Architecture, Design, and Social History

Conservation in architecture and design history examines how interior spaces are documented, interpreted, and preserved as evidence of the social and cultural forces that shaped them, drawing on disciplines ranging from architectural history to family and consumer sciences. Understanding how rooms were designed, used, and taught across different eras reveals not only aesthetic shifts but also changing ideas about domesticity, professional identity, and human wellbeing. Researchers are increasingly turning to narrative inquiry to recover voices—particularly those of women educators and practitioners—that formal archives have often overlooked. Open questions include how sustainability principles can be integrated into preservation practice without erasing historical authenticity, and how interior design's scholarly foundations can be strengthened to reflect the full complexity of its social and material histories.

Works

77,111

Total citations

120,639

Keywords

Interior DesignEducationResearchFamily and Consumer SciencesSustainabilityArchitecture