El eni Economi dou
Remember i ng Home / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
Remembering home
An architectural research into how sensory memories influence people into calling a house - a home Š Eleni Economidou, 2013
MArch Dissertation
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COPYRIGHT STATEMENT‌‌.....
(1) Copyright in text of this dissertation rests with the Author. Copies, by any process, either in full or of extracts can be made only in accordance with the permission acquired from the author. This particular piece of text should be included in any copies of such nature.
(2) The ownership of any intellectual property rights described in this paper is attributable to the Manchester School of Architecture, subject to any prior agreement to the contrary, and may not be made available for use by third parties without a written official permission from the University, that will prescribe the terms and conditions of any agreement of this kind.
Remembering Home An architectural research into how sensory memories influence people into calling a house - a home. by Eleni Economidou
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements to the Manchester School of Architecture for the degree of Master of Architecture (MArch)
Manchester School of Architecture University of Manchester Manchester Metropolitan University
Dissertation Supervisor: Victoria Henshaw
Keywords: architecture, home, house, sensory modalities, phenomenology, attachment, memories Š Eleni Economidou, 2013
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DEDICATION
U
To my family - my mother Georgia, my father Yiannakis, my brother Charalambos and my friend Panos-whose company brings my sense of home into being.
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List of Contents List of Figures ................................................. 7 Acknowledgements ......................................... 9 Abstract ........................................................ 11 0.0 Introduction ............................................ 13 1.0 Preface ..................................................... 17 2.0 From House to Home .............................. 41 3.0 Sensory Home ......................................... 51 4.0 Home Recollection .................................. 61 5.0 Research Methodologies .......................... 67 6.0 Research Part I: Questionnaire - different settings of home attachment ......................... 87 7.0 Research Part II: Sensory Memories and attachment to home ....................................... 95 8.0 Deductions ............................................ 111 Appendix I .................................................. 116 Appendix II ................................................. 116 Appendix III................................................ 126 Appendix IV ............................................... 128 Bibliography................................................ 132
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List of Figures Fig.0.0: Calamato M, 2012, Feels like Home Series, digital image, California, viewed 29 December 2012, <http://www.behance.net/gallery/Feels-likeHome/808735>.
Fig.0.1: Von Emmel T, Home is connecting, At home project, San Fransisco, viewed 29 December 2012,<http://www.flickr.com/photos/vonem mel/
Fig.1.1:
Schwarz C., 2011, Grey House, Michigan, viewed 06 January 2013, < http://www.flickr.com/photos/corn_nugget/5 544720096/>. 4940144955/in/pool-1464992@N24>.
Fig.1.2: Caravaggio, 1601, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Potsdam, viewed 01 January 2013, <http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/car avaggio/>.
Fig.1.5: Francis S., 2012,Richcard Meiers AD,
Fig 7.2.1 Participant’s own photo of her
viewed 03 February 2013 <http://www.architecturaldigest.com/AD100/ 2012/richard-meier-partners-architects-ad100profile >
wardrobe
Fig.1.6 & Fig. 1.7 & Fig. 1.8: Alto A., 1939, Villa Mairea, viewed 27 January 2013, < http://www.archdaily.com/85390/adclassics-villa-mairea-alvar-aalto/>. Fig.1.9: Poutrain J, 2009, Voir – Senses and Architecture, viewed 06 January 2013, <http://www.flickr.com/photos/lightexplosio n/4228890148/in/photostream/>.
Fig.1.10: Poutrain J, 2009, Toucher – Senses and Architecture, viewed 06 January 2013, < http://www.flickr.com/photos/lightexplosion /4228120091/in/photostream/>.
Fig.1.11: Poutrain J, 2009, Gouter – Senses and Architecture, viewed 06 January 2013, <http://www.flickr.com/photos/lightexplosio n/4228120091/in/photostream/>.
Fig.1.12: Hilzy, 2010, Soft Footsteps, viewed 04 January 2013, <http://www.flickr.com/photos/hilzy/429901 6328/>.
Fig.1.3: Unknown, 2010, Humans’ five senses, viewed 12 February 2013, <http://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/e ngage-the-5-senses-with-promotionalproducts/>
Fig.1.13: Poutrain J, 2009, Sentir – Senses and
Fig.1.4: Hiskey D, 2010, Humans’ five senses,
Fig.1.14: Penfield, 1940, Homunculuus, viewed
viewed 01 January 2013, <http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/ 2010/07/humans-have-a-lot-more-than-fivesenses/>. MArch Dissertation
Fig 7.2.2 Participant’s drawing of her recollection
Fig 7.2.3 Participant’s photo of her Jasmine plant
Fig 7.2.4 ‘lissalou66’Missouri, 2010, Old Knobs <http://www.flickr.com/photos/lissalou66/42 41103413/>
Fig. 7.3.1 Participant’s sketch of her first home memory
Fig. 7.3.2 Participant’s photo as a child in her living room.
Fig. 7.3.3 Part of participant’s collection of silverware
Fig. 7.4.1 Participant’s sketch of his first home memory in the garage
Cover image: Home Sweet Home,2012 viewed 09 March 2013, <http://www.thekeypieces.co.uk/2012/03/ho me-sweet-home.html>
Architecture, viewed 06 January 2013, <http://www.flickr.com/photos/lightexplosio n/4228120091/in/photostream/>.
07 February 2013, < http://ion.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark/demos/homu nc2.html/>. Remembering Home | 7
Fig.0.0 Feels like Home Series (Marcos Calamato, 2012) 8 | Remembering Home
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Furthermore, I feel deeply grateful for the three people who agreed to take part in my research as case studies and opened their home, their world to me and shared their story.
Acknowledgements My earnest thanks goes, firstly, to the all those people, my family, friends and academic colleagues, who supported me throughout the writing of this dissertation. Special thanks go without saying to all the people who took part in my research, sacrificing a fraction of their time to answer my questionnaires and had the willingness to share their feelings and memories of their first home providing me with valuable insights on the subject.
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At the finish line of this piece of writing, I am thankful to all the friends for their opinions and proof reading of the final draft. Their help was much appreciated.
the places facilitating my research deserve some appreciation and acknowledgement as well. My own house; the houses of the people who took part in my research as case studies but also houses described in the literature I have reviewed; have been a real inspiration.
Last but by no means least; heartfelt gratitude is also due to my Dissertation Supervisor, Victoria Henshaw, whose suggestions, support, encouragement and guidance proved to be the driving force and the inspiration of writing this very document. While it is considered normal to express oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gratitude to friends, family and colleagues in this section,
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Fig.0.1 Home is connecting, At home project (Tiffany Von Emmel, 2010) 10 | Remembering Home
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In the second part, in order to
upon further reading and analysis, the focus
Abstract
This dissertation is an attempt
of
these
discussions
and
and
define
the
findings - after situating the current
concept of home and memory, home
study within the body of literature,
and the senses and memory and
primary
sensory stimuli. As a result, there has
were conducted. The qualitative data
been
was, then, distributed using visual
relatively
little
detailed
sources
Some
-
of
questionnaires,
description of the three notions and
methods.
the way they are intertwined.
participants were selected as case -
the
survey’s
studies in order to be interviewed and
‘How do sensory memories affect
This investigation materializes
people into calling a house, their
in two parts. Initially, these relations
home?’ The main research focus is the
will be analysed through secondary
relationship between body, memory
sources, in the form of a literature
and the psychological attachment to
review,
space.
knowledge of the subject in question,
in
order
to
establish
through which, some initial findings
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support
literature has been the analysis of the
to respond to the research question:
In the past few decades, attachment to home, memories and senses are subjects widely discussed in the fields of architecture. However,
further
will begin to formulate.
therefore,
analyse
the
survey’s
outcomes further. The
concluding
out-
comes indicate that the senses do have an impact on people when calling a house
their
home
by
triggering
memories through sensory stimuli. Keywords: senses; experience; memory; imagination; design; spaces; home; psychological attachment; human behaviour; Remembering Home | 11
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0.0 Introduction Investigation’s Main Aims
This study’s main focus is the relationship between the senses, memory and the concept of home and specifically the idea that sensory stimuli affect the individual’s attachment to home. The research questions answered by examination of primary and secondary data are the following: - Do childhood memories affect people’s attachment to their homes later on in their lives?
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- Which sensory modality triggers the most powerful memories when home is concerned? - Do sensory stimuli affect people into calling a house, their home? - In what way each of the five senses affects people and the type of memories they might generate. The reason behind this topic selection was due to a personal interest in researching the notion of home primarily through the senses, due to the general discomposure of what we call home and furthermore, it can be a great asset for an architect to know beforehand the type of environment that inspires people to call a place their home and which senses he needs to acknowledge to do so.
Research Overview This thesis includes eight other chapters which examine people’s memories of home in terms of their sensory perceptions of the environment.
The First Chapter – Prefaceintroduces the main notions of senses and memory and the connection established between them, as well as the meaning of these terms in relation to architecture from the phenomenological point of view.
The Second Chapter examines the greater idea of Home and the multiple facets of attachment to it.
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The Third Chapter forms an investigation through the often overlooked daily sensory modalities which may exist in our homes. The individuals’ first and most sensual relationships happen inside this space.
The Fourth Chapter analyses the memories of people’s home. From this analysis, certain themes emerge, such as the strong association between olfactory stimuli and home memories, daydreaming and nostalgia.
Chapter Five constitutes the definition of the methods applied in this dissertation in order to answer the
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study’s inquiries by collecting primary and secondary data.
and drawings by a few selected questionnaires’ respondents.
Chapter Six presents the data from the first part of the primary search, the questionnaire. The survey acquired information related to people’s first memory of home and the sensory memories they had in order to investigate its impact on future attachments with this concept.
The Final Chapter summarises the information scrutinized before by illustrating some key findings such as the validation of the bond between senses and dwellings. Furthermore, an additional verdict that this study brought into being is that early childhood
memories
are
crucial
in
attaining a tie with home.
Chapter Seven comprises, likewise, a presentation and analysis of the collected primary data presented as Case studies. The collection of data was established through interviews
It also evaluates the methodology which was employed to investigate the senses’ role. Additionally, it clarifies the reason that this information may be of any help for the architect as the concluding deduction.
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Fig.1.1 Grey House (Corinne Schwarz, 2011) 16 | Remembering Home
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H harmony
uman
since
our
creation, used to live in
with
Nowadays,
1.0 Preface
beings,
this
the
natural
balance
habitat.
has
been
disrupted; we live in a manmade, artificial environment or - what architects would call - a built environment; one which we created in order to satisfy one of our basic,
1.1
physiological
Sensory Experience and Architecture ‘Every touching experience of architecture is multisensory; qualities of matter, space and scale are measured equally by the eye, ear, nose, skin, tongue, skeleton and muscle.’ ‘Architecture is the art of reconciliation between ourselves and the world, and this mediation takes place through the senses.’1
needs2 – the need for a
shelter, a dwelling.
[Built ɪnˈvaɪrəmənt) -
environment (bɪlt noun:
the
built
environment consists of buildings and all other things that have been constructed by human beings]3. The experience of this
Juhani Pallasmaa, 2005
built environment happens
Maslow, A.H., A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review, 1943, pp. 370-96. 3 ’built environment’, Collins, Collins English Dictionary, London: Collins, 2010. 2
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin, London: Academy Editions, 1996, pp. 50. 1
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Fig.1.2 The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (Front cover of ‘ The Eyes of the Skin’) (Caravaggio, 1601) Remembering Home | 17
Fig.1.3 Five Senses (Unknown, 2012) 18 | Remembering Home
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before the individual starts making sense
memory cluster in order to associate
of the world4.
memory with senses and create relations
One of the numerous ways to experience through
the
the
built
body;
environment Juhani
is
with spaces experienced at a previous instance7.
