Thinking in the expanded field. Theorising Interior Architecture in Italian education

This essay aims to trace the key stages in the emergence, diffusion and contemporary evolution of academic courses related to the discipline known in Italy as Interior Architecture, or Architettura degli Interni. The combination of “interior” and “architecture” in the name of this field is not accidental; on the contrary, it is based on a significant theoretical-critical framework that has shaped the disciplinary definition and positioning process. It was in the 1930s that the concept of Interior Architecture became definitively consolidated in Italy, particularly in 1936, when a professorship in Interior Architecture was established with a first national competition. From that moment on, the discipline became an integral part of a broader set of subjects forming the architectural design curriculum. Interior architecture perfectly described the cultural approach of the so-called “masters of interiors,” such as Gio Ponti, Carlo Mollino, Franco Albini, and Carlo Scarpa, who always considered themselves multidisciplinary architects. Their work laid the foundation for Bruno Zevi, Giulio Carlo Argan, and Carlo De Carli to examine the genetic process spanning all scales of design. A second milestone emerged in the 1980s, when a new generation of scholars – Filippo Alison, Adriano Cornoldi, and Gianni Ottolini – reformulated the educational content of Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design discipline, consolidated its theoretical principles, and reoriented the curriculum towards applied research and a new vision of professional practice. Building on the same theoretical foundations of previous generations, today we use the term “expanded field” – as introduced by art critic Rosalind Krauss – to broaden the boundaries of Interior Architecture, now encompassing a wider range of spatial configurations. This expansion is driven by the rediscovery of the intrinsic interconnections between interior environments, human experiences and the broader built environment.