Interpretation of Space: From Images to Vocabulary

Interior design can be executed in various stages, during which designers (the sender) deliver their ideas to client s (the receiver) via communication channels (the medium) in the form of language, words, images, and drawings. The question is whether the sender and receiver have a mutual understanding and interpretation of the message or not determines if the design is able to satisfy the client’s needs. In order to understand the different backgrounds of receivers (professionals and non-professionals), it is important to note if they have different spatial perceptions when interpreting the same spatial image and if they use different spatial vocabulary to describe how they feel. Images and vocabulary are used as research materials. With spatial images and vocabulary as research instruments, professionals (designers with more than five years of work experience) and non-professionals (college freshmen) are asked to complete questionnaires to analyze the different spatial vocabulary used by professionals and non-professionals for the same spatial image as well as the two groups of participants’ different interpretations towards spatial vocabulary based of their written descriptions. Research findings show that: (1) spatial vocabularies that describe an interior space need to be able to clearly identify the characters, ambience, and style of the space; (2) if a space has obvious differences in style, color, and material, vocabularies become more consistent; (3) the abundance and complexity of furniture play an important role; for example, less furniture or simple furnishings tend to be interpreted as simple or basic.