Are there specific elements throughout all design styles that are able to create the innate sense of comfort we associate with the Home? In the world of change where most people move multiple times, can a set of design principles be developed to ensure dwellings become 'home' and not simply a house for multiple residents? Does the dependence on perfect order and geometry create more homely spaces?
I am undertaking my thesis on a topic in this area so any knowledge or resources you may know would be incredibly helpful.
Hi Bryce,
"The concept of home has been the focus of three decades of research within environmental psychology. Despite this awareness, there has been a lack of ‘critical or innovative theories and methods’ to examine home . In recent years, there has been a call for a reappraisal of the concept. Broadly, previous discussions of the concept of home within psychology have tended to focus more on the experiential and personal aspects of home than the social and cultural aspects. Until recently, sociological discussions have tended to ignore the experiential significance of home . The aim of this paper is to broaden the current debate on home within environmental psychology by examining key themes in the social science literature on home. It argues that there is a movement away from identifying core sites of meaning, towards a context-sensitive focus on the experience and use of home" (JEANNE MOORE)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494400901786
Regards,
Luis Fernando
No question that home is a different concept to house. I have discussed these differences in terms of human psychological needs in my book The Language of Space and that together with its references may help you start the journey. Of course we talk about home making and must remember this is an individual act not one carried out by designers, but we designers can invite possession. Herman Hertzberger is very strong on those notions. We can analyse this in terms of identity, security and stimulation needs to begin with. Good luck
Hi Bryce,
Interesting theme! Our intertwined relationships with the place where we've born, or spend most of our childhood is irreplaceable, and mostly of the time that's what forms what we could call "our idea of home". In our adulthood when we have to choose a different place to live we have to deal with this archetype, which some times is very difficult.
As an architect I had to understand and adequate the desire for a "home" that some clients had and formalize it in a house. Sometimes I felt like a psychologist!
But, in a certain sense, we, architects, are always designing a house for ourselves, our home, even when we try to deal with other archetypes. Our hope is that our clients connect emotionally with the spaces we created for them and in the future they could call it their home!
P.S. I would advise "Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture" from Norberg-Schulz and "The Poetics of Space" from Gaston Bachelard to enrich your thoughts.
Hi Bryce
I am nearing the end of a PhD project investigating new ways to capture and measure the impact of "good" design on building users. I have trialled a social impact methodology, Social Return on Investment, in 3 cancer support centres in the UK. The methodology involves qualitative stakeholder engagement with building users to identify the outcomes they feel they experience, followed by a user survey to quantify these outcomes, i.e. how many users report them. The data is then monetised using financial proxies to produce a ratio of £ design costs : £ social returns for the building users.
More info on SROI see http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/entry/a-guide-to-social-return-on-investment
One of the centres in particular has a very "homely" feel and this design element was mentioned a great deal throughout the user focus groups as well as by the project team. This building also produced the highest SROI ratio, meaning the homely design had the highest value for the building users.
Hopefully, something of interest and maybe a different take on the concept of "home" and how to quantify it.
I am currently writing up the findings in a set of papers. The first, a literature review, is available, doi: 10.1177/1420326X14557550
The results papers will be published over the next 6-9 months.
Good luck for your project!
Thank you all so much this has given me a great start to my thesis. Also João Pernão i was reading "The Poetics of Space" when i began thinking of this topic.
Hello Bryce,
Are you really aiming to quantify or come up with a set of design principles that induce 'Home' feelings or exploring how much different design styles impact these feelings? There are any number of routes you can take. Maybe you should explore those some more.
I am in the fag end of my architectural PhD on "Spatiality of Feeling at Home" in a domestic context. I too had ideas similar to yours when I started off my work. The route I took was phenomenological, in addition to spatial/architectural analysis to come up with spatial elements and relationships which are seen to typify the experience of 'feeling at home' within the cases I studied. So I may be forgiven for thinking that your topic is more suited for a qualitative approach.
This book may give you some ideas for quantification though. Designing Better Buildings: Quality and Value in the Built Environment By Sebastian Macmillan
All the best.
Shailaja
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