For decades, women have shaped interior design. Yet for a long time, the design of interiors was seen mainly as an extension of unpaid housework. The anthology »Making Space«, newly published by Phaidon, now showcases the work of pioneers, forgotten women designers, and exciting newcomers.
»In 1921, Elsie de Wolfe, the world’s first professional interior decorator, stood before a New York courtroom, suing a client for unpaid services. When the judge asked her to define her profession, she famously replied, ›I create beauty‹«—this is how the introduction to »Making Space« begins, a volume that brings together 250 of the most influential female interior designers. Not all the women featured in the book are as well known as Elsie de Wolfe or her colleague Rose Uniacke. Yet the thoughtfully designed volume also gives space to forgotten, lesser-known, and emerging designers.
Elsie de Wolfe, Tea House, Planting Fields, Oyster Bay, NY, USA, 1916
»Making Space« shows that while interior design was already in women’s hands at the beginning of the 20th century, it took an astonishingly long time for it to be acknowledged as a field of creative expression. Previously, the prevailing view was: women take care of the interior to best fulfill their household duties. Only gradually was interior design recognized as an independent profession—and no longer merely seen as a hobby or an extension of unpaid housework.
Dorothy Draper, Greenbrier Hotel, White Sulphur Springs, WV, USA, 1948
The book also points out that many of the early female designers came from privileged backgrounds. Among them was Dorothy Draper, whose electrifying interior design for the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia in 1946 featured a bold black-and-white checkerboard floor, turquoise-and-white striped walls, and wallpaper with oversized magenta rhododendrons.
Laura Ashley, Artist’s studio featuring the Bloomsbury Room collection, London, UK, 1987
The renowned Welsh decorator and textile designer Laura Ashley built a global empire around her identity as a mother and housewife. Her signature floral patterns appeared feminine in a way now considered old-fashioned, yet they concealed another side of her personality—that of a shrewd businesswoman who was both an entrepreneur and a trendsetter.
Ana Milena Hernández Palacios home and studio, near Valencia, Spain, 2023
With modernity, interior design also changed in a clearly recognizable way. Although it might seem so in retrospect, not all designers embraced the industrial materials of the Machine Age. It is worth noting that these were primarily materials traditionally associated with notions of masculinity. Eileen Gray’s soft, comfortable Bibendum Chair (1926) can be read in this context as a feminist response to the sleek designs of modernism.
Xiang Li, Loong Swim Club, Suzhou, China, 2019
In »Making Space«, 250 such stories are told—each unique in its own way. Photographs that clearly show the distinctive design styles of the female designers complement the biographical texts. Both the images and the short biographies illustrate how women have claimed and shaped spaces over decades—and in decisive ways contributed to the recognition of interior design as a profession. Furthermore, »Making Space« makes it clear that interior space is never neutral: it is always shaped by the people who design and inhabit it. [SW]
Making Space. Interior Design by Women.
Hardcover, 29 cm x 25 cm, 288 pages
phaidon.com
