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A ccording to the latest update on the state of our planet , six of nine planetary boundaries
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have already been exceeded. The need for reduction has long been recognized, but the way
to achieve it is not clear. The need for reduction has long been recognised from several sides, but
the path to it is not clear. It is conditional on a fundamental transformative change in our society.
Our homes and the way we build, furnish and live in them reflect this transgressive consumption.
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On the one hand, we occupy a considerable and increasing amount of space per capita and, on
the other hand, this is recognizable in the way we wastefully build with and consume resources.
A liberation from an inherited aesthetic based on oil, comfort and technology can take place more
quickly if we discover and communicate beauty in a reductive modernism. But how does reductive
design appear in interior architecture? Before we address the question of design, it is important to
understand that reduction is just one of several paths to sustainability. The reductive modernism is
in contrast to the expansive modernism of the post-war years . The perceived unrestricted access to
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global resources, combined with new technical possibilities, has not only promoted democratizati-
on and the middle class, but also an aesthetic of progress. Think of a modern house! It is probably
white. It has a flat roof and is made of concrete, steel, glass and stone. Materials from all regions of
the world come together in one place. Bauhaus and its contemporaries literally helped shape the
world, and the minimalism of the 1990s and noughties is still based on these ideas today.
Aesthetics: sensual, emotional and semantic

Let us consider our assessment of aesthetics – commonly said, our idea of beauty. The aesthetic
triad is helpful when we talk about aesthetic experiences. On the one hand, we consider the sen-
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sual quality of things and, on the other hand, the emotions that are evoked. Thirdly, and this is par-
ticularly interesting here, we consider the semantics of things, that is, the meaning and knowledge
of the aesthetic experience. Interior design is becoming more political and unavoidably raises the
ethical question that is currently being negotiated at all levels of global society: Who has the right
to exploit global resources in order to increase their personal comfort, safety and aesthetic well-
being at the expense of the availability of others? The replacement of materials, components and Foto: Hampus Berndtson
fixtures that work well is carried out simply because they are not currently perceived as beautiful.
Let’s look at the five characteristics of aesthetics with less consumption! The first design feature
is the building principle. It is about avoiding or at least reducing destruction during the design Reparatur: Sichtbare Spuren der Veränderung im Haus 14a in Kopenhagen von pihlmann ...
process. We can apply the functional principles for sculptural work as formulated by the sculptor
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Willy Ørskov (1920-1990), to interior design. He describes constructive and destructive principles. It ... architects (siehe ab S. 90). Die materielle Reduktion kann einen formalen Reichtum haben.
helps if, on the one hand, we systematically leave what we find – be it furniture or rooms – and, on
the other hand, work systematically according to constructive principles. Taking time to formulate
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and document an appreciation of the existing allows ideas to mature and discourages the urge
to destroy everything by making it new. Patina is another design feature of reductive modernism.
There is both a bad and a noble patina. The destructive patina is chemically unstable and occurs
when something breaks down and degrades. The noble patina, on the other hand, can be under-
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stood as an addition : materials are characterized by the use, climate and culture in the rooms,
which also represents an enrichment. The apartment shows the lived life and is built with an open
end, instead of striving for completion or perfection on the first day. The use of the colour white in
the 20th century is symbolic of becoming more modern, international, progressive and hygienic.
In a room, the colour dissolves the boundaries between wall, ceiling and floor. Why has the colour
white had such a strong influence on modernity? Titanium has been extracted from the mineral
ilmenite, leaving significant traces in the landscape . Titanium dioxide supports modern aesthetics,
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but then as now it also supports socially “toxic” ideas of clean/dirty, civilized/primitive. These
ideas materialized, so to speak, in everyday surfaces . In contrast, traditional craftsmanship offers a
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wealth of protective and sensory surface treatments: lime, linseed oil and distemper. Knowledge of
these natural treatment methods is more relevant than ever in interior design – and encourages us to
question our ideas of beauty in relation to colours and surfaces. Building in existing structures and
with existing building materials is necessary if we want to reduce the consumption of materials.
We will only win people’s hearts if the design of reductive modernism is perceived as appealing:
the familiar is combined with the new. The heterogeneity also becomes apparent in the fact that a
coherent approach to style epochs becomes less important. When the structure and façade of other
buildings are reassembled into a new building, we cannot immediately and clearly classify epochs.
The five design features of reductive modernism have been identified, but there are a number of
legal and economic, but also cultural barriers to radically implementing a different, new aesthetic.
Especially in interior architecture and interior design, we can make a significant contribution to
reducing our consumption of resources by nuancing the aesthetic notions of beautiful and ugly and
contemporary and building and promoting them on reductive foundations. The need for reduction Foto: Hampus Berndtson
in society is a gift for architectural quality. The application of what already exists has a vitalising
power for aesthetics and for the understanding of our own role on earth.

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