Pallasmaa
argues that the city comes to life over our
People spend 90% of their lives
embodied experience5 - forging it into a
indoors; a percentage so high that affects
multisensory experience of reality6.
The
health, well-being and satisfaction levels
unconscious comparison between places
through acoustics, air quality, lighting and
we experience in the past (from macro to
temperature. The way we sense a space is
micro scale- from our country to our
key, hence, attention must be given in
bedroom)
designing them8.
is
inevitable.
Upon
the
circumstance of a new sensory experience In recent times, social sciences are
of a space – for example, a child’s first time into a hospital – the brain turns to the
undergoing
a
‘sensorial
revolution’,
setting the study of the senses under the Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture, Bazer: Birkhauser, 1999, pp. 57. 5 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin, West Sussex: John Wiley &Sons, 2005, pp. 40. 6 Jasmien Herssens and Ann Heylighen, Haptics and Vision in Architecture: designing for more senses, In: Ray Lucas and Gordon Mair, Sensory Urbanism Proceedings, London: Flâneur Press, 2008, pp. 102. 4
Barrett P and Zhang Y, Optimal Learning Spaces: Design Implications for Primary Schools, in SCRI Research Report Series, University of Salford: Salford, 2009, pp. 45. 8 Peter and Lucinda Barrett, The potential of positive places: Senses, brain and spaces, Intelligent Buildings International, Vol.2, Iss.3, 2010: pp.218. Print. doi:10.3763/inbi.2010.0042 7
Fig.1.4 Humans’ five senses (Daven Hiskey, 2010) MArch Dissertation
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Fig.1.5 Richard Meier and partner Architects - AD (Frances S., 2012) 20 | Remembering Home
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scope
once
revolution
notion immensely diverse. In terms of
muscular and haptic user experience.
suggests that senses can be a socio-
architecture, this can be translated into
Architects
political phenomenon10 - not merely a
stimuli created by the built environment,
Zumthor, Peter Eisenman, Kengo Kuma,
neurological
happening
which generate fusion of all the senses:
Alvar Aalto, Glenn Murcutt and Steven
differently
vision,
Holl)
individually
again9.
This
process -
perceived
haptic
experience,
olfaction,
of
claim
today,
that
design
is
largely
audition and gustation; strengthening our
dominated
periods11.
existential experience13. Some architects
especially
have adjusted their style of architecture in
marginalizing
order to emphasise on one or more
architecture is established in order to
sensory modalities14.
satisfy almost every sensory modality and
in a generic body12, we live in different unique bodies that differ widely in terms of
context,
tolerance
and
in
visionary
(Peter
depending on societies, location and
Contradicting the notion of living
by
though,
western other
images15,
societies, senses.
thus Τheir
even alter the incentives that a building
perceptual
Strong examples in the architecture of Le
might provoke16. This can be achieved by
culture - hence, the perception of space is a
Corbusier and Richard Meier prove their
monitoring the role of naturalness of the
focus on the sense of sight while Erich
environment,
Mendelsohn designed his buildings in a
expressing a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s individuality and
Zardini M., 2005. Sense of the City: an alternative approach to Urbanism, Baden: L. Muller; Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture, pp. 22. 10 Constance Classen, Foundations for an anthropology of the Senses, International Social Science Journal, Vol.153, 1997, pp. 401. 11 David Howes, Architecture of the Senses, In: Mirko Zardini, Sense of the City: an alternative approach to Urbanism, Baden: L. Muller; Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2005, pp. 322. 12 Kent C. Bloomer and Carles Moore, Body, Memory and Architecture, London: Yale University Press, 1977, pp. X. 9
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the
opportunity
of
way that empowered the possibility of the Jasmien Herssens and Ann Heylighen, Haptics and Vision in Architecture: designing for more senses, In: Ray Lucas and Gordon Mair, Sensory Urbanism Proceedings, London: Flâneur Press, 2008, pp. 103. 16 David Howes, Architecture of the Senses, In: Mirko Zardini, Sense of the City: an alternative approach to Urbanism, Baden: L. Muller; Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2005, pp. 330. 15 13Zumthor
P.,1998. A Way of Looking at Things, Architecture & Urbanism, Feb 1998, pp.18. 14 Barrett P and Zhang Y, Optimal Learning Spaces: Design Implications for Primary Schools, in SCRI Research Report Series, University of Salford: Salford, 2009.
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Fig.1.6 & Fig. 1.7 & Fig. 1.8: Alto A., 1939, Villa Mairea, Unknown 22 | Remembering Home
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the moderation of suitable levels of user
systems (vision, audition, touch, olfaction
stimulation17.
and gustation) such as proprioception
persuasion; buildings have turned into image products detached from existential depth and sincerity’21.
(kinaesthesia: awareness of the location The enrichment of the environment
and motion of the parts of the body by
to accommodate and reflect all the senses
means of sensory organs – proprioceptors
architecture of our times. Instead of the
is an act highly required in our - ever-
- in the muscles and seams)19, nociception
actual experience, the user is treated as the
changing and constantly demanding –
(pain),
spectator of images the architect projects22.
societies in order to maintain spaces which
temperature, feeling hot or cold) and
provide the required levels of gratification
equilibrioception (balance)20.
and pleasure to the
of
Architecture of visual imagery
body has more than the five most known recognised
The visual palette of the architect includes lighting and shadow, colour,
Researchers claim that the human
scientifically
(sense
public18.
1.2 Sensory Modalities’ Range
and
thermoception
Vision has a dominant role in
sensory
Barrett PS and Zhang Y, Optimal Learning Spaces: Design Implications for Primary Schools, in SCRI Research Report Series, University of Salford: Salford, 2009. 18 Peter Howell and Julia Ionides, Design and Communication in a Multi-sensory Environment, In: Ray Lucas and Gordon Mair, Sensory Urbanism Proceedings, London: Flâneur Press, 2008, pp. 103.
‘the ocular bias has never been more apparent in the art of architecture than the past 30 years, as a type of architecture, aimed at a striking and memorable visual image, has predominated. Instead of an existentially grounded plastic and spatial experience, architecture has adopted the psychological strategy of advertising and instant
textures and materiality; through which the architect can manipulate the ambiance of a space and its effect on people.
17
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kinesthesia.(n.d.). Collins English Dictionary Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kinesthesi a 20 Gold, R. J., 1980. An Introduction to Behavioural Geography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 19
Pallasmaa J.,1996. The Eyes of the Skin. London: Academy Editions, pp. 30. 22 Ibid., pp.31. 21
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Lighting, for example, indirect or diffused
can
generate
more reposed with wood27. However, as
emotional
Paul Rodaway supports: ‘in total darkness
responses, while direct lighting can guide
sight is useless. The blind have no use for
the individual’s focus23.
eyes28.
Furthermore,
‘In
the
darkness,
amplified,
noises
odours
are
shadow in traditional Japanese rooms
suddenly
presents an uncertainty and dreamlike
intensified, and we even rediscover the
luminance24. Meanwhile, colour makes
sense of touch’29. Therefore, designers
long-term and instant impression on the
should reconsider their focus on visual
eye of the spectator25; it has the capacity to
perception
and
bring a space to life and enrich its
stimulation
of
meaning. Textures, on the other hand, can
experiences.
contemplate alternative
are
the
sensory
be perceived not only via vision but through the sense of tactile experience; defining the psychological depth of a room26. In terms of materiality, people are
Junichiro Tanizaki, In praise of the Shadows, Michigan: Vintage classics, 1993, pp. 12. 28 Paul Rodaway, Sensuous Geographies, London, UK & New-York, NY, USA: Routledge, 1994, pp.107. 29 Mirko Zardini, Sense of the City: an alternative approach to Urbanism, Baden: L. Muller; Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2005, pp. 45. 27
Steven Holl, House: Black Swan Theory, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007, pp. 99. 24 Junichiro Tanizaki, In praise of the Shadows, pp. 12. 25 Steven Holl, House: Black Swan Theory, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007, pp. 41. 26 Ibid., pp. 37. 23
Fig.1.9 Voir – Senses and Architecture (Poutrain Jérémie, 2009) MArch Dissertation
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Touching Architecture
accuracy32; such as the warmth of a sun-
‘[…] tactile sense appears to be the only sense which can give a sensation of spatial depth is touch, because touch ‘senses weight, resistance and threedimensional shape of material bodies, and thus makes us aware that things extend away from us in all directions’30.
Touch,
is
one
of
the
most
prevailing senses; it provides the ability to orientate one’s self through space. Tactile perception, in terms of Architecture, is more spatially direct and hospitable than vision; however, it is a sense of high proximity31. Furthermore, through the haptic sense, one has the ability to ‘read’ temperature, texture, density/resistance and
weight.
temperature
The with
skin a
high
can
trace
level
of
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin, London: Academy Editions, 1996, pp. 58. 31 Julien Richard, Night City and “Schizophrenia”, In: Ray Lucas and Gordon Mair, Sensory Urbanism Procedings, London: Flâneur Press, 2008, pp. 182.
heated
wall
on
a
sunny
day.
The
awareness of gravity is yet another parameter captured by haptic experience, through the bottom of the foot; which traces the hardness and texture of the ground. Weight can be perceived via touch when lifting an object.
Moreover,
‘The
door
handle
is
the
handshake of a building’ mentions Juhani Pallasmaa in his book ‘The eyes of the skin’33. Touch creates a connection of time and tradition and through its impression the
user
handshakes
numerous
generations.
30
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin, London: Academy Editions, 1996, pp. 58. 33 Ibid, pp. 56. 32
Fig.1.10 Toucher – Senses and Architecture (Poutrain Jérémie, 2009)
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The taste of Architecture
inducements had built up36. With the same
’Our sensory experience of the world originates in the interior sensation of the mouth, and the world tend to return to its oral origins. The most archaic origin of architectural space is the cavity of the mouth ’34.
Some people might argue that there is no connection between taste and architecture; nonetheless, certain details and colours- both experienced through vision
–
might
evoke
sensations
of
gustative nature35. Junichiro Tanizaki’s
fullness of experience, a fine architectural space opens up and presents itself37.
Hearing Architecture ‘Sight isolates, whereas sound incorporates; vision is directional, whereas sound is omni-directional. The sense of sight implies exteriority, but sound creates an experience of interiority. I regard an object, but sound approaches me; the eye reaches, but the ear receives. Buildings do not react to our gaze, but they do return our sounds back to our ears.38’
description of uncovering a bowl of soup
The link between space and sound
is proof of the spatial qualities of taste. The
is
author
intentional, it happens to improve hearing
describes
a
symphony
of
stimulation of all sensory receptors apart
motion.
