Like all things, interior design and its various fields of study cycles with the market.
Ten to fifteen years ago, residential design rose in the spotlight thanks to broadcasting companies like HGTV and TLC. A new generation of aspiring designers were born from watching shows like Trading Spaces, Design on a Dime, and Extreme Home Makeover. The housing market spiked in the mid-1990′s and along with it came the residential design field.
After several years, it began to level back out and a new concept hit the market, “go green”. Not that sustainability is in any way a “new” concept, but by the mid-to-late 1990′s, it was new to the global conscience. The commercial design field in particular rose to new heights as it began to show off new construction with less waste, less emissions of every kind, and less consumption in general. Though still in its early phases of truly becoming accepted and practiced on a regular basis world-wide, the novelty of sustainability is beginning to wear off.
As this has occurred, a different field in the design industry has begun to boom. Thanks to baby boomers entering retirement, new technology, and the emerging belief in evidence-based design, the healthcare field has soared. In fact, not only is it surviving in this economy, its thriving. Expansion can be seen across the world as new facilities are rethinking their outdated methods and new construction along with remodeling is taking place to improve the health and well-being of not just the patients, but the care-workers as well.
But what comes after this boom in the healthcare market? What will be of importance to society at large? Our homes are beautiful, our offices are great, and hospitals big and small will be doing quite well. Ten years from now, where will we focus our attentions next?
My theory, and my hope, is this- government facilities, particularly schools. The first half of the 20th century was marked by two world wars and the Great Depression. Families were torn apart or put on hold. But then, peace came…and so did the babies. As they have grown up over the past 50-60 years, the economy has flexed to their demands. The perfect example again being the current healthcare market- booming as these boomers are entering retirement age and are in need of more expansive healthcare than any generation before.
What this has to do with us and our future is that right now we are entering year 9 of the Iraq War. The entire world is in a recession, or depression depending on where you are and who you listen too. Once again families are either being ended or put on hold. Granted our current situation is not quite comparable to World Wars I, II and The Great Despression, but there are many correlations. Globally, more and more industrialized countries are not meeting their population replacement rate. Meaning, fertility rates are down. However, I believe that if we pull through this recession together, we just might see a mini-baby boom over the next 5-10 years. If that is true, then 10-15 years from now, there will be an entirely new generation of children very much in need of new school facilities and resources.
Of course, I believe they need this now, but this will probably only happen if the majority of the population has a personal investment in the well-being of these children. I hope that in our very near future, we will begin to take our evidence-based design practices and begin focusing them on what we can do for our future generations. I hope we will soon begin to make them the investment of the world.
