The Great Indoors

Main Article Content

Julieanna Preston

Abstract

This paper locates an interior condition, The Great Indoors, relative to the The Great Outdoors via historical and contemporary notions of wilderness and its associations to awe, wonder, fear and chaos. Initially posited as sites of spatial retreat and protective shelter, such interiors are shown to be observatories of external weather phenomena. Extending beyond the conventions of the picturesque view given by overlooks or large expanses of window glass, The Great Indoors is considered as a temporal and political vessel vulnerable to contemporary (interior) storm clouds. The migration of atmosphere-forming weather and wilderness across the sill is most notably activated by the works of Henry David Thoreau, John Ruskin, Vladimir Jankovic, James Turrell, and New Zealand Architects, Stuart Gardyne and Michael Bennett.

Article Details

How to Cite
Preston, Julieanna. 2009. “The Great Indoors”. idea journal 9 (1):110-21. https://doi.org/10.37113/ideaj.vi0.146.
Section
text-based research essay
Author Biography

Julieanna Preston, Massey University

Julieanna Preston is a research academic and spatial designer from Massey University College of Creative Arts. her recent creative and scholarly works investigate the political nature of interior surfaces motivated by feminist agency, a topic she is researching as a doctoral candidate at RMIT (Melbourne). Julieanna’s works have been published widely: Interior Atmospheres (2008, Wiley), Intimus: Interior Design Theory reader (2006, Wiley, co-edited with Mark Taylor),“blaze” in Feminist practices (2008-2009, touring exhibition) and “gutter works: Writing a public Demonstration” in Haecciety press (2009)