Dear Chris:
1) Architecture may be with us "slightly longer" but dwellings are with us far
longer.
2) Dwelling (house, housing, ... whatever you call) is a kind of holistic
existence to us, which is crucially different from industrial design artefac
ts.
3) True, "modern box" can be nice. Sense of community exists or not is more
important than the mere shape. A traditional house similar in shpe with its
neigbours, self-build dwellings, all these are trying to gain such sense of
community. That is why they are more easily accepted by people.
regards
Satoshi Kose
At 15:28 99/04/29 +0100, Rust, Chris wrote:
> One of the differences between industrial design and architecture is the
> relative maturity of the two fields of work. Architecture has been with us
> for slightly longer than industrial design and there are very many well
> tested prototypes for houses which respond to almost any conceivable
> environmental and social situation.
>
> Given that repertoire it is very dangerous to believe that one can throw
> away the rules and get a better result, I would like to suggest that
> designing houses (as individual artefacts and elements of a community)
> should be seen as a craft and the designer should see social interactions,
> the weather and opportunities to build diverse individual and family lives
> as the key materials.
>
> I have a friend who lives in a very basic, box-like, modern house in a
> small public housing development of about 30 homes. It is basically a
> straight traditional street with houses on both sides. It is a brilliant
> success because the "street" is closed to vehicles - cars park at the rear
> of the house. The front gardens and "street" make a perfect social space
> (with individual and shared territory) for both children and adults. Hardly
> radical but I would be happy to live there - it is one of the most sociable
> neighbourhoods I know.
>
> And houses have to provide scope for development by individuals - assuming
> that you can give somebody a perfect solution in one go is foolish, you can
> only provide a shell. One of the good things about living in a mature
> street of apparently identical houses is the way that each has become
> unique over time.
>
> best wishes from Sheffield,
> Chris Rust ([log in to unmask])
> Sheffield Hallam University,uk
>
Satoshi Kose, Dr.
Director, Housing and Building Economy Department
Building Research Institute
Tatehara, Tsukuba 305-0802 Japan
tel.81-298-64-6611; fax.81-298-64-6771
www.kenken.go.jp/5bu/skose/TG19.html
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