Sometimes
motion
is
due to proximity39. However this link can
from taste which is, in effect, recreated and projected
in
anticipation
34 35
Ibid. pp. 59. Ibid., pp.60.
the the
mind
due
other
to
the
sensory
Junichiro Tanizaki, In praise of the Shadows, Michigan: Vintage classics, 1993, pp. 27. 37 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin, London: Academy Editions, 1996, pp. 60. 38 Ibid., pp.49. 39 Grégoire Chelkoff, Ambience Formers in Built Environment: Experimentation with Sound and Motion, 36
In: Ray Lucas and Gordon Mair, Sensory Urbanism Proceedings, London: Flâneur Press, 2008, pp. 40. Fig.1.11 Gouter – Senses and Architecture (Poutrain Jérémie, 2009)
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Fig.1.12 Soft Footsteps (Hilzy, 2010) 30 | Remembering Home
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have an alternative interpretation; space
from the visual receptors42, modifying the
returns the sounds we produce, through
understanding of a space into a more
motion, back to our ears40. One can hear
dynamic experience.
the sound of his footsteps on the ground as he moves from one room to another. Sounds are dependent on the materiality of the space, motion and its duration and the individual receiver himself. Moreover spaces facilitate reflections of auditory provocations. Spaces are understood and
Architecture and the sense of smell ‘For all its overlay of cultural associations, smell is the most direct of our senses. The odour molecules fly straight to the receptor cells at the back of the nose. And there is no way, except in the very short term, we can close scent down, in the way we can sight. To stop smelling we would have to stop breathing. Smells continue to operate below the level of our consciousness.’43
appreciated through these echoes41 and
The parameter of odour is often
the visual images, but sometimes, acoustic
undervalued
perceptions remain merely the insentient
acknowledged
background experience. Nevertheless, the
However, there is evidence demonstrating
and by
one
of
most
the
least
designers44.
sense of hearing sharpens in darkness where there is little or no data collection
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin, London: Academy Editions, 1996, pp. 49. 41 Ibid. p . 50. 40
Julien Richard, Night City and “Schizophrenia”, In: Ray Lucas and Gordon Mair, Sensory Urbanism Procedings, London: Flâneur Press, 2008, pp. 182. 43 Mabey R., Fencing Paradise: the uses and abuses of plan. London: Eden Project Books, pp. 99. 44 Herssens J. and Heylighen A., 2008. Haptics and Vision in Architecture: designing for more senses. In: Lucas R. and Mair G., Sensory Urbanism Procedings. London: Flâneur Press, pp. 102. 42
Fig.1.13 Sentir – Senses and Architecture (Poutrain Jérémie, 2009) MArch Dissertation
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the great impact of olfaction on human
urban
sensory
odours and places in time, is achieved
behaviour45.
expectations of the sense-walk participants
through memory; the nostrils stir an image
had a big impact on their perception of a
once forgotten. As Joy Monice Malnar and
The interpretation of smell impressions
place
urban
Frank Vodvarka, in their book Sensory
takes place in the part of the brain which
environment especially when the sense of
Design, state; the particular odours of a
deals with motivation and emotions,
smell
place mark it in depth and invoke still
therefore, leading to a direct, holistic
Nevertheless, the olfactory ambiances
behavioural reaction46. In other words,
have the power to connect places through
smelling
instinctive,
time50; by detecting a particular smell the
inadvertent and even subconscious actions
individual can be instantly transported
of the individual, coloured by emotion47.
through space and time to where that
According to the research on the role of
specific smell was predominant in his
expectation of two different aspects of
personal experiences51. This link, between
can
lead
to
environment48,
-in
this
came
the
instance,
into
the
consideration49.
other sensory memories52.
urban ambience (smell and sound) on peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experiences and perceptions of
Monice Malnar J. and Frank Vodvarka F., 2004. Sensory Design. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 132. 46 Vroon P., Van Amerongen A. and De Vries H.,1994. Smell: The Secret Seducer. trans: Paul Vincent, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, pp. 04. 47 Ibid., pp.04 45
MArch Dissertation
Henshaw V. and Bruce N., 2012. Smell and sound expectation and the ambiances of English Cities. Montreal: 2nd International Congress on Ambiances, pp. 449. 49 Ibid., pp.453. 50 Bouchard N., 2012. Le theatre de la memoire olfactive. Montreal: 2nd International Congress on Ambiances, pp.184. 51 Plailly J., 2005. La memoire olfactivehumaine: Neuroanatomie fonctionnelle de la discrimination Et du jugement de la familiarite. Lyon: Universite Lumiere Lyon 2(Thesis). 48
Monice Malnar J. and Vodvarka F., 2004. Sensory Design. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 133. 52
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1.3 Experience of the Senses and Memory ‘[…] for an architecture that views the sensory response and memory of human beings as critical functions of the building, and thus vital to the design process.. a house should be constructed of sensation and memory’53
Joy Monice Malnar and Frank Vodvarka, 2004
example of this impulse might be the
sensory modalities; memories may be
kitchen. This word may recall to our
triggered through our senses56. These
memory an image very specific, one of a
memories might appear in the form of a
place we firstly associated with the word;
vivid daydream of a scene encountered in
a stereotype. Memory of such nature may
the past, a photograph, a distinguishable
be another way of experiencing spaces; it
sound or a characteristic smell. Memories
is
are
capable
of
atmospheres55.
holding
architectural
Buildings
are
like
interconnected
with
nostalgia,
sequentially, arousing certain emotions
landmarks in people’s memories; they
such
Ever since our birth, we’re taught to link
host certain events or actions having the
memories play an influential role in our
words with visual images or other sensory
role of a stage while people are the actors.
lives. Every place may be remembered not
stimulus. Certain actions such as a specific smell or an auditory experience might trigger memories, from the unconscious, of a past once forgotten, most frequently, of the entity’s childhood.
54A
simple
Memory is also able to preserve emotions, creating an emotional bond between
Monice Malnar J. and Vodvarka F., 2004. Sensory Design. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 287. 54 Holl S., Pallasmaa J. and Perez-Gomez A., 2006. Questions of perception. New York: William Stout, pp. 32..
MArch Dissertation
person
and
the
place,
longing.
In
consequence,
only because it is unique but also because our bodies took part in experiencing it and made memorable associations of it57.
providing a meaning to the experience. It
53
the
as
has
been
observed
by
phenomenologists that the notion of memory has an erratic bond with the Zumthor P., 1999. Thinking Architecture. Bazer: Birkhauser, pp. 10. 55
Holl S., Pallasmaa J. and Perez-Gomez A., 2006. Questions of perception. New York: William Stout, pp. 32. 57 Bloomer K.C. and Moore C.W., 1977. Body, Memory and architecture. London: Yale University Press, pp. 44. 56
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1.4 Atmospheres, Memory and Phenomenology ‘One of the most important ‘’raw materials’’ of phenomenological analysis of architecture is early childhood memory… The inner architecture of the mind emerging out of feelings and memory images is built on different principles from the architecture developed out of professional approaches. I cannot bring to mind from my own childhood a single window or door as such but U can sit down at the windows of my many memories and look out at the garden that has long disappeared or a clearing now filled with trees. I can also step through the innumerable doors of my memory and recognize the dark warmth and special smell of the rooms that are there on the other side.’58
Juhani Pallasmaa, 1985
Peter Zumthor, in his book ‘Atmospheres’, provided his own etymology to the term59. Atmospheres can be expressed as the Pallasmaa J., 1985. The Geometry of Feeling: a look at the phenomenology of architecture. Arkkitehti 3, Helsinki, pp. 44-49. (English translation, pp. 98-100.) 59 Zumthor P., 2006. Atmospheres, Bazer: Birkhauser, pp. 11.
sensorial qualities that spaces radiate; they
writing, exercising61. Thus, body memory
stimulate emotions and assist people in
can be expressed as a person’s implicit
getting in contact with their surroundings.
knowledge, - meaning the acquired skills, habits and experience- his lived past62.
Body Memory
Age, memory and perception
Juhani Pallasmaa argues that an
Recollection can be parallelised
embodied memory has an essential role as
with a foundation that flourishes one’s
the basis of remembering a space or
personality. When remembering the
place60.
childhood, a special connection is
Long
repeated
patterns
of
movement and perception become a habit
established between the present and past
of everyday life capturing them in a
self, its variation causing revelation. The
party’s muscle -or other type of body
reason behind this unexpected discovery
memory-
is the difference in scale and physicality of
becoming
a
route;
a
task
performed with one’s ‘eyes closed’. These patterns include reading, riding a bicycle, drawing, playing a musical instrument,
58
MArch Dissertation
Fuchs T., 2003. Retrieved 05 Feb. 2013 from: http://www.klinikum.uniheidelberg.de/fileadmin/zpm/psychatrie/ppp2004/manusk ript/fuchs.pdf/ pp. 01. 62 Ibid., pp.02. 61
Pallasmaa J., 1985. The Geometry of Feeling: a look at the phenomenology of architecture. Arkkitehti 3, Helsinki, pp. 449. 60
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the former and current self’s body. A case
careful when referring to this movement
in point could be the memory of standing
due
on a stool to reach the kitchen counter.
subjectivity due to its self-referential
to
the
underlying
danger
of
character. Even so, phenomenology yet remains a popular subject of investigation
Phenomena and ‘logos’
Definition: to let that which shows itself be seen from itself in the very way in which it shows itself form itself63. The
study
interpreting
human
amongst
the
circles
of
architecture).
Perception, in terms of sensory experience, is relative to the liaison among the individual
and
the
public
realm.
spatial perception -and later on, body
Consequently, this cognition is contained
memory-
within
acquired
experience
of
spaces
Phenomenology64. architecture
through
This
provides
sensory
is field a
called of
the
sensory
environment. expressed
as
Its
stimuli
definition
a
mental
of
the
can
be
procedure
better
concerning association, remembrance and
understanding of the world and its
recognition. Therefore, the concepts of
existence65. (Nevertheless, one must be
architecture, senses - thus atmospheres and
Heidegger M., 1927. Being and Time. Trans. by John Macquarrie J and Robinson E., Oxford: Blackwell, 1962, Introduction II, § 7C. 64 Ponty M., 1965. Phenomenology of Perception. London : Routledge, pp. vii. 65 Leach N., 1997. Rethinking Architecture: A reader in cultural History. London: Routledge, pp.80. 63
MArch Dissertation
memory
are
under
constant
interaction.
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Blunt and Dowling (2006), Crawford
2.0 From House to Home
(2005), Cooper Marcus (1995)). On the 2.1
front burner of this swift domestic focus is
Atmospheres, Memory and Phenomenology
the question: What converts a house into a home? Which semantic feature is the one
‘At home our pleasure is in our hands. The sense and security and relaxation that arise from domestic well-being are deep human needs.’ Claire Lloyd, 1998 Formerly a rather neglected and out of focus of academic study, interest in home and the manufacture of its atmosphere is
that demarcates the two notions apart? What is the ambivalence of this word ‘home’? A clear definition is yet to be specified.
House and home are two
different notions that people find difficult to distinguish66. The use of the two words is habitually interchangeable due to the expectancy that the house we live in is also our home67.
nowadays a vastly growing subject of exploration among the circles of social sciences and humanities (Blunt A. and Dowling R., 2006) - a fact rather evident from the many publications of numerous disciplines (Busch (2003), Miller (2010),
MArch Dissertation
66 Cooper
Marcus C.,1995. House as a Mirror of Self. Conari Press: California, pp. 23. 67 Chawla L., Spring 1995. Reaching Home: Reflections on Environmental Autobiography. Environmental and Architectural Phenomenology, Vol.6 No.2, Kansas: Kansas State University, pp. 12.
