With the development of socio-economy and technology, environmental design in indoor spaces in our country is gradually maturing. Generally speaking, the evolution of indoor environmental design in China has gone through three stages. In the early days, due to the relatively backward economic situation, indoor environmental design was not given priority. Simply painting the walls, hanging a few paintings or slogans, and placing some necessary furniture constituted a rudimentary indoor environment.
After the reform and opening-up, especially in the 1990s, the rapid development and rise of the socialist market economy caused the construction industry to also develop at high speed. The real estate industry continued to heat up, and accordingly, indoor environmental design began to be valued. However, driven by impatience and eagerness, indoor environmental design presented an exaggerated luxurious style. Various new materials and high-end items were piled up without considering the design theme or ideas, or the function of the indoor environment.
After a period of time, excellent indoor environmental designs from abroad entered China, and some domestic designers produced a number of outstanding works through extensive practice and reflection. People no longer blindly followed trends, and thus indoor environmental design in our country truly entered a stable development phase.
Indoor environmental design is not just simple decoration, nor is it merely beautification in the general sense. Indoor environmental design should fully satisfy the nature and purpose of the indoor space, and must adapt to the building's function and technical aspects. It should involve comprehensive and holistic design through elements such as space, form, details, color, and artworks, satisfying different functional needs while reflecting aesthetic value through specific artistic forms.
The hallmark of the new century is represented by high-tech advancements such as information technology and biotechnology, and people's consciousness has become diversified, leading to a greater pursuit of individual expression. Faced with the development of the times, indoor environmental design must innovate. Design should fully express emotion. In a highly developed society, commonality overshadows people's clothing, food, housing, and transportation. The fast-paced and high-speed work leaves people lacking communication, and emotions become diluted; hence, "come home often" is an embodiment of this era's call for emotion. As workplaces and residences, indoor environments must adapt to this characteristic of the times.
In indoor environmental design, symbolic techniques can be used to promote emotional exchange and create an artistic atmosphere. Symbolism is a major feature of postmodernism in the architectural field, where architectural components and various architectural styles are treated as symbols. Does symbolism play an artistic role in indoor environmental design? Symbolism is a discipline that has developed over more than 100 years, initially formed by linguists studying language and linguistic rules. Later, symbols combined with various specialties to form new disciplines.
American aesthete Susan Langer said, "A symbol always expresses its meaning in simplified form, which is precisely why we can grasp it. Regardless of how complex, profound, and rich a work of art (even all artistic activities) may be, it is far simpler than real life. Therefore, art theory is undoubtedly a prelude to a greater cause of establishing an effective concept of the living reality of the mind." Symbolic activity already includes certain abstract concepts, no longer remaining on individual levels, but rather going through an abstraction process from individual to general.
Currently, in indoor environmental design, the "scenographic" style is quite popular, aiming to create a realistic environment to express certain artistic concepts. However, this realistic environment cannot simply copy naturalism; it does not mean moving "Mount Huang" or "Stone Forest" into the atrium of a building. Realism refers to artistic realism, still employing the method of typification. This simplified form of symbolism is very suitable for expressing the authenticity of a scene. It is an economical, practical, and creative means with strong artistic effects.
The atrium design of Guangzhou's White Swan Hotel, known for its "Hometown Water" theme, combines typical southern green mountains, clear water, pavilions, etc., creating an artistic atmosphere of integration between indoor and outdoor spaces. These green mountains, clear water, and pavilions are condensed visual symbols, enhanced by the phrase "Hometown Water," generating a fresh, natural, and harmonious beauty that is particularly enchanting.
In Chinese restaurants abroad, commonly recognized Chinese architectural and artistic symbols such as glazed tile doors, red columns, large red lanterns, Chinese-character plaques and couplets, flower-patterned windows and doors, and Ming-Qing style wooden furniture are almost overused. Despite their now formulaic use, in the Western context abroad, as commercial buildings, their recognizability and impact remain strong.
On a bustling street in Guangzhou, there is a narrow triangular plot where a clever designer created a hair salon themed around the ocean. The storefront resembles a ship's side, complete with railings and lifebuoys. The interior mimics the inside of a warship, with round porthole windows. Especially noteworthy is the use of white and blue colors, maintaining consistency with the theme.
In Beijing, there is also a seafood restaurant whose entrance is covered with seaweed from Shandong province, with fishermen's hats as lighting fixtures and walls decorated with kelp compositions... Both these commercial buildings, themed around the ocean, extensively use various symbols related to the sea, constructing an atmosphere of the ocean. In the increasingly crowded and complex urban environment, this kind of design appears particularly serene, vast, intimate, and pleasant.
As for various youth hostel restaurants, the third generation, black soil, and other commercial buildings, they all adopt different symbols with typical significance from rural areas in different regions. For example, hoes, straw hats, quotations, oil lamps, red dates, corn cobs, rough wooden tables, etc. Some even ingeniously incorporate northern kang beds and cave dwellings into the spatial design to create a strong atmosphere.
The selection and creation of symbols fully reflect the artistic foundation and cultivation of the designer. Any visual symbol has a certain cultural connotation, and they must organically combine around a specific theme. Here, visual symbols are artistic symbols, also expressive symbols.
Compared to logical symbols, visual symbols do not have their own system but only function within a certain emotional structure. Symbols cannot be randomly applied like labels. In a certain place in the south, there is a hotel located in a hilly area on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by Jiangnan spring scenery. Inside the hotel, there is a stone-built water screen wall right at the entrance, below which is a pond with a Jiangnan garden flavor. However, the Danish-style marble mermaid sculpture placed in the pond somewhat spoils the view.
The use and creation of symbols must be accurate, appropriate, unified with other shaping factors, and form a whole. The objects represented by symbols can be artworks, utensils, plants, stones, water... Creative designers can turn meaningful things in life into visual symbols.
Color and lighting have distinct symbolic and metaphorical functions, and they are also symbols. The warmth or coolness of colors, the focus or diffusion of lights, can reflect certain themes and create a certain atmosphere, facts universally acknowledged. Artworks in indoor environmental design more prominently play the role of symbolic finishing touches. In the past, a typical Chinese painting of a welcoming pine tree hung in guesthouses was a classic example of symbolic function. Murals, sculptures cannot be isolated from the overall theme of the indoor environment, and even the choice of regular script or wild cursive script in calligraphy requires careful consideration.
In summary, indoor environmental design is a whole, and symbolization methods are merely means to create an artistic atmosphere and express design ideas, not formulas. Sullivan said: creating formulas is dangerous; it can kill true art.
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