Visit Albert Frey’s Loewy Residence in 3D
Planning an interior can be enormously fun, but also challenging — armed only with a floorplan, the designer must exercise considerable powers of visualisation to imagine both the space itself, and the finished effect with different furnishing options. The mental strain, along with pressure to make the best choices, can turn this playful game into an exhausting burden. Part of the problem has always been that it’s very hard to translate a 2D plan into an imaginary three-dimensional space. There are simply too many factors to consider.
A floorplan uses a particular language, and like any other language, learning to read it takes practice. You need to learn both the symbols and the grammar, including how to interpret the scales represented. Most of us can quickly understand, from looking at a design drawing, how the rooms connect and about how much space there is. But getting a sense of how that space functions — where the light comes from, how high the ceilings are (especially around staircases or split levels), how it feels to walk in the door or to use the kitchen — is a lot more work.
All of this information can be conveyed in a plan, but for the most part, non-professionals will struggle to put it all together. And the tools that can make this job easier have traditionally only been available to professionals. The web has started to change this. Software firm Archilogic has created an online tool that generates an interactive model from a floorplan, enabling anyone to take a virtual walkthrough of their planned space — and even play around with furnishing options!
The difference this makes becomes clear when looking at this model of the renowned Loewy house — a Palm Springs bachelor pad designed in the 1940s by Albert Frey. The floorplan alone gives no sense of the true effect of the house, with walls of sliding glass doors blurring the boundaries between inside and outside. Judging from the blueprint, alone, the house looks dry and box-like; the 3D model brings it to life and enables us to imagine the swinging indoor-outdoor parties it was intended for.
This makes design so much easier. Instead of studying a plan from above, you can enter the space and experience the results of your choices instantly. What happens if you change the colour scheme? How does it feel to sit here, looking to the right, instead of sitting there looking out the window? Which pieces of furniture make the most sense in this room? What about trying a different style couch?
All these questions add up to a very complicated decision process. But the aim is to make that complexity invisible. The space shouldn’t show off; it must simply be comfortable to live in.
Remember,
“The details are not the details; they make the design.”
This Charles Eames quote holds as true for interiors as for products. Use the tools at your disposal — floorplans and 3D models — to understand how each detail affects the whole; and have fun! When you test your ideas in a virtual space, the pressure is off, and you’ll be able to achieve that elusive simplicity without stress.
