How did supergraphics influence interior design during the 20th century?

Supergraphics, which emerged in the late 1960s, are defined as large-scale, billboard-sized graphic shapes characterized by bright colors and simple designs. In the context of 20th-century interior design and architecture, these elements were used to transform spatial environments by applying bold, often geometric, patterns directly onto walls and architectural surfaces.1

By treating the interior as a canvas, supergraphics allowed designers to manipulate the perception of space, often blurring the lines between two-dimensional graphic art and three-dimensional architecture. This approach provided a departure from the rigid, minimalist tenets of traditional Modernism, offering a way to inject vibrant, subjective, and decorative energy into built environments.

As the century progressed, this interest in dynamic spatial arrangements and decorative patterns became a hallmark of the shift toward postmodernism. Designers began to move away from the "form-follows-function" philosophy, instead favoring imaginative, original, and sometimes eccentric applications of color and form that echoed the structural and aesthetic textures of the buildings themselves.2