Modern Interiors Research Centre
The Modern Interiors Research Centre (MIRC) at Kingston University acts as a dynamic focus for research within the disciplines of Design History, Architectural History, and Visual, Material and Spatial Culture, on the subject of the design of interiors of the ‘modern’ period (defined as 1870 to 1970).
Research Themes
The aim of the Centre is to expand research within the hitherto marginalised area of the modern interior which has tended to fall in the gap between conventional Architectural History and Design History. To date, these disciplines have tended to prioritise the ‘building’ and the ‘object’ over the ensemble. Within this broad remit the Centre focuses on a number of key themes. These include:
• identity and the design of the modern interior
• modernity, modernism and the interior
• domesticity and anti-domesticity in the modern interior
• professional and amateur design practices
• the relationship with other areas of design practice
• the tensions between interior decoration and interior design
• representations of the modern interior
• the reconstructed modern interior
