Category: IIDA
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INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE vs. INTERIOR DESIGN
So my point here folks is there are many of us who believe that the term/title “Interior Design” no longer applies. It is a liability. It fails to describe us. Okay I do not disagree. But if we are going to keep our collective head in the proverbial professional sand while this title shift occurs organically, or by happenstance, we may be surprised by what we see when we do pull our heads out. Makes it a bit of challenge to demand the public’s respect if we do not know what to call ourselves.
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IIDA Steps Up to Forge Agreement with Food Service Equipment Distributors
Wow two positive efforts to advocate for the Interior Design profession in one week (see previous post). This time it is IIDA that ironed out an agreement with FEDA which is an allied association that represents commercial food service equipment distributors. FEDA has been a long term opponent of most, if not all, recent ID legislation. For now it appears that the IIDA advocacy team has ironed out whatever misunderstandings there were regarding ID legislation and its infringement on FEDA’s members, real or imagined. You can read FEDA’s point of view here along with the letter of understanding. http://www.feda.com/new/2015/10/IIDAagreement.pdf It will be interesting to see how this plays out with the next round of ID legislative efforts.
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Hey Farooq…..Maybe it’s Time to Change Your Business Model
http://www.newstimes.com/business/article/Ethan-Allen-re-ups-CEO-next-up-designers-6551652.php Maybe, just maybe, if you considered Interior Design as valuable service and not a free hook to lure in the occasional big sale your staff might earn a bit more respect and increase their sales, and your profit, via ethical business practices. But what do I know?
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POSITIVE PRESS AND THE REGULATED INTERIOR DESIGN MESSAGE
It is rare when PROFESSIONALINTERIORDESIGNER comes across a mainstream press article that actually discusses professional Interior Design as we know it. 95% is simply innately talented interior decorators posing as qualified interior designer pabulum. 4% are articles targeting Interior Design regulations as a prime example of government over-reach and the remaining 1% is simply too […]
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Defining Our Right to Work
Or in other words….what is our “work” and do we really have a “right” to it? PROFESSIONALINTERIORDESIGNER stumbled across this missive from the recent American Institute of Architects State Government Network forum. http://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/aia/documents/pdf/AIAB106707.pdf I can only assume that this presentation was not meant to be public knowledge and would not be surprised if the link dies…..none the less if you are quick you will note that the issue of interior designers seeking permitting rights and those who claim to be “Interior Architects” was a main topic of conversation. See slides #9-#14 My take away is that the AIA is clearly drawing a line in the sand by defining what a Registered Architect can legally design and what a non-licensed Architect can design…or get built. Actually anybody can “design” a building…..getting it permitted and constructed is the real key. I won’t even touch the issue of “Interior Architecture”…….it is lightning outside my window and the sky is cloudless. I digress. Back to the SGN network document. We, as a profession, have struggled with how to define what is that we do, where we do it and how. Ultimately much of what passes as the common definition of “Interior Design” is simply intended to distinguish us from interior decorators. When it comes to defining our actual scope of responsibility we are not quite sure. We know we should be able to submit permit documents for our own work but what exactly is that “work”? Is it anything less than 5,000 square feet as some practice legislation defines or is it interior work that does not affect base building life safety systems, building egress and tenant separation? There are several attempts to define the scope of our rightful work out there….this is not a good thing. Well why we have been trying to figure that out the National Council of Architectural Registration Board (NCARB) has provided their own answer….and we are not going to like it. To wit; “Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent: 1. The practice of architecture performed in connection with any of the following: (a) A detached single- or two-family dwelling and any accessory buildings incidental thereto, unless an architect is otherwise required by law or by the building authority having jurisdiction over the project; or (b) Farm buildings, including barns, silos, sheds, or housing for farm equipment and machinery, livestock, poultry, or storage, if such structures are designed to be occupied by no more than 10 persons; or (c) Any construction of particular features of a building, if the construction of such features does not require the issuance of a permit under any applicable building code and does not affect structural or other life-safety aspects of the building. ” ( http://www.ncarb.org/~/media/files/pdf/special-paper/legislative_guidelines.pdf ) So if your brain is not frozen at this point what this means is that NCARB has clearly defined our scope of practice to small scale residential, barns, silos or any construction that does not require the issuance of a permit. “Duh.- I knew that!” you might say…… My point is…if we can’t define where the line of work truly lies then we need to accept that others are going to define it for us…… Now does anybody know a good floorcovering material for a grain silo?
