Conference Papers and Presentations (Architecture)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/51427

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The embarrassment over decoration : arguing against title change - The case of ‘interior design’ : ‘interior architecture’
(International Design Alliance, 2011-10-24) raymund.konigk@up.ac.za; IDA Congress Education Conference, (2011 : Taipei); Konigk, Raymund
This paper argues against the second course of title change for interior design (from ‘interior design’ to ‘interior architecture’). Heuristic reasoning based on design theory argues that interior design is an architectural discipline. Interior design experiences professional embarrassment (based on its marginalisation within the architectural profession) over the decorative aspects of its ontology, resulting in a situation where the discipline attempts title change to differentiate itself from a ‘less professional’ occupation (i.e. interior decoration) to assert its legitimacy. Title change may lead to artificial differentiations between ‘interior design’ and ‘interior architecture’ which will eliminate decoration from the discipline’s repertoire, leaving it impoverished. If interior design is defined broadly, differentiation between interior design and interior architecture will be redundant.
The ethics of tastemaking : towards responsible conspicuous consumption
(Design Education Forum of Southern Africa, 2015-09) raymund.konigk@up.ac.za; International DEFSA Design Education Conference, (7th : 2015 : Midrand, South Africa); Konigk, Raymund; Kahn, Zakkiya
The systemic nature of cultural production implies that designed objects are made desirable (or acceptable) by tastemakers who endow objects with forms of social distinction. Social distinction highlights or diffuses status and reveals self-perceptions of consumers’ identities. In this way, design becomes a form of tastemaking, invested in the construction of identity and is therefore a form of cultural production rooted in consumption. The role of the designer in facilitating conspicuous consumption is therefore critical in the context of social distinction, cohesion and identity. This practice is potentially unethical when cultural production is undermined as a cyclical fashionable commodity in which conspicuous consumption is utilised to indicate who is ‘in the know’. This may lead to a wasteful practice. While conspicuous consumption may be perceived as unethical and superficial, or at least contributing to environmental and social degradation, the ethical contributions of design in this context cannot be disregarded. The aspirational nature of conspicuous consumption is evident when individuals in developing economies are pressured to indulge on aspects of consumption before their basic needs are met; the implication is that consumers in all classes and incomes have the desire to express or improve their social status (O’Cass & McEwen, 2004:29). It may be argued (following Mangold, 2014) that socially responsive design prioritises the user’s needs over the aesthetics; however the role of aesthetics in tastemaking reinforces social patterns. Tastemakers are individuals who attained enough cultural capital to empower them to determine which new novel ideas, artefacts, or creative acts are recognised as valid and made available for cultural production at large. Their decision making has the potential to influence cultural ethics on a larger scale. In this understanding, consumerism is explored as having the potential to be a meaningful and viable means of generating identity. It is here that the ethical responsibility of the tastemaker becomes relevant. The paper will, through a focus on the links between consumerism and design, attempt to disrupt the perception that conspicuous consumption is a superficial practice to indicate that consumption can be an ethical practice.
Interior design’s occupational closure : an ethical opportunity
(Design Education Forum of Southern Africa, 2015-09) raymund.konigk@up.ac.za; International DEFSA Design Education Conference, (7th : 2015 : Midrand, South Africa); Konigk, Raymund
In March 2015 the South African Council for the Architectural Profession (SACAP) announced its intention to register new professional categories for interior designers. This will provide statutory recognition for the professional status of the interior design occupation and it will allow interior design occupational closure, a state where both the practice and title of the occupation will be regulated. To reach this milestone interior design’s practical and scholarly endeavour was focussed on the professionalisation of the discipline; a lacuna was produced in which the discipline did not adequately consider a separate identity for interior design. The pursuit of a stronger discrete identity could provide a stronger professional identity (Breytenbach, 2012). If interior design reaches the professional status it pursued it faces two consequences: firstly the discipline arrives at an ethical dilemma; secondly energy previously spent in the pursuit of professionalisation would be at large to deliberate discrete knowledge areas. The ethical dilemma is located in professionalism itself. When an profession reaches occupational closure it succeeds in establishing a monopoly of service which is based on its technical authority which links skill and practice to provide services to the public which are uniquely trustworthy. Professions are technical and adhere to norms and standards. These norms and standards have an ethical dimension: they must service the greater public good (Wilensky, 1964). As an industry, the interior design occupation must focus its intentions, efforts and influence toward 'that which ought to be'. This represents a normative position for interior design in which the discipline must clearly state what its obligation to society is, and how it will be met. Currently interior design is offered the opportunity to redirect its scholarly endeavour in the pursuit of ethical and discrete knowledge areas. This paper will argue that interior design can face both consequences simultaneously, and that these can be addressed through its mimetic production. During this emergent and developmental phase interior design can expand its practice and scope of expertise in an ethical manner. This paper aims to present some of these opportunities: interior design is uniquely placed in the built environment to denote occupation, inhabitation and identity; further, interior design is a tangible vehicle for the expression of intangible cultural practices that are expressed as public rituals (e.g. casual encounters and the conducting of conversations and other opportunities of exchange). Interior design contributes to the establishment and expression of identities which could support social cohesion; this is relevant in the establishment of a principledriven and human centered profession. The professional accountability and social responsibility lies in interior design’s contributions in the cultural realm.
Determining selection criteria for the compilation of an interior design corpus
(Design Education Forum of Southern Africa, 2013-09) raymund.konigk@up.ac.za; National DEFSA Design Education Conference, (12th : 2013 : Midrand, South Africa); Konigk, Raymund
The paper considers culture as a collection of meanings which are produced and consumed by a given social group. Thus, the generation of meaning would be analogous to the generation of culture. In the investigation of architectural (built) artefacts it is unusual to identify a representative sample; instead research focus is on the in-‐depth precedent study. The purpose of this paper is to identify selection criteria for such a broad corpus of interior design artefacts (which may be studied from a semiotic perspective) as grounded theory requires a large and broad data sample. This is a novel application. This paper will consider the role of the interior design researcher as domain gate-‐keeper in the determination of criteria to select a future corpus of interior design artefacts for semiotic analysis. It will conduct a literature review of interior design and social theory to identify selection criteria. The analytic purpose and selection criteria serve as example from which broader principles are identified.

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