Contemporary Discourse in Design - Essay Example

?Topic: 'Home' and its evolution or expression in design. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.  Home, home, sweet, sweet, home!  There'sno place like home, oh, there's no place like home1! -John Howard Payne Perhaps the essence of home was best captured in this concluding poem of John Howard Payne that there is no place like home. People of all ages and across culture have always contrived devices in ways that they know of with whatever means available to them just to make their homes “home sweet home”. The designs contrived by people to make home “sweet home” took several forms depending on the need and circumstances of the home dweller. This ranged from making their homes more comfortable such as the case of the homeless of New York to making their homes more secure such as the case of Antonelli’s Grace Under Pressure. But the profundity of the meaning of home is best illustrated by the experience of the city dwellers of New York who managed to create a home out of a cart when they opted to live in the streets than in an institution. There, the city dwellers in New York showed that home is not just a physical structure or a dwelling but rather a place of comfort where one can be “at home”. There, the cart dwellers of New York illustrated that comfort does not only mean physical implements nor devices nor machines, but rather a place where one can be at ease with his surroundings. They opted to call a cart home where they can barely fit to live rather than stay than in an institution with all the amenities and provisions but does not treat them as human beings. The cart dwellers of New York came first in the discussion of the expression of home, its design and its importance because they demonstrated the basic concept of what constitute a home; that home can be still home even if it cannot house or even if it is not a house. This is very important to stress because we always equate house with a home and the cart dwellers of New York demonstrated that it is not the case; that they are not synonymous with each other. You can “house” a person or a group of person such as what the city government of New York did to the homeless people of New York but you cannot just automatically make them feel at home and so they left. A house or structure has to have several components before it can be considered a home and a mere structure does not suffice to make it a home. Had we inferred home to be synonymous with structure or house, it would be incomprehensible why the homeless of New York City left the institution. The structure was imposing that could withstand any cruelty of nature. It is also secure from the onslaught of the outside world because it is guarded. Above all, the facility is free and its residents are assured of a steady supply of food and provision. Despite of all of this, the homeless of New York still left the facility. This is quite incomprehensible because it is not the nature of man to gallivant. His body is frail and meant for domesticated and sheltered stay that could become easily vulnerable to the elements. Unlike the beast whose body allows it to hunt when it roams around, man’s body will succumb to the elements when it is not sheltered. Yet, the homeless of New York preferred the uncertainty of the street rather than stay in the government run facilities. Close examination of the facility revealed why the residents left. True, it provides food and shelter but the condition and treatment of its residents made it far from being a home. “City-run shelters-though they provide food and respite from the elements-are dangerous and unfriendly places that impose a dehumanizing, even prisonlike, regimentation on residents. Guards routinely treat clients as inmates, allegedly denying them food for the violation of rules. Some shelter residents are abused from place to place for food, showers, and sleep. Charges of violence by shelter security guards and clients are common2” This report only revealed that people will not endure shabby treatment just to have a place to stay. More than the place to stay, security, food and economy (it is free), people will rather venture the uncertainty of the street just to look for a home. The New York case is more pronounced because the streets and outdoors of New York is unforgiving. Its weather could be freezing cold with them exposed to criminal elements and uncertainty of finding the next meal and their other material needs. Yet its residents gave it up. Obviously, the inclemency of the weather, vulnerability to criminal elements and uncertainty of living condition is way better than staying in a place that is abusive, dehumanizing and prisonlike. In the streets, the former residents of New York’s government facilities contrived make shift shelter to be their home. It is far from the imposing structure of the government facilities of New York and its inhabitants are vulnerable to a lot of things that ranges from the inclemency of the seasons, criminal elements to uncertainty of livelihood yet is could still be home. It illustrates that a make shift cart without the facility of comfort can still be home for as long as its inhabitant are “at home” and at ease. And as the New York experience showed, people will always look for ways to make even a modest a cart to have a semblance of home. Its inhabitants gaily decorate their and will add improvised facility such as a stove just to mimic the regularities of a home3. The New York experience of its cart dwellers demystified the concept of home; that home is not about structure, and a house is not synonymous with home. It showed the most basic instinct of man to establish his comfort zone with anything that he has just to have his space acquire the semblance of a home such as designing improvements with a modest cart for it to have a feeling of a home. Indeed, the lack of means does not mean that an inhabitant will forgo designing and improving his home. The sense of home will always find a way for its inhabitants to make improvement whatever their economic status is. This sense of home will motivate its inhabitants to facilitate the provision of improvement that costs relative to home design will always find