Art Before Architecture: How Art Inspires Design

Art works best as the starting point of a design, not the finishing touch.

Architecture has always borrowed from art. In its survey of artists who inspired architectural landmarks, Rethinking The Future (1) links Mondrian’s volumes and color to the Eames House, Malevich’s Suprematism to Zaha Hadid’s spatial freedom, Georges Braque’s Cubism to Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 in Montréal, and Salvador Dali’s surrealist work inspired the HOK group’s trapezoidal design of the Salvador Dali Museum in Florida. The pattern is clear: art isn’t added to design at the end. It is often where the idea begins. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

How does art inspire interior design and architecture?

Bring art in at the concept stage and it changes what a design can become. A painting’s palette can set a material scheme as in a recent Spaces by T project where the color scheme was inspired by Frida Kahlo’s saturated hues. A sculptor’s handling of texture can also guide the tactile language of a lobby. A local artisan’s process can suggest a pattern, a joint or a proportion no catalogue offers. Art gives a design team a point of view to react to, which helps a project avoid the generic.

How does art shape a brand’s design narrative?

Every space communicates before anyone reads a sign. Guests sense scale, light, material and rhythm within seconds, and art gives those impressions meaning. A brand story told only through logos feels like marketing. Told through commissioned works, considered collections and site-specific installations, it feels discovered, and authentic places are the ones people remember.

This holds across all sectors:

• Hospitality: Anchors a sense of place, connecting a hotel to its city, history or landscape.

• Cruise and yacht: Creates identity and a sense of arrival where there is no fixed context.

• Retail and Dining: Creates food for thought and a transaction into an experience worth sharing.

• Wellness: Supports calm, focus and reflection.

• Workplace: Expresses culture and gives teams something to connect with.

• Luxury residences: Reflects the owner’s life not just what they can acquire.

What is art curation in design?

Art curation is design thinking applied to art. This human-centered approach asks the questions - What is it for? Who is it for? What should it make someone feel? The answers shape scale, placement, sight lines and lighting. Commissioning for statement pieces like lobbies of hotels and work places often beats purchasing, because a piece made for a specific site or brand carries the project’s story in a way an existing work rarely can.

Early collaboration is key.

The best results come when artists, architects, interior designers and art advisors work in parallel from concept stage, so that budgets, structure, lighting and installation are planned around the art rather than compromised by it.

On Your Next Project, Start with the Art

Bring art into the conversation alongside the concept, before the palette is set and the plans are locked, and let it help write the story. The spaces people remember are the ones that had something to say from the very beginning.

Design gives a space its structure. Art gives it a voice. Woven in from the first sketch, art stops being decoration and becomes the plot.

“You’ll know you’ve got it right when the art becomes the conversation piece, or is so harmonized with its surroundings that it brings out the best in everything around it — the light, the materials, the mood — creating memorable moments for people to share.”

You’ll know you’ve got it right when the art becomes the conversation piece, or is so harmonized with its surroundings that it brings out the best in everything around it —the light, the materials, the mood —creating memorable moments for people to share. Either way, the space stops being simply seen and starts being felt.Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Art Curation for Residential and Branded Spaces

Looking for art to inspire or integrate into your next project?

Teresa Di Cairano is Lead Designer at Spaces by T, which creates branded spaces and curates art for hospitality, cruise and yacht, retail, food and beverage, wellness and workplace clients as well as inspired residences.

Let’s talk!  teresa@spacesbyt.comWhatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

1. Czapiga, K. (2020, December 20). 15 Famous artists that inspired architectural marvels. Rethinking The Future. https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/architectural-community/a2567-15-famous-artists-that-inspired-architectural-marvels/

Artworks for hospitality and wellness from Cinquerosso Arte. Spaces by T is the North American partner for Cinquerosso Arte.

Residential art curation provided by Spaces by T.