IFI Interiors Declaration (2011)

Adopted by: International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI), founded 1963 · Kind: Professional declaration · Scope: Universal · Adopted: 2011

Approved by signatories at the IFI Global Symposium in New York in February 2011, this declaration by the International Federation of Interior Architects and Designers is a consensus statement on the purpose and value of interior architecture and design, built from four global surveys and workshops with input from 88 countries. It argues that it is the nature of humankind not only to use spaces but to fill them with beauty and meaning, commits the profession to using space responsibly and designing for health, safety and well-being, and organises its claims under seven headings: value, relevance, responsibility, culture, business, knowledge and identity.

The International Federation of Interior Architects and Designers was founded in 1963 as a federation of national associations. In February 2011 it approved a declaration at its Global Symposium in New York, arrived at through four global surveys, dedicated workshops and a final symposium with input from 88 countries. The federation describes the result as a consensus-based vision statement on the purpose and value of interior architecture and design, and states that there was unanimous agreement on the meaning of the discipline and on its core essence.

The framing text opens with an equality claim that is unusually direct for a document of this kind. The declaration advocates for equal rights and access to interior architecture and design practice, research and education, granted equally to all who wish to pursue it, regardless of race, gender, creed, sexual orientation, cultural heritage and socio-economic background, and notwithstanding disparities across different regional contexts. It adds that good and quality design must foundationally account for technological innovation, globalization, economic and political instability and social inequality, alongside holistic consideration of environmental and sustainability factors.

The declaration proper is written as a short sequence of assertions rather than as articles. It is the nature of humankind not only to use spaces but to fill them with beauty and meaning. In the spaces that are important to us we experience not only a sense of place but a sense of who we are and of what we can be. Great spaces are indispensable for great creative cultures. And then the commitment: we use space responsibly, we practise our profession with highest regard for engaging the world's economic and natural resources in a sustainable manner, and we design for health, safety, well-being and the needs of all. It is, after all, for humanity, our ultimate client, that we design.

Seven headings then set out what the profession claims for itself. Value describes an iterative process of discovery, translation and validation producing measurable improvements in spaces and in the lives of the people who use them. Relevance says practitioners synthesise human and environmental ecologies and translate science to beauty addressing all the senses. Responsibility covers defining the practice, educating the public and advocating for social well-being. Culture treats interior design as a mode of cultural production and a place-maker that interprets, translates and edits cultural capital, with a role in retaining cultural diversity in a global world. Business, Knowledge and Identity cover the economic case, the grounding in environmental psychology and anthropometrics, and the determination of people's relationship to space by psychological and physical parameters.

The declaration is not law. It creates no obligation, carries no enforcement mechanism, and is best understood as a discipline defining itself in public. One figure that has circulated with it, that it has been adopted by 127 cities or nations, does not appear in the document and is not carried on this record because no source for it was found.

Read the official text

Key provisions · 14 provisions

Framing text
The declaration was the outcome of four global surveys, dedicated workshops and a final World Symposium in New York, completed with input from 88 countries and unanimous agreement on the meaning of Interior Architecture/Design.
process · consensus · definition
Framing text
The declaration advocates that equal rights and access to Interior Architecture/Design practice, research and education be granted to all who wish to pursue it, regardless of race, gender, creed, sexual orientation, cultural heritage or socio-economic background.
equality · access · non-discrimination
Framing text
Good and quality design must foundationally take into account evolving factors including technological innovation, globalization, economic and political instability, social inequality, and holistic consideration of environmental and sustainability factors.
quality · context · sustainability
Declaration text
It is the nature of humankind not only to use spaces but to fill them with beauty and meaning, and skillfully designed spaces can arouse a sense of purpose or of the profound.
beauty · meaning · experience
Declaration text
In the spaces that matter to us we experience not only a sense of place but a sense of who we are and of what we can be, and thoughtfully designed spaces help us learn, reflect, imagine, discover and create.
place · identity · cognition
Declaration text
The profession commits to using space responsibly, practising with the highest regard for engaging the world's economic and natural resources sustainably, and designing for health, safety, well-being and the needs of all.
resources · health · safety · sustainability
Declaration text
It is for humanity, the ultimate client, that interior designers design, shaping the spaces that shape the human experience.
purpose · humanity · client
VALUE
The profession uses an iterative and interactive process of discovery, translation and validation that produces measurable outcomes and improvements in interior spaces and in the lives of the people who use them, delivering economic, functional, aesthetic and social advantage.
process · measurable-outcomes · value
RELEVANCE
Interior designers and interior architects synthesise human and environmental ecologies and translate science to beauty addressing all the senses, defining projects at their commencement and championing human experience at all levels.
ecology · senses · experience
RESPONSIBILITY
The profession's responsibility is to define the practice and required expertise, to educate itself and the public, to position itself publicly as expert in the built environment, and to advocate for social well-being.
responsibility · advocacy · expertise
CULTURE
Interior design and interior architecture are a mode of cultural production and a place-maker that interprets, translates and edits cultural capital, and in a global world must play a role in facilitating the retention of cultural diversity.
culture · diversity · placemaking
BUSINESS
The profession provides value to stakeholders, improves well-being as a factor of economic development, and provides strategic thought leadership resulting in multifaceted return on investment.
business · wellbeing · economics
KNOWLEDGE
Theoretical, applied and innate knowledge are fundamental to the practice, and the confluence of environmental psychology and the science of anthropometrics is critical to the quantitative and qualitative knowledge that forms it.
knowledge · psychology · anthropometrics
IDENTITY
Interior designers and interior architects determine the relationship of people to spaces based on psychological and physical parameters, in order to improve quality of life.
identity · quality-of-life