land (Weather indoor or outdoor). Now, we have bigger responsibilities since we have cracked the function and aesthetic of space. We are now creators of human experiences. We are here to solve the bigger problems of material wastage or harmful materials. We are here to use our resources of the planet wisely and save spaces, we are here to spend on necessary aspects of design and see what’s really worth it. Above all, we are here to give humans what they most seek today: EXPERIENCES.

Does it matter if the space looks aesthitically amusing and super beautiful with the most high-end materials used but the functionality does not serve the purpose? We all know the answer if a hotel was built in this manner, it would soon run out of business!

Similarly, what is the point of creating new spaces but hardly any new experiences? Why are we copy-pasting what’s been done for years in the past and using Pinterest images in our designs? Is it not time to understand what humans really NEED TODAY? After the major changes they have gone through from pandemics to digital spaces like the metaverse, SO much of their needs have completely been altered for physical spaces. It’s time, we as interior designers take up the responsibility of really understanding the experience a human is seeking from a space and then design it. If UX designers in the tech world can go so in-depth with their research to understand what their ideal “user experience” is and THEN design for them, WHY can’t Interior Designers do the same?

This is Lisa Harpalani, an Interior Design Graduate by profession, class of 2015. I am now preaching to change my profession to an INTERIOR EXPERIENCE DESIGNER. I want to understand my USER. The spatial users will now co-create with me while I design new experiences for them. They might not even be in confined spaces anymore! Who knows?