Architecture's 'other’: an ontological reading of the abject relationship with interior design

Abstract

Dialectic relationships exist between architecture and emergent architecturally informed disciplines. Interior design constitutes such a discipline and is considered a critical case study. The main problem is to investigate the ontology of interior design by considering its affilia- tion with architecture. With the use of Julia Kristeva’s construct, the abject, a synopsis of architectural and interior design theory is read to ascertain the dialectic and overlapping relationship. Through heuristic enquiry an ontological analysis of interior design (with refer- ence to essentialist aspects of architecture) is made. The Manichean dialectic is employed to produce qualita- tive descriptions that portray the disciplines as dis- crete ‘others’. Architecture is a normative profession which considers interior design as a part of itself