Product Description

Much like the history of art, the history of interior design encompasses numerous styles, movements and the international political and social developments that have informed or challenged its evolution. This lavishly illustrated interior design history will be of interest to anyone interested not only in interior design, but also antiques, furniture design, textiles, decorative objects and the general evolution of the space where we work and live.

• This second edition contains 150 new photos, 35 new line drawings, 32 more pages, making it more lavish than the first
• A companion web site filled with even more images is also new to this edition and offers great value
• Presents interior design within the context of sociology, politics, economics, geography and other arts

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #262994 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 464 pages

Review
"Pile delivers a focused and clearly written chronological examination of significant interiors and their associated details." (APT Bulletin, June 2002)

From the Inside Flap
A History of Interior Design

John Pile

Second Edition

In its first edition this major survey on interior design by John Pile won the 2001 ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) Educational Foundation/Joel Polsky Prize. Now in its second edition, A History of Interior Design delivers the inside story on 6,000 years of personal and public space. John Pile acknowledges that interior design is a field with unclear boundaries, in which construction, architecture, the arts and crafts, technology, and product design all overlap. These topics are woven together in a fascinating narrative that runs from cave dwellings and temple architecture, through Gothic cathedrals and Renaissance Palaces on to the grand civic spaces of the nineteenth century and the sleek interiors of modern skyscrapers.

Embedded in a social and Political context, detailed discussions of famous buildings, from the Parthenon to the Pompidou Centre, are interspersed with investigations of the domestic vernacularóthe cottages, farmhouses, apartments, and city terraces inhabited by ordinary people. Primary source quotations are used to provide contemporary perspectives on a wide variety of interior settings.

New to the Second Edition

In this edition John Pile has included a new chapter looking at the interior design history of Asian and Islamic traditions. The Various paths along which design developed in India, China, Korea, and Japan are explored, together with a survey of developments in Cambodia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Islamic design is discussed in the context of its wide-ranging religious and cultural significance. New Material has also been added on Pre-Columbian design history.

The depth of John Pile's survey of interior design is also increased with the addition of 180 new images throughout the book, including furniture, textiles, lighting, and product design.

Finally, this new edition is completed with some examples of new work from across the globe that show how the constantly accelerating pace of development in scientific and technical fields has brought about new directions in interior  design history.

With 625 illustrations, 275 in colour.

About the Author
John Pile was Professor of Design at the renowned Pratt institute, Brooklyn, for most of his teaching career He is the award-winning author of twelve books on furniture, color, drafting, office planning, and other aspects of interior design.

Customer Reviews

The Wonderful Mr. Pile
History of Interior Design is great. I study interior design and, without John Pile's books, this wide-ranging subject would have been far more difficult. Studying the subject "history of interior design" would have been such a struggle for me without having this book at my side. I just couldn't find all I needed on the internet. Apart from the high quality paper and excellent images, John Pile has a writing style that gets his point across very clearly. That makes for rapid reading and faster absorption of information.

amazing resource!
WOW! beautifully organized and articulated. thoughtful and well-rounded discussion of the variation and evolution of interior design. it was purchased to use as a course resource (on 20th century American consumer culture), but am now tempted to buy my OWN copy.

Don't like history -- but love design? Buy this book!
If you're bored with historical overviews of a discipline, you're in for a surprise. Pile brings interior design to life with vibrant examples, wonderful background detail, and the kind of information that will help you understand this arena with much more depth.