Bridge For Design Spring 2014 Bridge For Design Spring 2014 Issue | Page 88

Schinkel was a fabulous architect in Neoclassical Berlin and
it is a constant point of reference. Frances Adler Elkins was an
American designer celebrated in the 1930’s for her unorthodox
approach to interior design. She integrated different styles
and periods in a manner that had not been attempted before,
juxtaposing Classical with sleekly modern decorating techniques;
she used a shimmering colour palette, particularly blues, taupes
and pinkish whites.
It must have been much easier to create breathtaking interiors,
say, a hundred years ago. People understood that quality took
time. Now, they want everything yesterday. Marie Antoinette
was happy to wait a decade for her furniture. Well, I presume
she was happy! Perhaps she was endlessly sending chivvying
letters.
I was once offered the chance to create an ephemeral interior.
Where things do not have to be decorated to last, it can feel
extraordinarily liberating and I can experiment with different
materials. We covered the floors in lengths of painted canvas, for
example: temporary, yes, but imaginative… and also Minimal!
I love it when a design comes together quickly. A project
can lose its impetus. Artists have influences, and continue to
influence, the references we
use to design and decorate
our homes, as well as ways
in which we combine colour,
texture and pattern. The walls
of my office are covered in
mood boards pinned with an
ever-changing collection of
sources of inspiration and
ideas to interpret.
Decoration today is still
about bravery; the courage
not to copy either yourself or
Luxury Minimal with photographs by
others, but to take elements to
Fritz von der Schulenburg and text by
mix them up and create
Karen Howes is published
something new.’ B
by Thames & Hudson

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Bridge for Design Spring 2014