Informal HousingARCH 567

Task 1

Shirin Izadpanah116075

•What is considered to be a House today?

To be able to answer this question, first it should be defined

what is considered to be house today from whose point of view???

Architect

Society

Inhabitant

According to Robert Swartz we don not only perceive our environment by our eyes but with our other senses as well He believes different

judgment comes from different perceptions [1].

Perception is related with experiencing which can be defined in

best ideal by inhabitants specially in case of housing.

Various PERCEPTIONs define different expectations so to define a

meaning for a house, it is not possible to define a particular definition.

Every single person can have a different consideration of a house

related with his gender, age, culture, economy and …

To identify the concept of the house today, the first consideration

should be inhabitants and their needs and expectations in

contemporary time. A contemporary house is a house which is

built today to provide the needs and requirements of today’s

society .Different Economy, Cultural and Social factors produce

different housing preferences [2]. Today the people rent or buy a

house not because its what they expect to be house, but because

they do not have any other choice[3].

A house is important issue in contemporary time as a “shelter and

accommodation, it’s role as a home, it’s role as a financial investment,

it’s role as economy development and its role in shaping our urban and

rural environment [4].

So cotemporary house has 4 main roles :

As a Shelter

As a Home

In Economy

In Urban and rural environment

What is the characteristic of a Shelter and a Home????

Shelter always been a roof overhead and a protection from outdoor dangers. Today a shelter generally is a home. A home is still a place for work, have a rest, curing, … some characteristics of a home never changes!![5]

How does Economy and Investment effects housing????

Some people buy houses to give them for rent and some people buy houses with mortgages based on the income.[6] Which turns a house to business or wealth. “housing investments is a sufficiently large fraction of total investment activity in the economy (P. 159)” [7], Which turns housing into an important sector of economy policy in societies.

House and Urban/Rural Environment.“many psychosocial disorders in urban areas are associated with poor quality housing and living environments (p.128)”[8]. Quality of housing defines the quality of urban or rural environment.

Today architect stays in between the house, users and societies.

Different Architects have different definition of House…For Le Corbusier House was machine for living in.[9]

For Frank Gehry his house was “cheapskate architecture”.[10]

For Frank Lloyd Wright house was a “shelter” [11]and ...

Different architects had different definition of a house throughout the history. Today

Ecological Housing, Green House, Sustainable Housing, Solar Houses and … are

considered by contemporary architects due to change in climate and habits.

Therefore for contemporary architects a house is a architectural product which make

better use of renewable energies, reduce waste and recycle more materials without

decreasing its beauty and comfort for it’s inhabitants.[12]

Today a House:For a Habitant is a affordable shelter which he feels comfortable, safe and it provides his expectations.

For Society is a economical sector which government can use it to have control over the economy crisis.

For the City is it’s quality, it’s culture, it’s identity.

For Architects is designing the building which follows society rules, provide residents’ requirements, represent their own architectural style and concept and does not struggle with nature.

But still for manyyyyy an investment…

•How the sense of “belonging”

can be reinforced, today?

•Feeling Secure creates sense of belonging psychologically. Creating

sense of belonging is gained by understanding of users in environment

and design their surroundings according to their Satisfaction and

Emotion. [13]

What is sense of belonging in a space???

• Sense of place or belonging is more stronger in spaces which have an

Identity and define a meaning for the users. [13]

• Having Control over the environment increases the sense of belonging

for the users in space. [14]

• Successful Spatial Organization guides to place attachment.[13]

And when it comes to the House there are other considerations for increasing the sense of belonging?

•“People own a house for investment purposes there is a predisposition to a reduced

sense of attachment to place(p.74)”. [15] therefore, A house should not only be an investment!!!!!!!

•Sense of attachment or belonging is related with both physical and social characteristics of the house. This does not only limited to the interior of the house but

also the neighborhood as well [16]. Sense of belonging for residents is outdoor and indoor relationship.

Researches has been shown that it is possible to generalize aspects of the home for

different personalities and increase their sense of belonging by satisfying the users and

this include their Personal, Social, Physical and Temporal

Characteristics[17]:

Conclusion Today a house may be a shelter which is affordable, a place which will

be livable for a while, a well design building by an architect, a home

which we grew up, …, no matter what it is, It is a place where we belong

to and we go to when we are done with the outdoor activities and

designers can increase this belonging by considering users in

all their steps through their design and create possibilities

which involve them in designing their surroundings after

they settled.

“A comfortable house is a great source of

happiness. It ranks immediately after health and a

good conscience.” Sydney Smith

[1] Swartz, R.J. (Ed.). (1976). Perceiving, sensing and knowing. California: University of

California Press.

[2]Jones, R. A. (1958, October). The case for contemporary house. Popular Mechanics, 110(4),

141-279.

[3] Allen, C. (2008). Housing market renewal and social class. USA: Routledge.

[4] Norris, M., & Redmond, D. (2007). Setting the scene: transformation in irish housing.

In Housing Contemporary Ireland: Policy, Society and Shelter (pp. 1-21). Netherland: Springer.

[5] Kahn, L., & Easton, B. (2010). Shelter II. USA: Shelter Publications.

[6] Straus, N. (1974). The seven myths of housing. USA: Ayer Publishing.

[7] Pozdena, R. J. (1988). The modern economics of housing: a guide to theory and policy for

finance and real estate professionals. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group.Retrieved from

http://books.google.com/books?id=pixE5Rx22HkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summ

ary_r&cad=0

[8] UN-HABITAT. (2008). State of the world's cities: 2008/2009 : harmonious cities. UK&USA:

Earthscan.

References

[9] Le Corbusier. (2008). Toward an architecture. London: frances lincoln ltd.

[10] Lazo, C. E. (2005). Frank gehry. USA: Twenty-First Century Books.

[11] Giedion, S. (1997). Space, time and architecture: the growth of a new tradition. USA:

Harvard University Press.

[12] Cleary, M. (2011). 21st Century Sustainable Homes. Austrailia: Images Publishing.

[13] Edwards, C. (2010). Interior design: a critical introduction. UK: Berg.

[14] Robie, S. H., & Strubel, D. (2004).Beautiful places, spiritual spaces: the art of stress-free

interior design. USA: Moody Publishers.

[15] Rawls, S., Maurksch, R., & Schwarz, B. (1995). Housing and the environmental social

sciences. In R. Brent & B. Schwarz (Eds.), Popular American housing: A reference guide (pp.

73-114). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

[16] Oktay, D., Rüs Temli, A., & Marans, R. (2009). Neighborhood satisfaction, sense of

community, and attachment: initial findings from famagusta quality of urban life study. ITU,

6(1), 6-20. Retrieved from http://www.az.itu.edu.tr/azvol6no1/04oktayrustemlimarans 0601.pdf

[17] Gibbs, C. W. (2005). Designing “home” into the house. Informally published manuscript,

interior design , University of Minnesota, Minnesota, Colorado . Retrieved from

http://www.informedesign.org/_news/mar_v06r-pr.pdf