advanced empirical knowledge for the interiors discipline, one that attends to human interactions with the built environment in all their complexity. The need has never been more urgent. The "designer," loosely defined, has secured a prominent place in the cultural dialogue as evidenced by the burgeoning interest in interiors in the popular press worldwide over the past decade or so. "Interior design" as a pastime has never captured more general interest ­ just consider the proliferation of lifestyle- and interiors- related media, home improvement shows and retail outlets. A growing appreciation for the value of design has fueled the advancement of the professions, but it has also led to dilett- antism in the field. Cable television shows and shelter maga- zines loudly proclaim that anyone can design, thus diminishing recognition for the designer's unique skills and abilities. As a result, the widespread impression of the role of the designer is that of surface stylist and form giver. There is also an unreal- istic perception of the mystique of a talented few "artists" who shape new trends by combining unusual shapes and mater- ials with a certain flair. While this interest in design serves to raise a general level of visual interest among the public, "design" in this most rudimentary sense falls far short of what is needed for the meaningful improvement of the human condition. Regarding interior design as an instrument of the "cool," "trendy," or stylish ignores its most important contribu- tion: the advancement of well-being. To determine how we arrived at this misconstruction ­ and to rectify the situation in order to move forward ­ we must examine the evidence of the recent past. The Emergence of Prevailing Stereotypes Interior design as we know it today evolved through two wide historical arcs. The first, the distant past, involves the deliberate modification of human circumstances that began in the cave. The second, much more recent and better documented develo- pment has to do with the emergence of the modern identity of the interior designer, a process that has taken place over the past two centuries. 2 This second development is not an isolated one; the profession emerged at the same time as other specialized design discipli- nes, including industrial and graphic design. This period also saw the formalization of architecture as a profession that was almost wholly independent of the practical skills of the builder and the technical knowledge of the engineer. The shock of the Industrial Revolution ­ in particular, the mass production of goods by semiskilled laborers rather than accomplished crafts- men ­ forced the nascent design disciplines to assess their rela- tionships to the crafts they succeeded. In fact, it was the desire to reestablish a measure of unity between manufactured goods and the craftwork of past eras that brought industrial design into being in the mid-nineteenth 84 Chapter Three