The recent being the use of computers and "Computer Aided Design"

in architecture, which allows a kind of perfection in design

and execution process of any building and its interiors.

In spite of all the technological advances, the primary function

of any building structure remains the same, protection from

outside environment and natural calamities.

Starting from a place to "protect yourself' from nature, interior

design has become a "status symbol". Today's interior spaces have

a two way channel, first and the obvious one is the function and

second one is aesthetical, which is a little complex one.

It is quite obvious that the interior design of a space is directly

related to the function of the space. This means that two spaces

like a home and an office have two well defined functions, hence

it will reflect in every aspect of the interior design solution.

But apart from the there is one more important factor that

will affect each and every aspect of the final design solution,

and that's the geographical location of the architectural structure.

A hotel building at seashore and the other one at a hill station

will have a completely different sets of problems to deal with.

Lets see in a short way what are the external factors that can

affect an interior design solution

1) Amount of direct sunlight.

Locations on the far northern or southern hemisphere receive less

amount of sunlight than those at the equator. That's why here the

building with more use of plane glass are used. Also artificial

lighting is given much importance.

2) External temperature.

External temperature directly affects the comfort level of internal

spaces. Since external walls act as a "buffer" between internal

and external climate, it is necessary to use the right construction

material for walls. Depending upon the wall material the internal

finishes also have limitations. This is especially true for

structure that face extreme climatic ups and downs, such as

locations in the gulf countries.

Hence selecting materials that can sustain heavy climatic changes

on a daily scale is challenging.

3) Humidity and Rainfall.

Because of the salty nature of air around coastal areas extra care

is taken for building construction materials, which can directly

affect the entire budget of the project.

4)Wind Direction.

Wind direction and wind speed also has direct affect on the interiors.

Heavy winds exert a load on the external walls of the structure,

thus affecting the construction technology.

5)Land Structure and Topography.

Land structure is the nature of land on which the structure stands.

Various types of land structures include rock solid, marshy land,

etc...Topography of land is classified as plane or a site with slope.

If the site of the structure is on a hill slope, extra precautions

are taken to allow the natural flow of rainwater that the structure

might block. Depending upon the quality of land surface the construction

technology will change.

As far as interiors are concerned a well planned structure with

properly thought spaces is a must because internally the spaces

get divided into various floors.

From the above short discussion it can be said that external factors

and environment greatly affect the way structures are built and thus

directly affecting the interior qualities of the structure.

Technological advancements have allowed us to artificially control

the internal environment of a building irrespective of what's

happening outside. But a carefully studied and well planned

architectural space can easily cut the extra cost of air conditioning

and other ventilation services.

I hope this article was informative to everyone.

Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya