Oriental Interiors

Since the publication of Edward Said's groundbreaking work Orientalism 35 years ago, numerous studies have explored the West's fraught and enduring fascination with the so-called Orient. Focusing their critical attention on the literary and pictorial arts, these studies have, to date, largely neglected the world of interior design. Oriental Interiors is the first book to fully explore the formation and perception of eastern-inspired interiors from an orientalist perspective. Orientalist spaces in the West have taken numerous forms since the 18th century to the present day, and the fifteen chapters in this collection reflect that diversity, dealing with subjects as varied and engaging as harems, Turkish baths on RMS Titanic, Parisian bachelor quarters, potted palms, and contemporary yoga studios. It explores how furnishings, surface treatments, ornament and music, for example, are deployed to enhance the exoticism and pleasures of oriental spaces, looking across a range of international locations. Organized into three parts, each introduced by the editor, the essays are grouped by theme to highlight critical paths into the intersections between orientalist studies, spatial theory, design studies, visual culture and gender studies, making this essential reading for students and researchers alike.

Featuring over 250 photographs and insightful commentary, this topical interior design book will add a uniquely Asian-Pacific element to your home. The Philippines is home to a new generation of craftsmen, including furniture makers, artists, sculptors, and weavers. They specialize in taking the indigenous materials of the country—pina, abaca, capiz shell, bamboo, rattan, to name a few—and producing contemporary items that would be as at home in a New York loft as on a tropical verandah. Harnessing both Asian- and Latin-inspired style and modern techniques, they produce a cornucopia of fine contemporary furniture and "authentic" furnishing items. In this sourcebook of decorating and shopping ideas, these objects are presented within metropolitan and rural present-day interiors. From furniture and furnishings to table settings and lighting, all the homes, many never photographed before, are accented with artifacts in modern designs. Tropical Interiors shows how Philippine style is clearly now a global phenomenon and can be applied to homes worldwide.

This classic reference presents the history of interior design from prehistory to the present. Exploring a broad range of design styles and movements, this revised and expanded edition includes coverage of non-Western design and vernacular interior architecture and features 665 photographs and drawings (color and black-and-white). A History of Interior Design is an essential resource for practicing and aspiring professionals in interior design, art history, and architecture, and general readers interested in design and the decorative arts.

Shows forty decorating styles and demonstrates special painting techniques.