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people we want to be with (Chawla, 1995).
memories, experiences, nostalgia, and
These two observations may only lead to
interactions of our lives70. Its configuration
the unsophisticated supposition that the
happens through a positive feeling of
Anne Battimer(1980) defines the
home’s meaning is circled around two
attachment, as a place of familiarity,
relationship to place as the exchange
poles; one’s desire for familiarity and
belonging, safety, selfhood and affiliation;
between home and horizons of reach. The
cosiness and the imaginative horizons of
thus, people often underline their sense of
concept of home embodies our yearning for
reach which extend past of one’s location.
self through a home investment of some
2.2 Home and Horizons of reach
appropriateness,
security,
shelter,
and
repose
community,
territory,
while,
horizons of reach are an expression of
one’s social attachments and reaching of one’s dreams are all fulfilled in the place where s/he lives, one can find the true happiness in life68. Nevertheless, there is usually a conflict between the place where we are, what we want to be, and which Buttimer, A., 1980. Home, Reach, and the Sense of Place. In: Buttimer A. and Seamon D., eds., The Human Experience of Space and Place. London: Croom Helm, pp. 167.
can be associated with negative feelings;
The multiple facets of home
venture, movement and novelty. The geographer notes that when the home,
kind. Contrariwise, in limited cases, home
2.3
have
seen as a place of rejection, violence,
A word as powerful as home cannot
hostility,
a
possibly
single,
static
interpretation.
danger.
anxiety
Examples
of
and such
Nicholas Ponge (1994) gives his own
circumstances can be: domestic violence,
interpretation:
of
forceful home abandonment, childhood
experience of time, light and place, the
traumas, dispossession, loss and even
home has the potential for poetic language
marginalisation. These experiences may
and relative autonomy’69.Home acts up as a
trigger the action of searching for a new
‘As
an
instrument
vessel holding the everyday feelings,
68
MArch Dissertation
estrangement,
Gorman-Murray, A., and R. Dowling. Aug. 2007. "Home," M/C Journal, 10(4). Retrieved 02 Feb. 2013 from <http://journal.mediaculture.org.au/0708/01-editorial.php>. 70
Ponge N., 1994. Selected poems. Ed. Guiton M., New York: Wake forest University press, pp. 12. 69
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place to call home, reconfiguring the notion
closer to home than in any other type of
by relocating oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s self71.
dwelling. This may possibly occur due to the primeval nature of this kind of
2.4
shelter73. The writer built her own hut and
A Hut for Home
dwelled it for a year of her life; an action
It is not implicit for a place to be a
embedded within the framework of her
house or even an enclosed space in order
research on living in primitive structures
to be called a home; it can be a hut, a
which led to some thought-provoking
neighbourhood or even a whole country.
findings. In a brittle but permanent type
The occurrence of dwelling is manifested
of shelter as the hut, one can find true
when one feels at home in places his being
peace of mind and, also, catch a closer
exists. Dwelling is the basic character of
foretaste of the otherwise disregarded
being in keeping with which mortals
natural spectacles of the outdoors through
exist72. The human primal need for shelter
the sensory receptors. This capacity and
feeds the desire to feel like he belongs, to
spectre of experiences are not present in a
feel at home. Ann Cline (1997) states a hut
conventional house. It is an enclosed
as one of the best places to dwell; feeling
structure that shelters from nature but also keeps people at a distance from it.
Brown, M. 2000.Closet Space: Geographies of Metaphor from the Body to the Globe. London: Routledge, pp.50. 72 Heidegger M., 1971. Poetry, Language, Thought. New York: Harper and Row, pp. 158. 71
MArch Dissertation
Cline A., 1997. A Hut of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own. Massachusetts :MIT Press, pp.21. 73
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2.5 Childhood home
Looking at the literature, and especially Bachelard’s work (1969), it is
a mirror reflecting the dweller’s inner
universe that provide an understanding
self74.
and reminiscence of who they are77. One fastens oneself to the places once dwelled
2.7
reflecting on the connection to traditions
Bonding
possible to identify crucial establishment
and
one
tendency of establishing elusive emotional
datum raises yet another question; which
understanding of the concept of home;
connections
and
one of the places that people lived in they
such as the childhood home. By and large,
forthcoming dwellings75. As Busch (2003)
consider to be their home? Views diverge
the first five years of a person’s life are
claims, the vulnerable bonding of this sort
when it comes to this query that imports
spent in his childhood home. These early
is also possible even in the case of
every entity nearly. It is a vox populi that
memories compose the foundation of
spending only a few nights there – ‘brief
home is the residence one grew up in
forthcoming space experiences the people
visits reveal what we mean when we talk
while the other points of view claim that
which
lies
the
with
former
will encounter in their lives. A home and
about
Another academic, Bognar
home is where one currently resides.
its insides are, as a matter of fact, an
(2000) claims that people build their
According to well documented researches,
outline of the person that resides in it and
individual
urban
his or her character. The notion of home is
74
also a symbol of the individual’s role in the society while its interior has the part of
MArch Dissertation
home’76.
their
have
from
generation to the next. This particular
upon
individuals
bequeathed
the
concepts
Most
values
cosmos,
miniature
of
the
Busch A. 2003. Geography of Home: Writings on Where We Live. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 16. 75 Miller D.,2010. Stuff, Cambridge: Polity Press, pp.109. 76 Busch A. 2003. Geography of Home: Writings on Where We Live. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 12.
Bognar, B., 2000. A Phenomenological Approach to Architecture and its Teaching in the Design Studio. In: Seamon, David & Robert Mugerauer, Dwelling, Place, and Environment: Toward a Phenomenology of Person and World. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff, pp. 189. 77
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citizens may possibly be demarcated into three categories: those who feel at home in the countryside, those who consider their holiday cabins or rural houses as their home and the minority of those who feel at home in the city78 - evidence that people have the propensity for bonding with places connected with homeliness, family memories and nature rather than the daily monotonous rote. One of the main cases in question of the research undertaken is the level of influence sensory modalities have upon the individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attachment to the concept of home; a subject examined through posed questions about each one of the senses.
Cooper Marcus C.,1995. House as a Mirror of Self. Conari Press: California, pp. 04. 78
MArch Dissertation
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3.0 Sensory Home
the level of hardship of grasping an
the softness feel of a carpet under one’s
abstract, but fairly specific, time period is
feet, the hearing of the indiscernible sound
relatively high; as a result, the individual
of cars as they pass by or leaves as they get
integrated with it through recollections of
carried away by the light breeze of wind,
the places one has lived in80.
the smell of Crayola crayons or the one of
3.1
baby food. All these descriptions of
Sensory Modalities at home
‘Home, sweet home: sweet to look at, listen to, to touch, smell and taste. The home is our emotional heartland, a place where the rhythm of events is under our control, a potential pleasure zone for our sensual being’79. Ilse Crawford 2005
T
surface when stroked against one’s skin,
he feeling of the texture of a particular door, partition or other
sensory imagery have the ability of a
Sensory Control
sudden and instant, virtual transport of
‘For so much of what we feel, or sense, constitutes comfort and the notion of home is rooted in our primal instincts’81.
the mind to a rather familiar setting – the one of a childhood memory of home.
Ilse Crawford
Sensory
modalities
have
the
Crawford I., 2005. Sensual Home. London: Quadrille Publishing Ltd, pp. 14.
MArch Dissertation
2005
potential to unexpectedly reunite the individual with his or her past at an This
In general, society, in our time,
connection lies within the sphere of the
endures one sort of sensory deprivation; a
subconscious and revives through our
disastrous consequence of the prolongued
unanticipated
time
and
place.
sensory receptors, which are capable to trigger such recollections accordingly.
79
3.2
Claire Cooper Marcus (1995) claims that
Cooper Marcus C.,1995. House as a Mirror of Self. Conari Press: California, pp. 04. 81 Crawford I., 2005. Sensual Home. London: Quadrille Publishing Ltd, foreword. 80
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censorship
from
the
the last forty years, little has been done to
senses
lie
accommodate all of the senses in the
dormant, especially in continuous interior
modern home; on the contrary, the main
environments, such as shopping malls,
focus was once again on the look rather
In a home the most inducing and
airports
than the feel. The clinical looks of the Early
mouth - watering smells come from the
conditioned offices, where everything falls
Modern
was
kitchen85. In the Anglo-Saxon societies,
under a system of control. Working
misinterpreted as sterile and sense-free.
such types of olfactory stimuli were
environments nowadays are profoundly
There is the overbearing necessity for the
considered to be undesirable; nevertheless,
lacking
with
sensible home to smell, feel, sound and
in this day and age, it is an inextricable
harmful effects upon the users. Home, as
taste the way it looks. The dwelling can be
factor of domestic comfort providing the
Ilse Crawford defines it (2005), is the last
full of sensory stimulants by keeping the
space with its own inimitable character.
stronghold of the senses83. The privileged
lighting levels low, with the use of
The possibilities for olfactory delight in
portion of the population, with a roof
candles, by allowing sounds of nature
our homes are vast and never-ending;
above its head, adjusts its home to
inside, by cooking using fresh ingredients
there are scents oozing from its fabric, for
encompass the omnium of the senses and
instead of pre-prepared microwavable
example the bricks getting warmer by
reinstate the fragile equilibrium amongst
meals, by allowing sunlight in and even
sunlight disperse the smell of soil.
body and mind. On the other hand, over
by using multi textured surfaces such as
religionsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
of
the
senses
strictures82.
and
any
Our
uniformly
sensory
lit
and
impulses
air-
Movement
carpets or wood flooring84. Lloyd C., 1998. Sensual Living, New York: Conran, Octopus Ltd, introduction. 83 Crawford I., 2005. Sensual Home. London: Quadrille Publishing Ltd, pp. 15. 82
MArch Dissertation
84
houses
3.3 Smell at home
85Seremetakis
N., 1993. The Memory of the senses: Historical perceptiom, commensal Exchange and Modernit, In:Visual Anthropology Review,Volume 9 Number 2, Fall 1993, pp.05.
Ibid., pp. 17
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3.4 Homely touch
washing and sleeping routines87. Other
A
surfaces
descriptions of the Filipino women’s daily
providing
pleasure
in
the
everyday routine are the doorknobs,
fact
evident
from
Lucy
Law’s
routine:
The domestic comfort relies upon
buttons, furniture, utensils, and windows.
‘The Philippines is experienced each
the soothing and stimulus of our skin
Often overlooked, our feet can be as
Sunday through a rediscovery of home – a
through the various textures and surfaces
sensitive to temperature changes and
visualization of place through food and other
(wood, metal, concrete, brick, fabrics) in a
textures such as flooring as our hands88.
sensory procedures which represent Filipino
house environment but also fresh air86. What is more, the skin covering the whole body acts as a sensory shell, with nerve cells covering the totality of its exterior collecting data related with temperature, pressure, discomfort and pleasure. One
of
the
most
3.5 Tasting Home
Home is the framework to the cremations
women as national subjects. ‘Home cooking’, therefore,
turns
out
to
be
a
vigorous
manufacture process: a dislocation of place, a conversion of Central, a sense of home’89.
of food provision and consumption, a palace for the culinary pleasures. The
apparent
kitchen is seen as a playground for adults
experience of touch in a domestic space is
while cooking is considered the leisure.
the one involving textiles due to the
This sense of home, is, moreover, deeply
frequency of their use. Human beings use
connected to the senses of smell and taste.
3.6 Home and Vision
The design of our home nowadays is mostly dominated by the sense of sight; the eyes are the ones the individual
fabrics at least twice a day, during the Lloyd C., 1998. Sensual Living, New York: Conran, Octopus Ltd, pp. 37. 88 Pink. S. 2004. Home truths: Gender domestic objects and everyday life. Oxford: Berg, pp. 74. 87
Pink. S. 2004. Home truths: Gender domestic objects and everyday life. Oxford: Berg, pp. 73. 86
MArch Dissertation
Law, L., 2001. Home cooking: Filipino women and geographies of the senses in Hong Kong, Ecumene 8(3), pp. 266. 89
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primarily seeks to satisfy in the domestic
Volume has its own role in the
environment. Natural light is one of the
realm of the senses. The scale of various
controlled factors in the house that is
house elements compared to the human
essential for the personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s well-being.
body, high ceilings and big openings, can
Meanwhile fenestration provides a view
sometimes be compelling.
