How Social Changes Influence Spaces

Learn how interior design is impacted by social changes and the lifestyle of each user

Interior design is the art and science of improving the interior of a building and creating a better environment for the people who use it.

The partners at Nook Architects’ studio in Barcelona are experts in translating their clients' needs into custom-made living and workspaces adapted to their needs. Their work has appeared in several digital media platforms and magazines like AD Spain, Maison Creative, Dwell Magazine, among many others.

According to Ana Garcia of Nook Architects (@nookarchitects), you cannot separate the concept of interior design from that of the architecture it is contained in, as it goes hand in hand with it. Renovating a home within a century-old building, where you'll preserve many original features, is different from designing a space in a new building property.

When Nook started out, the designers asked themselves some questions about social changes and how these influenced the design of spaces. 'All sorts of clients come looking to create a new space, and their requirements are all different,' says Ana. So the designers at Nook came up with three primary concepts to consider when redesigning a space, an exercise that they call 'reinhabiting'.

Let us see what they are:

Family

A few decades ago, families were composed of different generations living under the same roof, who would hang out together in possibly the only heated room while sitting around the dining table.

With the advent of central heating, TV, and spacious sofas, living at home became more relaxed. As family units became smaller, and with flat-sharing becoming more usual, houses started to be planned differently.

The team at Nook recently adapted a small apartment for the owner who needed to rent one of the bedrooms for financial reasons. They ensured they created spaces to be used commonly but at different times by two cohabiting adults. In another case, they converted the family home of a recently retired couple whose children had moved out. They transformed it to fit their new needs, incorporating old featured but creating more space and light for their new lifestyle.

As demographics decline and families have fewer children, a lot of the space in a home is designed to suit the children's presence as parents want to devote more time to them. In an open-space living area, a child can play supervised by the parent, and children's' rooms are no longer the sole spaces designed to fulfill their sleep, play, and all other activities.

Spaces

In the past, the rooms of a house had predetermined and specific functions and were separated one from the other. The kitchen is an excellent example. Once, it was a self-contained space often only used by some family members and full of utensils.

The kitchen is now the central part of a home. Besides being integrated into the dining area, the living room, and, if present, even a balcony, it also fulfills different functions than simple food preparation. It is a space where the family cohabits most of the time.

The spaces are now more versatile as they must conform to a higher level of flexibility.

Technology

We also recognize that technology has facilitated more diverse use of spaces, as many tasks can be carried out in different areas of the home. We are moving towards breaking up the limits between living space and office, between work and leisure.

The study room was a concept that came about when early computers were static objects connected to fax machines, printers, and other devices. They obliged the users to work in a small space, rather than being able to move a laptop anywhere in the house.

Nowadays, a large table that divides the kitchen and living room is a wide enough space to allow different tasks to occur, be it cooking, consulting recipes on Youtube, doing homework, and, of course, smart working.

Nook's philosophy is to create versatile spaces whenever possible and to allow the end-user to give meaning to the spaces according to the activity they carry out in those spaces. Their main objective is also not to take anything for granted.

If you want to know more about interior design and develop a renovation plan for interiors, sign up to Nook's course Interior Design from Start to Finish, a step-by-step guide from the initial phase to the layout of 3D models, as well as its physical implementation.

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