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HERE WE GO AGAIN- LOUISIANA ID LAW UNDER ATTACK
I can only assume that IIDA & ASID & IDEC & CIDA & All state Interior Design Coalitions are aware that Louisiana’s Interior Design practice law is being threatened and that they are working together to one, form a strategy to mitigate negative fallout from this campaign and two, martial a concerted legal and policy effort to address the next ID regulation debacle….because if we do not get our collective professional s**t together it will happen again…..and again….and after that…… Note I did not say save Louisiana’s practice act. ‘Fraid to say it may be too late for that. Inform yourself here; There is much more to this sordid story than the above video…I assume 2 minutes is all you can stomach. Okay so fellow regulated interior design professionals…..prepare to get slimed once again. Who’s next on this hit parade?
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Here’s a New Title to Consider
How about Registered Design Practitioner? I know…..I know….PROFESSIONALINTERIORDESIGNER tends to get way hung up on titles and credentials and the semantic implications thereof. OCD? Maybe. Insane? Duh! So it appears that the Illinois Interior Design Coalition (IIDC) has introduced a bill in which Illinois Registered Interior Designers, and other qualified Interior Designers, will be able to become licensed as Registered Design Practitioners. Let’s think about this. Inform yourself here; http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=1270&GAID=13&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=87741&SessionID=88&GA=99 http://www.iida-ilchap.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Illinois-Design-Practitioner-Act-Bill-Description-Myths_05-16-2014.pdf So with that we now have 5th possible regulated title and credential to deal with; Licensed Interior Designer Certified Interior Designer & State Certified Interior Designer where such legislation applies. California CID’s have a private voluntary system that is unique from all other CID legislation…confused? Registered Interior Designer Commercial Interior Designer & now…. Registered Design Practitioner Please note, if you have not already done so, the absence of the term “Interior”. And the shift from “Professional” to ‘Practitioner”. Curious solution to the anti-ID regulation backlash and possible conflict with the International Building Code I suspect. But wow are we ready to disavow the term “Interior” just to get a license? While I am all for state coalitions doing what they have to obtain right to practice/permitting privileges for the designers in their respective states I really wish we would all step back, take a breath and figure out what the implications for these semantic machinations really mean for our profession. Maybe it does not matter. Maybe it really should be up to each state to do what they can to earn a modicum of respect for our right to practice as peers with other licensed design professionals….er um…registered design practitioners. Should we care that we may end up with numerous iterations of our professional identity? Who cares? I do.
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PONDERING THE CASE FOR A NATIONAL REGULATED INTERIOR DESIGN BOARD
For several years now I have been lamenting the lack of a unified and cohesive professional identity for those interior designers who work within code regulated interior environments. My position has evolved over several years…of endless rants and debates, but ultimately I maintain that we (the code regulated) are much more than “Interior Designers”- at least as society understands the practice of “Interior Design”. I have gone as far to say that we should do what we can to distance ourselves from this term. We are not merely ‘Interior Designers”. However, as long as we try to distinguish ourselves solely by pursuing governmental regulation, that supposedly grants society the collective recognition and respect of our learned and vetted abilities to improve the quality of their lives and livelihoods, we will never achieve parity with other regulated/licensed building design professions. I get tired of saying this….We have to create this distinction BEFORE we pursue such legal/political recognition. Let’s assume that our current mode of distinguishing our professional domain from the larger domain of “Interior Design” by use of regulation achieves success on a national basis…it won’t, but let’s just assume for a second that all states recognize qualified Interior Designers from the innately qualified by way of title or practice legislation. What we will end up with is a collection of Certified Interior Designers, State Certified Interior Designers, Registered Interior Designers, Commercial Interior Designers and Interior Designers. Got it? Some of us will feel better because of the semantic title twist…some of us may or may not be able to pull permits for our work, some of us will be registered/certified via some quasi-public board with no real right to practice and some of us will just have to settle to be lumped in with the local carpet store sales person who has a flair for color and a title in his/her business card “Interior Designer”. But as I said we will not even get to this level of consistency. We have numerous state Interior Design (note the reliance on “Interior Design” nomenclature) coalitions many of which work as private support entities for their state boards where Interior Design is legislated. Currently there are 39 such coalitions…in various stages of activity http://www.asid.org/content/state-legislative-coalitions#.U-OSTmPpW1E as far as I can tell only 28 state coalitions exist in states with active Interior Design legislation. Michigan just de-regulated its title act and the MIDC appears dormant, California has a quasi private/public regulatory effort and of course there is a litany of various title and practice regulations in place. Have I convinced you that there may be a better way? So I have given this dilemma a bit of thought…..”how do we achieve a critical mass of societal comprehension and respect for our profession that will allow us to effectively pursue our right to practice as registered/licensed design professionals? We need a National Board of Regulated/Registered* Interior Designers. There I said it. * I don’t care what we call ourselves…let’s just stop calling ourselves “Interior Designers”. Let the Interior Designers have it. Confused?