Social, material, action: Reinterpreting historical domestic spaces and objects in contemporary practice

Design practice is increasingly recognised as an accepted form of knowledge production, as such methods appear to provide a more nuanced understanding of material objects. This chapter explains how the act of making can contribute new knowledge to our understanding of the meaning of material objects in social and cultural relations in the past, particularly within the realm of domestic interiors. The chapter describes how the work of a designer, in collaboration with a number of professionals, including art historians, design historians, museum curators and curators of historic houses, can offer new perspectives on our knowledge of historical materials and how innovative interpretations are revealed by using the act of making as a research method. Therefore, this chapter suggests that knowledge of design and craft processes, past and present, brings us closer to the communicative and generative social action of historical objects, creating new insights into collections of historical materials. Such exploration and description of design practices and processes offers a methodology that aims to be mutually beneficial for collaborators as well as the public, using dynamic integrated techniques which break down traditional disciplinary boundaries, as this chapter reveals.