means to improve the threshold of the quality of living4. It also does not matter whether the home is owned or rented because people will still consider a house to be a home even if they do not own it5. This idea that home is not just a house or a structure was elaborated by Heidegger where home is taken as a universe in the same manner that a bridge is not just a bridge that connects two disparate ends of land that removes the chasm between two places but a means to connect people, develop relationship and exchange ideas6. Here, Heidegger gave more respect to the house and provided a more elaborate explanation of the house and its design defining it as more than space, “house is our corner of the world. . . our first universe, a real cosmos in every sense of the world7”. Such that when it becomes a universe of its own, then it is being transformed to a home where life’s poetry is being sheltered. It create memories that is distinct and special that the outside world will never have the same tonality as those of a home8. It shelters not only relationships, but also protects day-dreaming and the dreamer, to allow dreams to flourish in peace9. And when the dreamer can flourish, life then can blossom and positive memories becomes prolific. These memories add up with each memorable experience with each experience becoming more unforgettable that enriches the life and soul of any of its inhabitants10. Faults explained this phenomena as “it’s like a cycle or something” that we could not fully appreciate it until we start your own.11 Perhaps, home is better experienced than defined. This sense of protection can also assume various forms and does not necessarily limit its sense of security just to the dreamer but extends to everybody in the house. This sense of security can also be elaborate or modest depending on one’s resources. In Israel where security is paramount among its citizens due to the regularity of threat from its Palestinian neighbour and other Arab countries (16 percent of Israelis have been directly exposed to terrorist attach and thirty seven percent have family and friends who witnessed a terror attack), they created a “security room with a door lined with rubber to guard against chemical agents12. It may be modest compared to the elaborate security of Saddam Hussein but nevertheless has provided its residence a sense of security. In the United States, this sense of security was also heightened after the 9/11 terror attack. This sense of increased security is more prominent among America’s CEO’s who has the resources to actualize their paranoia who built elaborate safety rooms after the 9/11 terror attack. Whatever the case, this only stress an individual’s expression of protection in his home can assume various forms depending on the level of threat and corresponding resources. The individual’s sense of safety in his home extends beyond securing oneself from the actual physical threat. Devices may be installed to enhance one sense of security but security can also assume a metaphorical protection not just from harm, but also from the conflict of the world. The metaphorical form of safety can assume in an aspect of sanctuary where one retreats from the world either for respite or refuge. And again be ready to face the world after refreshing or recharging one’s self in the home. The different and contrasting treatment and concept of home between the people of New York, Antonelli and Heidegger made defining home difficult. It demonstrates that home can assume various meaning depending on the need and perspective of the dweller that it can be defined as a place, sanctuary, relationship, experience and a sense of security. House which is its derivative, is easier to delineate its meaning for when the term is used, it is referenced to a place. But when the concept of home is addressed, a special relationship between a place and the individual is necessary that “the phrase“feeling at home” often was used to convey this emotionally based relation ship that developed over time13. In addition to a shelter that protects the dreamer or builds relationship, home also reflects our values and our lifestyles. Griepentrog agreed that homes holds our fondest memories and added the pragmatist dimension that it s the largest purchase that we will ever make or the single biggest thing that any individual will ever tackle14. This is to stress te importance of home in an individual’s life as it consumes the biggest chunk of an individual’s capacity to acquire or create. In fact, buying a home is the single largest investment most Americans make15 and this is not only confined among Americans as home also constitutes the largest purchase of any individual in any culture. This phenomenon holds true whatever the individual’s economic status is. If the homeless of New York were able to contrive gaily decorated cart despite their dire economic condition, all the more to those individuals whose economic condition are better than a scavenging cart dweller. Confining to New York still, there are “tiny houses” where there is an increasing trend to live in the smallest place possible16. Perhaps this is the people’s response to the recent crisis to still have a home at the most economical price possible. “Tiny houses are built on trailer platforms. Typically, they are between a hundred and a hundred and thirty square feet, roughly the size of a covered wagon. They aren't toys or playhouses or aesthetic gestures--a copy of Monticello as a sandbox in a field in East Hampton, say--and they aren't shacks or cottages, either. Shacks don't have kitchens and bathrooms, and a cottage is larger than a tiny house17.  