Curvatures
primarily, manmade sounds. These noises
towards the exogenous environment; both
seem attractive due to the resemblances
and sounds around the home can be
providing the sense of belonging and
with the human body. Open plan living in
divided into several categories. One of
enticing or preventing one to enter the
housing gives the feeling of flow and
those categories is the alarming sounds
outside world.
openness.
which are meant to notify the user, such as
3.7 Sounds at home
The domestic soundscape yields,
the
doorbell,
the
telephone
or
the
Colour in the domestic space is
Home is the showcase of a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
equally important as lighting90; it is the
individual personality projecting stories
sounds are so embedded in our lives, stay
poetry of a space bringing it to life and
from the ownerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s past, interests or beliefs
unnoticed; these may be sounds of
with the placement of various souvenirs,
cooking, washing or bathing. Voices form
paintings, photographs or other decorative
a separate category; vocal sounds and
enriching its hue,
meaning91.
vibrancy
and
Depending on its saturation
the
individual can have a fairly multifaceted,
means placed in conspicuous
places92.
private and emotive response.
intercom.
Furthermore,
daily
routine
especially voices of loved ones can greatly affect people.
In addition, music, a
category on its own, is a dominant Lloyd C., 1998. Sensual Living, New York: Conran, Octopus Ltd, pp. 73. 91 Steven Holl, House: Black Swan Theory, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007, pp. 41.
instrument of improving moods
90
MArch Dissertation
Lloyd C., 1998. Sensual Living, New York: Conran, Octopus Ltd, pp. 80. 92
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and
manipulating
Crawford without
mentions music
is
emotions93. (2005), missing
a
As
The perceived concept from the
house
literature behind home and the senses is
vital
that home is not a single entity, a
a
dimension94. The acoustic properties of a room have a great importance at defining the very essence of the space and the aura it reflects. For instance, reverberation levels impact on the way a room is perceived, whether it is comfortable or welcoming. A carpet or thick curtains can be a simple remedy reducing the reverberation levels. Nonetheless, the dependency of peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
structure, but a diffuse and multifaceted situation that assimilates memories and imageries, desires and fears, the past and the present. A home is also a set of ceremonials,
private
routines
and
procedures of the everyday. Home cannot be shaped at an instant; it retains its temporal dimension and continuum and is a steady creation of the family's and individual's version of the world95.
tolerance to noises and echoes is based on acquaintance and background of the space. At home, the owner is the controller of the sounds he receives. Pink. S. 2004. Home truths: Gender domestic objects and everyday life. Oxford: Berg, pp. 69. 94 Crawford I., 2005. Sensual Home. London: Quadrille Publishing Ltd, pp. 91. 93
MArch Dissertation
Pallasmaa J., (2005). Identity, intimacy, and domicile: Notes on the phenomenology of home. In MacKeith, P. (Ed.), Encounters: Architectural essays (pp. 112â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 126). Helsinki, Finland: Rakenmustieti Oy, pp. 115. 95
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P
henomenologists (Heidegger,
early childhood, but I do remember the
Ponty) claim that one of the
resistance of its weight and the patina of its
4.0 Home Recollection
solidest memories a person has is one
wood surface scarred by decades of use, and I
from his first home. The memory of home
recall especially vividly the scent of home that
4.1
can be stimulated unexpectedly through
hit my face as an invincible wall behind the
sensory incentive. The possibilities are
door. Every dwelling has its individual smell
infinite;
of home’99.
Sensory Modalities at home
‘A house constitutes a body of images that give mankind proofs or illusions of stability96, and, 'It is an instrument with which to confront the cosmos'97Bachelard writes. And he is speaking about the home, a house filled with the essence of personal life. Home is a collection and reinforcement of personal images of protection and intimacy which help us recognize and remember who we are.98’
Juhani Pallasmaa 2005 Gaston Bachelard G. (1969). The Poetics of Space. Beacon Press, Boston, pp. 17. 97 Ibid., pp. 46. 98 Pallasmaa J., (2005). Identity, intimacy, and domicile: Notes on the phenomenology of home. In MacKeith, P. (Ed.), Encounters: Architectural essays (pp. 112– 126). Helsinki, Finland: Rakenmustieti Oy, pp. 113. 96
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stimulus,
a a
photograph, ramification,
distinguishing characteristic a
distinctive the
stirred
olfactory sound, taste.
a By
memory
influences our emotions.
Even though several years may pass, the odour memory is not affected but stays intact.100. Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated
4.1.1 Home - Memory and Smell
Frequently, the most resilient recollection
with
it.
Specific
olfactory
stimuli hold the capacity to force people in remembering forgotten places and lure them into vivid dreaming101.
of home is its emitting smell. An example of this is the description of Pallasmaa (1995): ‘I cannot remember the appearance of the door to my grandfather’s farmhouse in my
Pallasmaa J.,1996. The Eyes of the Skin, London: Academy Editions, 1996, pp. 54. 100 Rabe, J. 2001. Smell. A neglected sense in Architecture. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, pp. 15. 101 Pallasmaa J.,1996. The Eyes of the Skin, London: Academy Editions, 1996, pp. 54. 99
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4.2 Home and Daydreaming ‘The house is a box for existential objects of life. It is a vessel for the imagination, for laughter and emotion and a silent place for the poetics, a room for reverie’102. Kim Johnson Gross, Jeff Stone (1993)
The home guards daydreaming, shields
treasures they once accommodated104.
equally required for one’s mental well-
This
that first home
being106. The recollection of one’s first
memories do not fade easily. For instance,
home can be a challenging task; quite
if an individual once enjoyed a, no longer
often, imagination takes over - however,
substantial, particular space in his home,
day
then, there is a possible chance of him
experiences alive.
to
dream
in
peace103;
it
the
reason
dreaming
sustains
childhood
dreaming about that specific area without any adverse features105.
4.3
The oneiric house, Bachelard (1969)
the one who dreams and permits the individual
is
mentions,
is
the
house
of
missing
reinforces the thoughts and precludes
recollections, of reveries; it is the vault of
them from getting lost. The imagination
our childhood home. He is unsure about
recreates places, with an effect on people’s
the number of levels of this conventional
mentality, out of recollection or out of
house. Conversely, the presence of an attic
their past daydreams. The dwellings of the
and a basement are crucial, because the
past, through the angle of the dreams,
attic is the figurative storing room for
appear intact, holding strong to the
pleasant memories that the inhabitant is
Home Nostalgia ‘It is clear that the experience of home consists of and integrates an incredible array of mental dimensions from that of nationality and being subject to a specific culture to those of unconscious desires and fears. No wonder sociologists have found out that the sorrow for a lost home among slum residents is very similar to the mourning a lost relative’. Juhani Pallasmaa, 2005
willing to return to, while, the cellar is the Johnson Gross K., Stone J., Iovine J., 1993. Home. N.V: A.A. Knopf, pp. 32. 103 Gaston Bachelard G. (1969). The Poetics of Space. Beacon Press, Boston, pp.06. 102
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crypt 104 105
for
Ibid., pp. 05. Ibid., pp. 10.
unpleasant
reminiscences;
Pallasmaa J., (2005). Identity, intimacy, and domicile: Notes on the phenomenology of home. In MacKeith, P. (Ed.), Encounters: Architectural essays (pp. 112–126). Helsinki, Finland: Rakenmustieti Oy, pp. 117. 106
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Memory
as
a
quality
enables
the
personalisation of the home. In this day
outlining
an
image
of
self,
protect
reminiscences or tell a story109.
reminiscence refers to a temporal one. Albeit the individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to make a
and age, where mass produced products
Home is habitually used to endorse
comeback to the actual house where one
take over the market, a home with the
the logic of stability and independence,
grew up in, he or she may not ever
signature of its owners has become a vital
with potential self-determination related
actually return to the original home of
necessity107.
with the capability to uphold home on
childhood, as it happens to exist mostly in
room might be full of affection, indicating
their
the sphere of the imaginary111.
the natural outcome of this stated fact.
reminiscence, full of objects to remind
Objects lying around in a
own.
Homes
are
places
of
Memories generated through the
Nostalgia is a powerful force when
people of family. Even though elders do
senses
the concept of home is concerned; people
not accommodate children regularly, they
attachment with home. A question posed
imprint themselves in the places they lived
retain their parental character by having a
on the first memories will help define the
keeping things because of what they
space in their home for their grown-up off
sort of this attachment.
remind them of108.
springs and their children to visit110.
As Steven Holl
mentions in House: A Black Swan theory
Nostalgia involves more than a
(2007), objects reflect the soul of a roomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
longing for factual places or real persons.
inhabitants; their purpose is frequently
Notwithstanding
the
fact
are
the
ones
liable
for
the
that
homesickness denotes a spatial separation, Holl S.,2007. House: Black Swan Theory, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 53. 108 Busch A. 2003. Geography of Home: Writings on Where We Live. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 29. 107
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Holl S.,2007. House: Black Swan Theory, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 124. 110 Blunt A., Dowling R., 2006. Home: Key Ideas in Geography, London: Routledge, pp. 114. 109
Rubenstein R., 2001. Home Matters: Longing and Belonging, Nostalgia and Mourning in Women's Fiction. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 04. 111
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5.0 Research Methodologies From the existing literature, many academics
have
tried
to
define
a
connection between memories, the senses and the notion of home. Nevertheless, no
questionnaire’s pool of data, according to the respondents’ answers. 5.1.0 The Questionnaire
research has acknowledged all of the
The collection of primary data was
concepts at the same level. This is the aim
crucial in order to conduct the research
of this dissertation. This chapter describes
and support the statements -previously
the methodologies used in order to collect
analysed in the literature review of this
all the primary data to support the claims
paper. The data in question had the nature
of this paper.
of written questionnaires, administered
The chosen methods vary in terms
randomly amongst residents within the
of their nature and structure. Firstly, a
Greater Manchester County, in order to
questionnaire with open ended questions
gain a varied range of data from people
was conducted in order to collect some
who stayed within the bounds of the same
initial qualitative and quantitative data.
region. The participants were approached
The
was
through acquaintances’ groups of the
introduced had the form of case studies –
investigator in order to accommodate a
private
The
trust relationship and consent but also to
the
be easier tracking them down.
second
methodology
individual
interviewees
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were
that
interviews. selected
from
Participant
Age of earliest childhood memory
Visual memories Aural memories
Notion of Home
Olfactory memories Gustation memories
Room typology
Colour association
Box 5.1.0 Questionnaire’s terminus Plan
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Appendix
I
was
answered
by
30
individuals. With the purpose to protect
5.1.1
5.1.2
Aim
Data Collection
the respondents’ anonymity, pseudonyms was directed towards identifying the way Participants' Age groups
memories affect people’s attachment to a certain place (room or other) and their role, in particular, upon calling a house,
7% 10%
7%
participants was presented in the form of open ended questions. The purpose behind this decision was allowing the participants to answer in their own words, whereas, avoiding them to choose specific,
home.
6%
All the data requested from the
The main aim of this questionnaire
were adopted for all individuals112.
ready-made answers. All of the data can Most of the questions posed by the
13%
be found in Appendix II.
survey had to do with the participants’
13%
first sensorial memories of spaces they had 17%
27%
experienced the sense of ‘home’ (Box 5.1.0). The methodology was inspired by
5.1.3 Part I Data
With the intention of determining
Busch (2003)113. A. <10 C. 20 - 30 E. 40 - 50 H. 60 - 70
the range of this questionnaire, in terms of
B. 10 - 20 D. 30 - 40 F. 50 - 60 I. >70
the
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backgrounds,
the
survey’s first part enquired quantitative
Chart 5.1.3a Participants’ Age Groups Background 112 Sullivan C., Gibson S. and Riley S.C.E., 2012. Doing your Qualitative Psychology Project. London: Sage, pp. 58.
participants’
data about each participant’s age, gender Busch A. 2003. Geography of Home: Writings on Where We Live. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 23. 113
and ethnic background.
