The 'Detraditionalisation' of the Domestic Interior

Abstract

Drawing on a close analysis of women’s valuable contributions to the continuous design of Italian domestic interiors, this essay examines the nuanced processes of unplanning modernist dwellings as they materialise patriarchal systems of oppression. This study is based on feminist sociological theory, specifically Lisa Adkin’s use of the concept of ‘detraditionalisation’, which highlights how traditional gender roles and spaces are destabilised in late modernity thanks to an increased reflexivity towards self- and gender identity. It focuses on the tensions that arise in an individual’s relation with tradition, with clear implications on the planning, but also material and symbolic unplanning of interiors. This essay articulates the complex interplay between spatial systems of oppression and individual mechanisms of resistance highlighted by social theory and applies them to the domestic sphere. What emerges is the overlooked yet important contribution of women to the design of the home.

Part of a broader research project on post-war housing, this essay addresses contemporary domesticity in Italy, where a strong and nuanced relationship with tradition and patriarchy has historically shaped women’s subjectivities and design choices. A closer look at Mario Ridolfi’s Viale Etiopia housing complex in Rome (1955), supplemented by interviews with the inhabitants and photographs of its interiors, clarifies the dynamics anticipated above.

Through this study, detraditionalisation emerges as a new conceptual tool for the understanding of women’s aesthetics and spatial design practices inside residential interiors. It also uncovers how socio-spatial change is gradually unfolding inside Italian homes, and how this has led to a partial unplanning of the Italian modernist dwelling. Detraditionalisation ultimately serves as a bridge between feminist sociology and architectural and interior design theory, enabling the formulation of alternative and more inclusive narratives in the history and theory of interior design and architecture.