During the last forty years, the study of historical interior design has undergone both a multidisciplinary and an international expansion and development. The field’s cross-fertilization from the related disciplines of architecture, art history, archaeology, industrial design, museum studies, material culture studies, and conservation has frequently produced recognizable transnational patterns of research and teaching. The fact of a married couple comprising the authors shows some of the reasons why the interconnections between architectural, furniture, and interior design studies are nowadays seen so clearly. Would that the differences between them might also be harmoniously reconciled! In this text, not only is it our intention to chart some ways in which architectural and furniture history may come together in discussions on interior design, but also to indicate recurring themes and problems which would benefit from further joint study. Two main tasks confront the student of any historical phenomenon: the interpretation of change and development over time, and the elucidation of differences in the history of particular topics. The activity of making general and broadly based historical studies in an interdisciplinary fashion is even more complex because the student has to be both a historical interpreter and a skilled problem solver. The more intricately interdisciplinary the historical study, the more crucial the availability of relevant evidence and expertise from each of its historical perspectives. To ensure acceptable results, such diverse investigation should, where necessary, attempt to specify meaningful consequences for integration between the different elements of the historical objects, factors, methods, and questions at stake.
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