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5.1.3.a
mixed or other ethnic background. The
Age
minority who took part in this survey The age of the participants varied
from: <10 to >70. The reason behind this segregation was investigating whether the informants’ age had an impact on their responses i.e. the similarities and/or contradictions amongst the memories of a specific age group. The majority of the participants belonged to the age group of an age between twenty to thirty years old (Chart 5.1.3a).
were the people with Asian or Asian British Background. 5.1.3c
23%
Gender
Yet another personal piece of information
the
respondents
had
10%
to
provide the questionnaire with was their
37%
7%
gender. Researches (Sutin A. R. and Robins R. W. 2007, Loftus E., Banaji M.,
23%
Schooler J. and Foster R., 1987) on memory claim the existence of gender differences
5.1.3b
Participant’s Gender data
Ethnic Background
The participants were required to provide info on their ethnic Background. Most
Participants' Ethnic Background
of
them
had
a
white
ethnic
Females 57% Males 43%
A. B. C. D. E.
White / multiple ethnic groups Mixed / multiple ethnic groups Asian /Asian British Black / African / Carribean / Black British Other ethnic group
background (See Chart 5.1.3b {37%}), while, second came the participants with a
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Chart 5.1.3c Participants’ Gender data
Chart 5.1.3b Participants’ Ethnic Background
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5.1.4.
the greater majority of the people who
conducted by Agneta Herlitz and Jenny
Part II Data
took this survey answered that they
Rehnman (Herlitz A. and Rehnman J.,
The
in
memory114.
Based
on
a
research
second
part
of
this
2008), women constantly outperformed
questionnaire requested for qualitative
men when required to remember verbally
data from each participant; requesting
defined items and recognize odours or
personal
faces. On the other hand, men advanced
personal memories and more specifically
on episodic-memory tasks where visual
the ones about their first home.
and spatial processing was a
necessity115.
As
5.1.3c,
illustrated
in
Chart
the
questionnaire in question was answered by 17 female and 13 male participants.
information
regarding
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Age in memory 3 6 9 2 3 4
4 5
4
2
1
1
6
7
9
11
No. of Participants
5.1.4a Participant’s age when remembering the very
Chart 5.1.4a Participants’ age data
first space they considered as their home 5.1.4b
part of the questionnaire is an attempt to
Room/space recalled when remembering fist
find connections between the informants
home
memory, the age that they remember to be Loftus E., Banaji M., Schooler J. and Foster R., 1987. Who remembers what?: Gender differences in memory. Michigan: Michigan Quarterly Review, 26, pp. 64. 115 Herlitz A. and Rehnman J., 2008. Sex Differences in Episodic Memory. Stockholm: Association for Psychological Science, Vol.17, Iss. No. 1, pp. 55.
old.
their
The first question of the second
114
recalled their first home at around 4 years
The second piece of information
when they first called a space their home
requested
from
the
questionnaire’s
and data collected in the following
participants was related with people’s
questions regarding one’s senses and the
memories. The question asked from the
sense of home. As shown in Chart 5.1.4a,
participants to name a particular room or
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space when recalling the memory of their
5.1.4b.1
and dreams117; it can be the centre of the
first home. Ten (10) of the informants
The living room
universe for some people118. It is where
retort the living room, as the memory they
The living room is the most public
they sleep and wake up with their very
had of their first home, while the second
part of an otherwise private dwelling - the
first and very last thoughts of each passing
most prevalent response was the bedroom
home116.
In a residence, it is mostly used
day; it is a very personal space for specific
(Chart 5.1.4b).
for the common social activities of the
people to use; it serves both intimacy and
occupants where they can sit, talk, relax
isolation119. In contradiction to the living
and entertain themselves. It is also a space
room, the bedroom is a space where one
of welcoming people into the house but in
can be truly alone, to gather his or her
this instance the participants remembered
thoughts and tranquilise his or her
it as the family room where all members of
feelings. A child in this room can act
the family come together for common
without being interrupted, thus, ‘gaining’
activities.
control and independence, consequently,
Space/room in memory 10
8 4
3
1
1
1
1
1
shaping his or her personality. 5.1.4b.2 No. of Participants
The bedroom
The bedroom’s natural function is
Chart 5.1.4b Participant’s memory of a room
the one of a sanctuary, where one sleeps Steven Holl S.,2007.House: Black Swan Theory, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 106. 118 Busch A. 2003. Geography of Home: Writings on Where We Live. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 118. 119 Ibid., pp. 120. 117
Busch A. 2003. Geography of Home: Writings on Where We Live. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 152. 116
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5.1.4b.3
too, and occasionally as a social chamber. It
family or others, characteristics such as:
Kitchen
was a neatly kept place and its rows of coppers
materiality, colour and furniture and
Four of the survey’s responders
became the display pieces that so often glow in
things
stated the kitchen as the most remembered
the [paintings of the] Dutch little masters’122
physiognomy: a fireplace or a carpet.
room when they recalled their first home.
The soothing procedures which take place
5.1.4d
This is no wonder since the kitchen has,
in this section of the house unveil a
Feelings Description
nowadays, a primary role in people’s
different view of the sensory realm; there
The fourth questionnaire question
lives; a social ‘hub’ rather than one for
can be no culinary experience without
was asking from the responders to
food preparation120. It can be considered as
sight, no satisfying smell without an
describe their feelings at that particular
a lab - the part of the house where science
unmatched taste.
moment they remembered. Most of the
fuses with creative imagination121 arousing and celebrating one’s senses. It is likely to
that
shaped
the
space’s
answers were associated with positive 5.1.4c Room Description
feelings such as: happiness, cosiness,
be imprinted onto childhood memories
The third question of the survey’s
tranquillity, eagerness, affection, safety
since it is associated with security and
second part asked the respondents to give
but a few of them showed a different side
warmth; a room of nurturance and also
a description of their answer in the
remembering their childhood, such as:
entertainment. ‘The kitchen is often served as
previous question in five or less sentences.
anxiety,
the burgher dining room, often as the bedroom
Most of the descriptions had to do with
claustrophobia. This might occur due to a
certain activities such as: cooking, eating
childhood emotional trauma emancipated
or playing, other people for instance,
from perpetual feeling of stress or a
Steven Holl S.,2007. House: Black Swan Theory, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 109. 121 Busch A. 2003. Geography of Home: Writings on Where We Live. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 40. 120
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Giedion S. 1948. Mechanization takes command. New York: W.W. Norton and Company pp.527. 122
worry,
fear,
and
even
certain traumatic event that ensued in that exact room.
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5.1.4e
5.1.4f
5.1.4g
Recalling smell
Recalling taste
Recalling sound
were
The sixth piece of information
The seventh of the questions in the
asked if they had any memory of the
requested from the participants of this
second part of the survey was inquiring
room/space smelling in a particular way
questionnaire was whether they had any
for any memory associated with sound
and if so to give a description of it. It is
memory of any olfaction-related memory
during their recollection of memory of a
evident from the Chart 5.1.4e that 28 of the
when remembering the room/space of
room or space in their first dwelling and if
participants
distinguishing
their first home and if so to define it. The
so to describe it. As one can witness from
categories of smells such as: greenery, fire,
answers to this question can be divided in
Chart 5.1.4g, most of the sounds, the
powder, fresh linen, shampoo, food,
four main categories: sweets, hot drinks,
respondents recollected, were voices while
vegetation and other uncategorised smells.
warm food and other (Chart 5.1.4f).
second came the wind-related sounds and
11 1
4
3
1 Christmas tree
1
Father's odour
1
Mother's…
Warm beverage
wood paint
Fresh linen
Food Burning logs Powder Hair products Freshly cut grass
4 3 2 2 2 1 1
Taste rememberance
No. of Participants
Chart 5.1.4e Respondents’ memory of a smell
1
1
peoples’ footsteps as they passed by.
12
Sound in recollection 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1
No. of Participants Chart 5.1.4f Partaker’s memory of a taste
1
1
1 moving…
Smell in memory
Doorbell
six
footsteps
here
participants
outdoors smell
8
survey
Voices Wind people… TV Cars Nature outside Fire burning Music Rain
The
No. of Participants Chart 5.1.4g Participant’s memory of a sound
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5.1.4h
From the Chart 5.1.4h one can draw the
Colour association with memory
conclusion that the colour blue was high
participants
The concluding question of the
amongst the respondents’ preferences.
recruited
survey prompted the respondents to
While second in line were the colours
acquaintances’ groups of the researcher in
associate a colour with their memory. The
green, dark and white.
order to accommodate a trust relationship
reason behind this query is the belief that 5.1.5
a certain feeling, smell or sight along with
Questionnaires’ potential impediments
As a common rule, engaging with
trigger recollections of things associated
the general public can sometimes be a real challenge; people tend to feel threatened
Colour - memory association
No. of Participants
1
1 Pink
3
Grey
3
Yellow
3
Red
White
4
Bright
4 Dark
4 Green
Blue
7
Chart 5.1.4h Memory association with colours Zimmer H.D., Steiner A. and Ecker U.K.H. 2002. How ‘’Implicit’’ Are Implicit Color Effects in memory? In: Experimental Psychology 2002; Vol. 49(2): 120Ð131, Saarbrücken: ” 2002 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers, pp. 121. 123
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through
approached
and
friendship
and
tracking down the selected participants
it. Thus, seeing a specific colour might
with
were
and gain their consent but also to facilitate
colour affects memory through imprinting
it123.
In addition, the questionnaire’s
when
other individuals
invade their
personal space, let alone question them about their personal lives. Conversely, it is in my belief that this method provided a better and more direct approach in collecting the supporting data. The totality of the participants were willing to provide all the information needed, albeit their personal character.
who would qualify as Case Studies in the second part of this research.
This
relationship between the researched and the partaker can sometimes lead to a number jaundiced
of
weaknesses
data
or
even
including lack
of
objectivity124; however, this was not the case since all of the informants answered the questionnaires in private and they were more than
willing to provide
accurate data for this investigation. Sullivan C., Gibson S. and Riley S.C.E., 2012. Doing your Qualitative Psychology Project. London: Sage, pp. 45. 124
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to investigate the relationship of her ‘home
Case Studies
Case Study criteria
away from home’ as well as the traumatic
This part of the research adopts a
As mentioned before, three out of 30 of the
experience of leaving her childhood home
methodology introduced by both Cooper
participants were selected in order to be
behind. The last Case Study’s objective is
Marcus C (1995) and Pink S. (2004). Three
interviewed as Case studies. The 3 subjects
the relationship a woman in her forties has
of the 30 questionnaire’s respondents were
were a mature lady, a young boy and a
with the house she is currently living as
selected to be further interviewed as Case
woman in her forties (See Table 5.2.1). The
well as the exploration of the space she
Studies. The interviews took part in the
reasons behind this assortment vary. At
used as a hide-out in her childhood home.
informers’ homes providing this research
the outset, the different age groups as well
with an unmatched intuition of their
as
situation.
As Miller (2001) highlights,
investigate -factors that determined the
doing research in the interviewees home
selection. The young boy was marked out
can be intrusive; on the other hand, the
not only for his youth – since the objective
informants feel more at ease to talk about
of the questionnaire was memories and for
their memories in a more familiar setting
him they were rather recent- but also the
than in a neutral space surrounded by
nature
strangers125.
questionnaire which were referring to
to
the
what looked like a childhood traumatic experience. Pink. S. 2004. Home truths: Gender domestic objects and everyday life. Oxford: Berg, pp. 29. 125
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The
elderly
woman
was
Harry
<10
M
Mixed
4
Anna
40-50
F
Mixed
3
Ellie
<70
F
White
9
Age in
responses
to
Ethnic
his
-interesting
Age
of
were
memory
gender
Participant
the
Background
5.2.1
Gender
5.2
Table 5.2.1 Case Studies Key characteristics table
selected due to the fact that she was a refugee; therefore, it would be interesting
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5.2.2 General
procedure
of
approaching
the
interviewees
instead of one. Other means such as
remarkable
photographs were avoided due to the
unanticipated fallouts126.
because of their limitations to provide an
to say or show anything that would not
objective and genuine vision of reality
feel
from
with.
