12: Sense of Home
As a student of architecture, I have immense passion for spaces. Architects will design a broad range of buildings, public spaces, and urban environments- from libraries to micro-apartments, to public toilet blocks. In all of these projects, an immense amount of time is spent ensuring the detailing and resolution of each project, preferably in accordance with the relevant legislation. In each project, I believe that no matter the typology, an architect is designing a home- whether the library, a home for books; apartment, a home for people; a home for business; a home for education; and so on. As someone within the built environment industry, I have a huge interest in a “Sense of Home” and look forward to exploring my interpretation of this a little bit.
I would define a sense of home as a feeling, and psychological experience- more so than any specific location- although that does play an enormous role in establishing a sense of home. As I have experienced it, a sense of home is a feeling of being grounded, having roots, belonging. In the classic Australian dream*, the desire is a quarter acre block in the suburbs, with a detached house and garage for the car, a hills-hoist (washing line) and barbeque in the backyard. As a millennial, this “dream” seems grossly misplaced when taking into account the affordability, or lack thereof, of housing in Sydney. However, that is not the point of this blog post- and plenty of fuel for another.
A sense of home to me is predominantly a psychological and emotional place- it’s finding a sense of curiosity, creativity and freedom. Having just finished reading “Surely you’re joking Mr. Feynman”, the final paragraph stuck out as the perfect summary of the feeling, and desire that I have that connects a sense of home with my values.
“So I have just one wish for you – the good luck to be somewhere where you are free to maintain the kind of integrity I have described, and where you do not feel forced by a need to maintain your position in the organization, or financial support, or so on, to lose your integrity. May you have that freedom.” – Richard P. Feynman
In terms of physical space, having moved homes a lot in the past 3 years- including spending several months in both Germany and Sweden, I’ve developed a few things that connect to a sense of home. These are additive to the spaces that I find myself in, and easily removable when I depart. They include plants (bonus for Australian natives), a tub of Vegemite, some favourite books, cooking, earl grey tea, cosy blankets/jumpers, and a journal to write my way through the experiences.
My plant-filled windowsill in Sydney, which gets morning sun.
I feel that the challenge as an architect is to design these “homes” (not strictly restricted to residential), so that it isn’t only bricks and mortar, but feelings and balance created in the space- to make it an inviting and comfortable place to be. Being in Scandinavia at the moment has been interesting to observe, as the climate means that it isn’t as easy to just go outside- as it is in Australia. There is more of a focus on creating a cosy, homey environment, and lighting (candles and warm light) play a large part in this. This attention to minute details makes for a cohesive and welcoming space, that works despite the extreme seasonal changes in the external climate.
A Sense of home is something that I am grappling with, as a concept and in practice. I recently saw the following quote via Sarah Wigglesworth Architects “A practice that makes extraordinary places for the everyday life, believing that good design in all its aspects can foster social wellbeing and a sustainable future”, which provides an clear summary of the point I’m trying to make- that these spaces designed from within a studio will ultimately impact people’s daily life- and rather than just saying “design responsibly” or “do a good job”, I think it’s important for architects to retain their sense of humanity, to connect to the space and visualize it as the user throughout. In this manner, social wellbeing can be fostered, through careful design.
Over the next few weeks, in between studying Swedish, I will be revisiting the Alice St Terrace project. I will be exploring this sense of home through the project- and attempting to apply these principles practically.
Until next week!
AP