Transgressive

The process of creating interior space is generally based around the understanding of, and working with, existing spaces and buildings. Whether the existing element is a real building, or merely the outline of a project drawn on a screen or page, the container will usually provide the impetus for change. This type of process, and thus sensibility, is explained by Nicolas Bourriaud as a process where; ‘It is no longer a matter of starting with a ‘blank slate’ or creating meaning on the basis of virgin material but of finding a means of insertion into the innumerable flows of production’. 1 This process of analysis and understanding promotes a certain kind of sensibility, an acceptance of what is already on or off-site, and the willingness to accentuate any of those found elements or narratives. This paper will propose that the importance of context and the process of analysing a given situation ensures that the act of creating interior space is inherently a strategy that is naturally transgressive. This means that the reworking of existing buildings, often thought to be the sole territory of restorers or conservationists, or even an adjunct of architectural practice, is actually the most radical and controversial of all spatial disciplines. The desire to re-order what already exists is inherently an act that interprets, conforms to, or even disobeys existing orders. Therefore designing new uses for existing buildings, occupying spaces that were once constructed for a particular previous purpose, provokes the designer into accepting or editing previous patterns of existence. This paper will explore the notion that the act of ‘producing’ an interior is a result of the production of a certain kind of sensibility.