As to its occupants, the individuals living in tiny houses was described as “committed, and slightly self-regarding, citizens, who cook on little stoves and have refrigerators like wall safes18”. The facility may be minimal, but still, they have the semblance of a home. And speaking of economic homes, there is also a growing trend to have prefab house which was a staple during the housing boom. They are mass produced pre-designed houses which is significantly affordable than the regularly house. They are technically called “manufactured homes” because they are being manufactured instead of being built. The house’s major components are manufactured or fabricated in a remote facility and then transported to the site or buyer’s property where the house will be “assembled”. Its structure is also reliable because “manufactured homes typically retain their frame and axle assemblies after installation and are often secured in place with undercarriage tie-down straps instead of a traditional foundation19”. Prefab homes are considered as excellent substitute or alternative to the traditionally built homes especially for those who are tight on budget20. But of course the case would be different to those who has the resources and can afford because they have the resources to build elegant houses21. This can also be adorned with technology that automates the house and enable the dweller to provide and control all of the household electronics from entertainment to security system22. These houses often symbol of financial success . . . and like many cultural trends, this idea of a better future being equated with buying a house has moved beyond our borders23. This only shows that whatever the individual’s case or resources, people will always contrive home. Tackling “home and its evolution or expression in design” will inevitably lead us to understanding about man’s universal need of a home. That through time, resources and circumstances, man will always find a way to simulate or contrive home. And as what we have found out, a house does not necessarily mean or equate to a home. An edifice or an infrastructure may have the capacity to “house” and shelter people, but its inhabitants may not necessarily find the house to be their home. The city dwellers of New York who became homeless provided an interesting point about this case. After being homeless, the city government of New York accommodated its citizens in city run facilities in an effort to provide them homes. Everything was supposed free. Food, supplies and stay were free. The place was also supposed to be secure and the structure was more than enough to protect its inhabitants from the inclemency of the weather. As it turned, the government run facilities turned into a penitentiary or a prison in the eyes of its residents. Abuses and coercion were common and the food and accommodation which were supposed to be free were used as a carrot and yardstick to its inhabitants. As a result, its residents left choosing instead the uncertainties and vagaries of the street rather than be abused in city run centers. Their case again illustrated that the absence of resources is not a hindrance to contrive or simulate home. Just when we anticipated that they will be sleeping in cold slabs or wondering around and then return to government facilities for provision, they instead settled in the streets and found an ingenious way to have a home and mode of transport. The former homeless of New York settled in carts and adorned it with colorful decorations and amenities. This phenomenon only showed that home is inherent among people and along with the concept of a home is how people are treated in their respective places of abode. The New York experience demonstrated that even if a structure has the best of facilities and gives provision for free, its dwellers will still not consider it home if they are not treated as human beings. It can be concluded that people will always forgo relative material comfort in exchange for relative ease. The physical comfort can be contrived by whatever means available to an individual. This was not only demonstrated by the cart dwellers of New York. People will always contrive home no matter what their economic condition is. The degree of elaborateness and comfort will depend on the individual’s resources and capacity but they will always find a way to create their homes. The methods of creating home are myriads. People can resort to living to tiny houses such as the lower income people in New York inorder to economize their standard of living and still have a home. They can also chose to have prefab homes as an alternative to regular homes. And if they can afford, they will always build elegant houses as a token of their financial success. But whatever the size, style and method of how their houses are created, there are always universal characteristics that would define a home. It is the memory that is being stored and protected by the walls of the house that made it a home; experiences that do not only delight but also enrich the people that inhabit the home. That the memory of it will always stir our heart and always remember it as “home sweet home”. Bibliography Antonellie, Paola, Safe: Design Takes on Risk, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, (2005): 13 Brad, Fulrts, What is Home?. (September 28, 2005) http://h3h.net/philosophy/what-is-home (accessed March 23, 2012). Camille, Alice, No place like home. U.S. Catholic 76 Issue 3 (March 2011):44-46. Folds, Chauntelle; Young, Stephanie, Building vs. buying a home, Black Enterprise 37 Issue 69(January 2007): 70. Gaston, Bachelard. Poetics of Space, Boston, 1958. Griepentrog ,Troy, You can build your own home, Mother Earth New (Spring 2004): 74 Heidegger, "Building Dwelling Thinking," in Poetry, Language, Thought. Pg. 5 Koskela, Tiiu; Vaananen-Vainio-Mattila, Kaisa; Evolution towards smart home environments: empirical evaluation of three user interfaces., Personal & Ubiquitous Computing 8 Issue3/4. Lurie, David V.; Wodiczko, Krzysztof, Homeless Vehicle Project (MIT Press, October 47, 1988), pg. 54. Payne, John Howard, Home Sweet Home. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/home-sweet-home/ [accessed May 5, 2012] Polenzani, Joseph R. Mobile homes, Fire Engineering (July 2010) pg. 55 Putnam, Tim, The modern home and the evolution of the house. Journal of Architecture 9 no. 4 (Winter 2004): 428 Risch, Conor; Ahearn, Meghan, A house that is not a home, AvailablePhoto District News 32 Issue 4 (April 2012) Rocherer, Megan. Home Technology, Indianapolis Monthly, 34 issue 15 (September 2011) pg. 96. Schwartz-Barcott D, Gillsjo, Home: the place the older adult cannot imagine living without, BMC Geriatrics, Vol 11 (March 2011):2 Wilkinson, Alec, Let’s get small, New Yorker 87 Issue 21, (July 25, 2011) Read More