The
general
occasionally
disapproval of the informants but also
Initially, the interviewees were briefed not
comfortable
and
the
interviewees’
perspective.
objective asked from the three respondents
Contrastively, a drawing has the capacity
was to provide with a description of their
to capture feelings frequently difficult to
feelings and inner thoughts about their
express with words and introduce a whole
childhood home plus representing it on a
new perspective of observing different
piece of paper, imprinting on it their state
matters. Such media are able to evoke
of mind at the memory’s time of being.
stories
or
inner
queries
of
the
interviewees’ psyche and even open a 5.2.3 Media Methodologies
The research in this part involved both spoken word and the interviewees’ drawings/ representations of their first
door
for
them
to
approach
their
subconscious. This form of operative participation is commonly directed by it (the subconscious), therefore, providing
home, as a consequence, reinforcing the investigation’s findings by introducing two sensory modalities, sound and vision,
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Weber S. 2008. Visual Images in research. In: Knowles J.G.. and Cole A. L. (eds.) Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research, London: Sage, pp.44-45. 126
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6.2 Analysis of the Qualitative data
6.0 Research Part I: Questionnaire - different settings of home attachment
7
In terms of Gender (Chart 6.2.1), both
6
participants
second and third most popular answers 4
were the bedroom and the kitchen.
3
In terms of Age (Chart 6.2.2) the
This chapter is a summary of the insights
most popular answer - the living room - is
2 Outdoors Other room School Kindergarden Bedroom Living Room Kitchen
method employed due to the phenomenological nature of this research.
female
they remember associated with home. The
Questionnaireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Overview
gained from the written questionnaire; a
and
presented the living room as the first room 5
6.1
male
1 0
the answer of the age group between 2030 years old. In terms of Ethnic Background (Chart 6.2.3), the majority of the people with
Kitchen Bedroom School Outdoors
Living Room Kindergarden Other room
a
Mixed
Ethnic
Background
answered the living room. From the other participants no pattern seems to emerge
Chart 6.2.1 Memories sorted by room and
signifying that the Ethnic Background has
Gender
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little or no influence upon calling a house,
6.3
home.
Participants’ Correlations Other
In order to answer the research’s queries, some correlations amongst the
<70
collected data collected are worthy of note.
Asian <60-70>
Judith and Markos (Fig 6.3.1) were selected (See Appendix III) due to the
<50-60>
Mixed
similarities of their answers. They both
<40-50>
remembered their living room. In both cases they recalled a social activity in the
Black
<30-40>
room and the senses associated with the <20-30>
memory are exclusively the voices of White
<10-20>
people in the room. Neither Judith nor Markos recalled a specific taste, while
>10
0 0
1
2
3
4
Outdoors Other room School Kindergarden Bedroom Living Room Chart 6.2.2 Memories sorted by room and Ag e group Kitchen
88 | Remembering Home
2
4
6
Judith remembered the smell of fresh cut
Outdoors
Other room
grass. They both had feelings connected
School
Kindergarden
with cosiness, affection and tranquillity.
Bedroom
Living Room
Chart 6.2.3 Kitchen Memories sorted by room and Ethnic Background
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Fig 6.3.1 Living Room Memories correlations MArch Dissertation
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Another correlation of data is shown in
of gender, age in memory and sound.
Fig. 5.3.2 between Ellie and Jake (See
However, their feelings toward their
Appendix III). Both respondents’ answer
memory are widely different; Veronica
about the room description was the
had a recollection of what it seems like an
Bedroom. Their answers were similar in
upsetting experience. She felt anxious,
terms of the senses they remembered.
asphyxiating but also respect while Anna
They remembered playing and other
felt light hearted, free to explore, cosy and
activities involving their siblings. They
cheerful as well as free to explore. Anna
both endorsed positive feelings when it
had a reminiscence of her living room
came to that particular memory. They
while
experienced
Grandmother’s bedroom. In relation to the
happiness,
affection
and
Veronica
sensory
smell and taste of warm food. When it
Veronica had recollections since they were
came to hearing stimuli their responses
three years old of the sound of people who
were set apart. Jake remembered the
passed by. Veronica remembered the smell
sound
of talk and old wood and the taste of baby
footsteps
whereas
Ellie
remembered the sound of the wind. Yet another example of correlation is illustrated in Fig.6.3.3, where Anna’s
both
Anna
her
eagerness. They both remembered the
of
modalities,
remembered
and
food, while Anna remembered the smell of freshly washed curtains but had no recollection of any taste.
6.3 Data Analysis Conclusions
From the collection of the data convincing themes and patterns begin to materialise. From the quantitative data: 1. Gender as a factor did not appear to affect the room the participants remembered as his or hers first childhood home memory. The majority from both sexes had recollections of their living room. 2. Most of the people in their 20s-30s had recollections of their living room. 3. The second most remembered room irrespective of the participants’ gender, age and ethnic background is the bedroom.
and Veronica’s responses had similarities
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Fig 6.3.2 Bedroom Memories correlations MArch Dissertation
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4. Participants of the <10 years old
5. Most of the people remembering
age group had memories related
the smell of food had positive
with spaces outside the limits of a
recollections of their first home.
house.
From the qualitative data: 1. Most of the memories related to the living room are related to positive emotions. 2. The majority of the participants remembered smells and tastes as well as sounds. 3. Social activities were primarily remembered when it came to the living room and the kitchen. 4. Traumatic experiences had no impact on what the participants remembered.
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Fig 6.3.3 Sound Correlations and Feelings differences MArch Dissertation
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7.0 Research Part II: Sensory Memories and attachment to home
lacking confidence to speak, like small children
or
language
is
participants not
whose
English127.
first The
understanding of the illustrations lies upon the tête-à-tête with the interviewee.
7.1
Every single line in each sketch can have a
Overview
This chapter illustrates the results of the primary data collected from the Case Studies which had the nature of
subterranean meaning, the text –if anyand the size of the letters, the small details, the colours or lack of. 7.2.1
interviews. As mentioned in Chapter 5, the interviewees were asked to produce a drawing of their connection to their first home. The reason behind this request was the polysemy that drawings can offer. By merging audio and visual methods, such
Case Study I
The first interviewee, as formerly cited, was an elder lady. Her story included her being forced out of her home and now as a refugee she was more than welcome to host the interview into her newfound home away from her homeland.
as dialogues and sketches, provides a better
inside.
This
proved
to
be
particularly helpful especially to people
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Prosser J.and Loxley A., 2007. Enchancing the contribution of visual methods to inclusive education, Journal of Research in Special Education Needs, 7, 1 (2007), pp.61. 127
Fig 7.2.1 Participant’s photo of her wardrobe
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Fig 7.2.2 Participantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drawing of her recollection
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Ellie mentioned that she had very vivid recollections of her first home. She
place and time, making me feel like a small child again.’’ It
described the room in question in great
was,
to
a
certain
extent,
detail. It was considered as the main room
prominent that her recollections of that
of the house were her parents, her sisters
house jarred her, since she was forced out
and she dined and slept every night.
of it. However, she said she felt genuinely happy when remembering her first home
7.2.2
and a bit nostalgic as well.
Sensory recollections
Ellie mentioned that the sense of
7.2.3 Nostalgia
smell had a key role in her recollection of her home; it had the power to instantly
Ellie mentioned that in terms of
and mentally transport her to another time
objects she had kept photos that reminded
and place.
her of her childhood home. She had a similar wardrobe (Fig. 7.2.1) to the one in
In her own words: ‘’[...] the one of fresh home cooked stew coming straight out of the oven. […] each traditional food smell reminds me of home but that specific one has the capacity to take me back to that
MArch Dissertation
the room and she cultivated plants that, when bloomed, their smell reminded her of home (Fig. 7.2.3). ‘’I have kept some old photos and indeed some of the objects I have in my house still remind me of my childhood home [...]. I have searched
Fig 7.2.3 Participant’s photo of her Jasmine plant
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and found a beautifully carved wooden wardrobe with a mirror on the outside just like the one we had in our room, now placed in the master bedroom. […] I have also planted some flower plants in my backyard whose scent reminds me of the ones we had in our home; like petunias, calla lilies, the jasmine and the almond tree;[…]’’. This illustrates an example of how our homes are, in fact, containers of collections
of
memorabilia128.
Photographs,
paintings,
collections,
furniture, vegetation are all reminders of other
people,
places,
ceremonials,
experiences and even values momentous
Surrounded by our things, we are sheltered from the many forces that would deflect us into new concepts, practices and experiences. These forces include our own acts of imagination, the constructions of others, the shock of personal tragedy and simple forgetfulness. Things are our ballast. They stabilize us by reminding us of our past by making this past a virtual, substantial part of our present129’. Belk (1990) also supports: ‘ ‘With consecrated sentimental memories aroused by sacred belongings, it is not so much that these objects “stand for” particular events evoked in documentary fashion, as that they are the stimuli for an evolving network of vivid memories; that is, they “lead to” other memories in an interwoven net that grows rich in associations, moods, and thoughts’130.
for their owner. McCracken (1988) explains: McCracken G. 1988. Culture and \consumption: New Approaches to the Symbolic Character of Consumer Goods and Activities. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp.124 . 130 Belk W. R., 1990.,"The Role of Possessions in Constructing and Maintaining a Sense of Past", in NA Advances in Consumer Research Volume 17, eds. Marvin E. Goldberg, Gerald Gorn, and Richard W. Pollay, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, pp. 670. 129
‘Surrounded by our things, we are constantly instructed in who we are and what we aspire to. Surrounded by our things, we are rooted in and visually continuous with our pasts. Cooper Marcus C.,1995. House as a Mirror of Self. Conari Press: California, pp. 72. 128
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Fig 7.2.4 Old Knobs (lossalou66, 2010)
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connected with them like dining or
7.2.4
sleeping.
Sketch analysis
appreciation
It
also for
demarcates
informal
an
socializing.
The sketch Ellie was asked to
Furthermore, the gratitude for warmth
produce (Fig. 7.2.2) manifests the power of
and cosiness is shown through the detail
the sensory modalities and memory to
of the fabrics and furniture (embroidered
peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home attachment. The loss of a
tablecloth, the finishing of the bed sheets,
home by force heightens the distress of the
the wardrobeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s carvings) and the ritual of
experience than if it happened through
dining as it is illustrated in the drawing132.
natural disaster, sudden death or a divorce and it can be as painful as losing a dear one131. She chose to draw, from a third person perspective, her loved ones but also the furniture which reminded her of that specific memory. The furniture (table, bed and wardrobe) seem very significant to her as they mark passages of moment due to their connection with certain ceremonies
and
events
indissolubly
131Cooper
Marcus C.,1995. House as a Mirror of Self. Conari Press: California, pp. 242.
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132
Ibid., pp. 77.
