Yo, Homey!? #LetsBlogOff

“What is HOME?”

A thoughtful and intriguing question posed by the LetsBlogOff Team and one architects, designers and interiors peeps have been talking about for….well, let’s not go there.

In answering this question you could stick to hanging out at the mall and reading all those colorful pillows and embroidered doilies that say poignant things like “home is where the heart is”, or “home is where the *insert random domesticated animal species here* is”, or “home is where I park my Hummer”….whatever.

But, if you want to get a little deeper, to delve into the human psyche and begin talking about the origins of “home” and “place” and “being” then buy your friendly neighborhood architect a martini, sit back and enjoy the ride. Just make sure you’re in a comfortable seat, cause you’ll be there a while. :-\

HOME is many things to many people. Going back to historical terms, “home”, or “shelter”, meant little more than protection from the elements and any natural predators that happened to be skulking around at night. It was a purely utilitarian invention. But as time trekked on and Nomadic people’s turned to Homesteading a permanent location, the idea of “shelter” and “dwelling” took on more meaning.

Fast forward to present day and the “home” has such myriad meaning that if you asked 5 people the same question you would get 5 different answers. And for good reason. Above and beyond the functional and structural requirements of a home we have embewed a “personality” into our domestic architecture.

Getting passed all of the aesthetic and “touchy-feely” things that make a house a home, lets answer the posited question in a more modern and intellectual way by looking at the modern family, the modern household, and how urban centers, cities, the burbs and even rural America connect today. Take a moment and think about your own daily life and how you actually “live”.

Now take a look around at your home. I’m thinking if you compare the two, you’ll see that your “home” probably doesn’t jive too much with how you “live”. The reasons for this are vast and I’ve talked about them before, so I won’t bore you with a recap. Suffice it to say our housing stock was not designed for “you”, it was designed for some fictional character that does not resemble you, but you must “fit” into the way this person lives.

If we are to recapture our “homes” then our houses need to change. The way we live has changed dramatically over the last few generations. The homes of the 1950s, while cute and historic and picturesque, do not serve our modern purposes without us first making some concessions. Our needs are different, the way we move in a home is different, the way we gather is different, therefore our homes must be different.

A home can be many things to many different people. What do you want it to be? Let me buy you a martini and we can talk about it.