Housing, Interior Decoration and Home Furnishings
Housing, Interior Decoration and Home Furnishings
This domain tests site selection, functional housing, ventilation, lighting, colour, furniture arrangement and furnishings. Expect short notes on principles of design and a small planning problem.
Core rules and concepts
- Housing meets protection, privacy, comfort and social needs. Site selection: well-drained land, safe water, access road, sunlight, away from pollution.
- Principles of planning: orientation, cross-ventilation, zoning (living, sleeping, cooking, sanitation), circulation, flexibility.
- Ventilation: natural (windows, ventilators) and mechanical. A room needs adequate openings; stale air must be replaced.
- Lighting: daylight is best; task lighting for reading and cooking. Avoid glare.
- Colour: warm colours advance; cool colours recede. Use light colours in small rooms to make them look larger.
- Furniture arrangement: keep traffic paths clear; scale furniture to room size; use balance and rhythm.
Worked example
A 3 m × 4 m room must hold a bed, study table and wardrobe. Reasoning: draw a scale plan (1 cm = 1 m). Place the bed along the long wall, leave a 90 cm circulation path, put the study table near the window for daylight, and keep the wardrobe on the internal wall. This meets zoning, ventilation and circulation.
Traps
Confusing cross-ventilation with air-conditioning; using dark colours in a small room; placing furniture without traffic space; ignoring orientation.