Portable Partitions – A Sustainable Alternative for Walls in Interior Design

Abstract

Shelter is a basic necessity of a human being. Humans need an enclosed space to live and work. Interior designing is an industry to design these enclosed spaces. Interior designing is designing a built-up area; it can be an office, residence, shopping complex, multiplex, restaurant, hotel, hospital, schools, colleges and many more. Interior designing is a flourishing discipline that utilizes a lot of natural resources and is also responsible for creating a huge amount of waste that harms the environment. So, the designers are shifting towards sustainability as the natural resources are getting exhausted. Designers are working for sustainability by choosing vernacular materials, opting for natural construction techniques, reducing the usage of plastic, concrete, and other harmful raw materials, etc. Increase in population is leading to migration towards cities for better education, healthcare facilities and job opportunities. This migration is posing a lack of horizontal building space in the cities giving rise to smaller interior spaces. It is the design and art of the interior designer to provide all the amenities with proper functioning and aesthetics in the constrained space. Fixed walls in the interiors take up a lot of built-up area and require a lot of time and resources for their construction. Light weight portable partitions can be a sustainable alternative to replace these fixed walls. This study focuses on portable partitions that provide space flexibility but retain the qualities of fixed walls by providing privacy and maintaining the aesthetics of the space.For this study primary and secondary data have been collected. Interior designers were contacted and were asked to answer a questionnaire based on portal partitions, their benefits, and the way in which they can prove to be a sustainable alternative. The primary and secondary data so collected was analyzed and results were drawn. Certain suggestions are discussed to increase the concept of sustainability in interior designing and lastly, based on the results and suggestions, conclusions have been drawn.