Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 22

VIEWPOINT

A Letter to
a
Design
Student
Primo Orpilla on what it takes to
become a successful interior designer.

Dear Future Designer:
Let me start by commending you on the
leap of imagination you have made to pursue a
career in interior design. Unlike telecommunications, law, medicine, finance, or architecture, ours
is a profession not clearly understood. When you
say you're an interior designer people-like your
parents-will ask: "What exactly do you do?"
Even when you spell it out it's hard to get a sense
of what it is: electing furniture, finishes, colors,
and textures; figuring out where people are going
to sit and where the light will come from; lining
up adjacencies so that Space A leads logically
and effectively to Space B. You can get a degree
in this?
Yes, you can.
Having practiced the profession for more
than 30 years, I've come to understand that
what an interior designer does-what you will
learn to do in the years ahead-is create an
experience using space and light. Because interiors don't typically last as long as the shells
that enclose them, our field has existed for
many years in the shadow of "starchitect" exteriors. But it's important to remember that most of us experience architecture from
the inside out. Interior design is part psychology, part cultural anthropology, and
part behavioral science practiced through mediums of space and time. Like gardening
or even farming, it is the art of creating living ecosystems. (You probably didn't realize
you were studying to be a farmer.)
How this particular discipline is taught is of great concern to those of us who will
hire the next generation of designers. As the head of a company with young designers
on staff, there is a surge of first-rate talent coming to our firms equipped with some of
the most sophisticated technical expertise I've ever seen. Our design schools are doing
a bang-up job teaching AutoCAD and Revit, Rhino, InDesign, and SketchUp.
Where I would like to see more progress is in teaching the process-or maybe
I should say the habit-of critical thinking. The great software tools that have shifted
our profession from literal drawing boards to digital screens have brought with them
precision, consistency, and ease of use, but also a habit of conformity that is the
antithesis of good design. The challenge of modern design education is to teach the
high-tech mechanics of the craft while simultaneously breaking the herding instinct
(and reliance on shortcuts) those mechanics tend to encourage.

22

In other words, when you come into my
class (or my firm) you will be required to untether from the internet, close your apps and
programs, and open your eyes to the world
around you-specifically, to your world. Every
designer is inundated with influences: image
boards, pins, manufacturer's pitches, design
blogs, magazines like this one, HGTV, etc. But
if design is the art of creating experiences, the
quality spaces will be those that are drawn from
experience and replicate a feeling the designer
knows firsthand.
One of my favorite exercises with students
is to ask them to think of a favorite space and to
analyze what specifically creates the experience
that makes it their favorite. Begin design development not with an idea, but with a feeling-say
of your bare feet walking as a child on uneven
wood or of the particular quality of light coming
through an iced-over window late on a winter
afternoon. If you start with the emotion of a
space and then develop your idea from that, the
resulting design will have an authenticity you
won't find on the internet.
The best minds in design education today are searching for new ways to teach
a path to authenticity. In a world that's increasingly digital, virtual, and governed by
algorithms, the role of designers going forward will be to connect with the timeless
sensations we experience through the soles of our feet. You can teach that?
Yes, you can.
Best,

Primo Orpilla, FIIDA, is the co-founder of Studio O+A, a San Francisco-based
multi-disciplinary design firm responsible for groundbreaking workplaces at
Facebook, Microsoft, Yelp, Cisco, Uber, Nike, McDonald's, and many other
companies. He and O+A principal Verda Alexander were Contract's 2011
Designers of the Year. As global chair for student experience at the
International Interior Design Association, Orpilla's new focus is on
empowering the next generation of designers.

contractdesign.com

SEPTEMBER 2018


http://www.contractdesign.com

Contract Magazine - September 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract Magazine - September 2018

Contract Magazine - September 2018
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Agenda
Viewpoint: Letter to a Design Student
Product Briefs: Textiles
Black Girls Code, Google Code Next, The Khan Lab School
Lassonde Studios, The University of Utah
Matrix: Learning Environments
Product Focus
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - Contract Magazine - September 2018
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - Cover2
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 1
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 2
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 3
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 4
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 5
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - Contents
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 7
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 8
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 9
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 10
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 11
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - Editorial
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 13
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 14
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 15
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - Industry News
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 17
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - Agenda
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 19
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 20
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 21
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - Viewpoint: Letter to a Design Student
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 23
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 24
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 25
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - Product Briefs: Textiles
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 27
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 28
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 29
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 30
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 31
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 32
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 33
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 34
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 35
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - Black Girls Code, Google Code Next, The Khan Lab School
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 37
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 38
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 39
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 40
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 41
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 42
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 43
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 44
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 45
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - Lassonde Studios, The University of Utah
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 47
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 48
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 49
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - Matrix: Learning Environments
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 51
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 52
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Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 54
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - 55
Contract Magazine - September 2018 - Product Focus
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