…..join the club Now back to my big idea. I have not fleshed this out, obviously. I am sure my interpretation is rife with misunderstanding I do not know everything about our professional domain particularly on the public/regulated side of things. Know that I exist in State that may never achieve legal recognition based on the current status quo. I digress. So here is a link to a graphic model of how I see the profession of Interior Design currently and how it might look with a National Board. https://www.dropbox.com/s/a2yp41hikgnro1q/ID NATIONAL BOARD.pdf?dl=0 If you have ever taken the time to do an organizational chart of the profession of Interior Design (sarcasm intended) you know how difficult this can be to represent graphically. Yes it looks confusing, and I will admit to lots of graphic mis-steps but I hope that you can see the kernel of an idea….a big idea. While the first inclination might be to compare this idea with the architectural profession (AIA & NCARB) I am leaning toward other examples of private/state regulated professions. Certified Public Accountants for one. Obviously I have a lot of work to do to fully flesh my idea out. But I am more than willing for anybody who has taken the time to hear me out to comment for better or worse. Bring it.
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OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
PROFESSIONALINTERIORDESIGNER has previously posted about Architecture’s image problems. Because Architecture is, for better or worse, our bastard step-father (metaphor stretch for amusement only) we need to be mindful that not all is comfy cozy in their professional house. Indirectly there are lessons to be learned and in this case I believe there is a big opportunity for the Interior Design profession. But first refresh yourself as to the issues Architects are facing; http://www.forbes.com/sites/justinshubow/2015/01/06/architecture-continues-to-implode-more-insiders-admit-the-profession-is-failing/ While I do not think the image problem that the Architectural profession currently finds itself is new I do think there is a widening polarity in that profession that will make it very difficult for them to overcome. They may need to implode and start over. As long as Aaron Betsky and the Starchitect/Artistes as provocateurs are allowed to set the tone, or have a voice in it, it will. Let’s face it the 1%’ers are the only ones who generally can afford to hire “Starchitects”….we get what is left which is usually value driven and profit motivated. At our level much of the built environment is managed not by designers but by ‘Project Managers” or “Builders”. Much of common Architecture, as Mr. Gehry posits, is Shite. While I do not disagree I find it amusing that he is the one to call out the profession in that manner. There is no question this is as much an economic issue as one of a conflicted and increasingly polarized profession, like society in general. Back to my point. Architects have failed on two levels in my opinion. First they have allowed the concept of great (or even good) to be upended by the Starchitect as Artiste faction. Yes mind-blowing innovation is important but just because you can afford to do it does not mean you should do it. And obviously there is a great cost to these “designs”. The stories of blown budgets are legendary. This idea that good (or even great) design comes with a high cost has allowed the bean counters to drive the design discussion on the common level. Opportunity #1= Good design should not equate to cost. Professional/Regulated Interior Designers can help change this paradigm. Second, and more intrinsically tied to the near interaction of the human inhabitants of architecture (read “Interior Design”), is a constant thread through all of the non-Starchitect’s laments (with the exception of Gehry) that “Architecture’s disconnect is both physical and spiritual” (Bingler & Pederson). Ultimately much of modern Architecture as we commoners experience, lacks a soul, or as we Interior Design academics (and Germans) call it “Gemütlichkeit”. Opportunity #2= Interior Designers who are trained to focus on the human interaction with the built environment should claim the mantle of the profession best suited to design interior spaces that improve the quality of the users lives. To carry on with German The metaphorical door is now wide open-
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PAYING THE PROFESSION FORWARD
How does a profession grow and prosper? PROFESSIONALINTERIORDESIGNER has been involved recently in several discussions in which the issue of required work experience (AKA apprenticeship) and how to best earn it is the topic. All professions rely on their members to apprentice under the supervision of established professionals in order to […]
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