Home, Nostalgia, Dwelling

Lecture Notes:

House - dwelling - retreat - shelter - stability - comfort - family - personal meanings - sentimentality - social order

The Poetics of Space - daydreaming - creating memories - house is our corner of the world 

Dwelling - protection from harm - safeguarding - preservation

Space and identity - a haven for a dweller - protective - comforting with memories of protection - a safety net - allows synchronisation of past, present and future 

A house and it's elements: windows, doors, roof, walls

Without a roof, the dweller is 'homeless', 'without a roof above their head' - religious connectivity 'the man upstairs'

Without walls, there is no defence from the outside world. Outside: Political - Inside: Secretive

Bare walls should be covered - cave paintings - we hide behind four walls, covering our nakedness - is this taken for granted?

Without windows and doors, we could not look outside or go out. - Seeing - a perception of danger? - exploration of the world outside, with a home to return to for safety and comfort.

Modern architecture - implies protection but also doesn't hide you from the outside world. Homes are becoming more centres of activity, with the outside world being allowed in, but at our own levels of comfort. 

For example:

TV - garages/cars - aerials - double glazed windows, to keep people from coming in but being able to see out.

Social hierarchy - social positioning - detached, semi detached etc - social classes being defined by their homes and possessions.

Houses are seen as islands.

Levels of social interactivity in the interior. Gender roles differentiation - female: kitchen - man: garage - separation - context of space within the interior

Michael Landy - Breakdown 2011

Everything owned to be broken down, shredded, dismantled, demolished

Categorised destruction of life and his 'identity' - how do items define us?

Psychobuilding - buildings to define a culture, to define a social hierarchy before it is even explained - MTV Cribs! 

Subprime - creation of life and shelter - how we've expanded and progressed - is this creating more identity for ourself? Are we spending too much time defining ourself with belongings and the buildings we call home?