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Fig. 7.3.1 Participantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sketch of her first home memory 102 | Remembering Home
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remembered the smell of the washing
7.3.1 Case Study II
detergent
that
freshly
washed
linen
7.3.3 A special childhood place
curtains emitted. She also had vivid visual The second participant in this
recollections of what the room looked like.
study was a young lady, Anna. The recollection she had of her first home was one of her in her secret hideout in the ‘formal’ living room. As Anna mentioned, the room was kept closed and they only opened its doors for formal social gatherings and events or special celebrations that included food consumption and discussions. 6.3.2 Sensory recollections
In terms of senses associated with this memory Anna decided to mention that she had no recollection of taste whatsoever but when it came to smell she
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The place Anna describes is a sacred place for a child. It is the spot where she felt
Her description was: ’[...] I remember the glossiness and shine radiating from most of the objects in the room and especially through the showcase, part of a wooden long piece buffet furniture that my mother used to display her ‘formal’ set of silverware which was never used(fig.7.3.3)[…] in my mind I had connected shine with glamour and wealth and therefore thought that the living room had a high value in the house[…] I often laid on the thick carpet playing with my doll which had a red velvet dress.[…]The window shutters were always closed to prevent damaging the furniture from the sunrays. […]on top of the showcase furniture there were two terracotta vases with peacock feathers.’
comfortable to explore and stimulate through playing and pretending other situations. She re-invented a space in her home into a hiding place she had the control of and the opportunity to explore her self-identity and esteem133. In her own words: ‘[…]The dark room was lit when I secretly crept in to play with my doll. Every time I switched on the lights in the room it appeared to me as a secret world coming to life right before my eyes. I used chairs as my dollhouses and I let my imagination run free. Everything was so shiny and bright that inspired me to set various scenes when I played […]. Sometimes I played in the dark so that no 133
Ibid., pp. 44.
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Fig. 7.3.2 Participantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s photo as a child in her living room. 104 | Remembering Home
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one could discover where I was; it felt adventurous. I felt free and light-hearted […]’
room (Fig 7.3.2). The similarities with the
7.3.4
the two vases, the showcase furniture with
Sketch analysis
the objects it contained and the painting
As one could estimate the sketch
drawing she produced are evident such as
above it.
Anna produced (Fig 7.3.1) was focused on the visual aspects of the memory that is evident from the colours and the object she has drawn. She has used words to describe her feelings emphasising on the feelings
of
euphoria.
She
drew
the
furniture in the room and also her toys and herself. By drawing the carpet and the furniture she shows an appreciation for the cosiness the space provided. The thrill and the stimulation helped imprinting this memory134 which was so vivid that Anna had to search through her photo albums and found a photo of her in that very 134
Ibid., pp. 45. Fig. 7.3.3 Part of participant’s collection of silverware
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Fig. 7.4.1 Participantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sketch of his first home memory in the garage 106 | Remembering Home
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7.4.1 Case Study III
reminiscence was of his home garage
He also remembered how dark the room
where he spent time playing with his
was due to the closed doors.
older brothers.
In Harry’s own words:
The third participant in this second part of the research was a young boy,
The room, as Harry described, was
Harry. The reason behind the selection of
quite dark and quiet and they used it
this partaker was not only his age but also
every afternoon to play basketball or
the nature of his memory which had to do
football or other games of their own
with a space consider detached from the
invention.
main house. The feelings associated with this memory, in contradiction with the other
Case
Studies’
memories,
were
7.4.2 Sensory recollections
‘[…]it was dark and the walls reflected my brothers’ voices as they called me to pass the ball to them. The floor was made out of concrete and the room was dirty and filled with stuff we did not need in the house. […] I have memories of the smell, it smelled like a closed space filled with dust; it was a dirty room and dust covered everything, the walls, the stuff we stored there, the floor[…]Taste. Well because of the smell I got the funny taste of dirt in my mouth[…].’
negative. In admission, it is easier for such
When it came to the senses Harry said that
a young person to express his emotions
he remembered the smell of dust as it
and personality not only through spoken
covered all the surfaces of the room. He
word
drawings.
had a recollection of the taste similar to
Undeniably, a child’s drawing can reveal
dirt due to the smell and remembered his
As previously mentioned Harry’s
much more than the one of an adult and it
older brothers’ voices calling him to play.
feelings when he remembered his first
is
but
usually
also
harder
through
to
decode135.
7.4.3 A traumatic Experience
memory associated with the notion of
His
home were fairly unpleasant. In the Diem W. G., 2001. A therapeutic perspective : The use of drawings in child psychoanalysis and social 135
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science, In: Handbook of Visual Communication, London: Sage, pp. 119 - 133.
questionnaire the emotions he described
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having, particular
when
he
memory,
remembered were
that
anxiety,
7.4.4 Sketch Analysis
excitement, impatience and fear. When Harry’s drawing (Fig. 7.4.1) is an
asked, he responded that the room was small and dark and had spider webs hanging from the ceiling, a fact that disturbed and caused dysphoria to the boy. His description was: ‘[…] I felt scared when we played in that room, it was dark and had no windows and especially after that one time that while we were playing basketball, my brothers noticed a big spider walking on my arm. I felt disgust and panic at the same time.[..]Other feelings connected to that room? Well, every time I heard my brother calling me to play after we all finished our homework I felt an anxiety and happiness. When it got dark my mother would call us for dinner and we would stop playing even though we did not really want to […]’
impression of the moment his brothers realised the spider web on his arm. Their expressions indicate their surprise and revulsion at the sight of the spider. He drew the webs magnified on the wall above him, a fact that overstates his fear and his potential childhood trauma. The fact that he only drew the persons in the memory but not any objects in the room is evidence of how important it is for children to have a space to explore their identities and set as their territory136, as well as Harry’s appreciation for family bonding and time for play137.
136
Cooper Marcus C.,1995. House as a Mirror of Self. Conari Press: California, pp. 23. 137
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Ibid., pp. 77.
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notion of home is bound to our childhood memories. As Gaston Bachelard (1969)
8.0 Deductions
phrases it: ‘’Not only our memories but the things we have forgotten are ‘housed’. Our soul is abode. And by remembering ‘houses’ and ‘rooms’, we learn to ‘abide within ourselves’’138.
8.1 Research Overview
The
primary
purpose
this
Furthermore, through researching home,
research was the investigation of whether
another theme emerges; the theme of
and in what way sensory stimuli trigger
objects associated with our attachment to
reminiscences
other places makes its appearance:
affecting
of
people’s
perception of home. In order to investigate this, a literature
review
was
conducted,
manifesting that there is indeed an inherent
association
between
‘’ Unless we stop and consciously reflect upon it, most of us are scarcely aware of how much our homes, as well as being functional settings for daily life, are containers for collections of memorabilia.’’139
sensory
modalities, memories and the conception of home. Attachment to home is a result of the recollections generated by sensory interactions with the environment. The
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Gaston Bachelard G. (1969). The Poetics of Space. Beacon Press, Boston, pp. xxxiii. 139 139 Cooper Marcus C.,1995. House as a Mirror of Self. Conari Press: California, pp. 72. 138
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However, as mentioned, many academics have conducted researches in order
to
delimit
the
link
8.2
8.3
The questionnaire’s outcomes
The Case Studies’ outcomes
between
remembrance, sensory modalities and the
The primary research data was
The second part of the research’s
concept of home. Nonetheless, none of
collected through a questionnaire about
data was collected though Case Studies
these
people’s first memory of home.
formed by selected personal interviews
investigations
have
fully
and illustrations of the memories in
acknowledged all concepts at the same
The aim was the determination of
level. Hence, it was considered critical to
an established connection between the
conduct a research with primary data to
senses, and people’s first memory of their
answer the paper’s research questions.
childhood home. The majority of the
investigate
respondents
established by different age groups but
had
positive
emotions
question. The aim of the Case Studies was to the
associated with their experiences of their
likewise
first home, even though; this fact might be
experiences.
a result of picturing the past as an ideal situation due to nostalgia. The results suggest that age and sensory experiences have an impact on the way people feel about their childhood home even though pleasing spaces render positive emotions.
different
individuals
attachments
with
different
In the case of Ellie, a refugee, the attachment is maintained through objects the participant kept in her current home. In
terms
of
the
senses,
olfactory
perceptions dominate the interviewee’s memory and they are the ones that set off the action of recollection.
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For the second Case Study it is
The data suggests that sensory
their dwelling. The recollection of spaces
evident that her attachment to home is
modalities do influence people into calling
through the sensory modalities instantly
indisputably linked to the notion of a
a house a home and also that traumatic
manifests emotions and cultivates the
hiding place to express her individuality,
childhood experiences do not always
sense of belonging. Ilse Crawford’s (2005)
explore
the
imply breeding disrepair but a rather
broach towards the subject:
environment – in this instance, the living
healthy relationship with their future
room-
her
home. Each room in a home has its own
surroundings. Her memory was mostly
particularities. The room each individual
triggered through visual imagery rather
had a recollection of, revealed what he or
than any other sensory stimuli.
she yearned for in their current home. For
and
and
stimulate
be
in
with
control
of
The third participant of this part of the
research
traumatising
had incident
experienced that
a
influenced
adversely the child’s memory of home but on the other hand, from the sketch and the interview he provided, it is clear that he cherished his time with family and distinctly his brothers, as well as, time away from chores allowing him to explore neglected corners of the house.
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‘Home, sweet home: sweet to look at, listen to, to touch, smell and taste. The home is our emotional heartland, a place where the rhythm of events is under our control, a potential pleasure zone for our sensual being.’140
instance, if one remembered of the
Remembering
kitchen, the assumption is that one has an
strongest functions of the human brain,
appreciation
precious
for
social
activities,
might
memories
be
one
stored
of
in
the
our
celebrating rites, a place for nurturance
unconscious can be so detailed that if
and a gratitude towards family bonding.
remembered, one can ‘recreate’ spaces to a
This can be remembered through the
high degree of similarity like Anna.
sounds of the pans, smells of cooking, the taste of food; all the senses come into play.
From the data collected it was evident that one of the most powerful
Besides, memory is a momentous factor when it comes to people bonding with
Crawford I., 2005. Sensual Home. London: Quadrille Publishing Ltd, pp. 14. 140
Remembering Home | 113
senses in term of triggering the memory is smell. A single sniff has the ability to take
due to their own individual character. The
8.4 Research Methodologies’ Evaluation
a person back to the past at an instance like a déjà vu.
analysis of the data separated them into pieces of information suitable for a
The applied methodology had a
comprehensive understanding.
phenomenological format due to the Additionally, children may feel
nature of the data it had to deal with and
However, inaccuracies may arise
secure in the most peculiar spaces, they
the decision to rely on people’s opinions -
when it comes to open ended questions
need to have their privacy at times to
and their resemblances or dissimilarities -
and personal experiences. Each individual
express their identities and explore the
rather than upon theoretical approaches.
has a unique way of perceiving the
surrounding, thus, stored in their memory
The form of the posed questions render
environment, his own memories. This is
as their first home.
the data collected from the questionnaire
the
as empirical; thus, open to analysis made
questions enounced with perfect clarity.
using phenomenological tools.
reason
behind
the
selection
of
In the case of a reassessment of the
Unquestionably, research through
questionnaire, the questions would be
scientific theories has been implemented
altered to include questions related with
to guarantee that the themes in question
objects that remind people of that first
were under full contemplation. Some
home-memory of theirs.
initial qualitative data was collected in the first part of the questionnaire but with regard to the second part, answers vary
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The collected data demonstrate
But how are these findings related
that childhood memories are fundamental
with architecture and the architect’s role in
in achieving a connection with home. If
the society? Without including an architect
The discoveries are relevant to the
the bond one establishes with the notion of
in the design process of a house, the
research questions as they address all
home is a strong one, the hypothesis could
fundamental leap to becoming a home will
aspects they include. According to Israel
be that one has been nurtured and brought
not happen. As Israel (2003) mentions,
(2003), the connection between home and
up in a caring environment.
people who design the built environment
person can be expressed through the
factor concerning dwellings, revealed by
are
following philosophies: The basic need for
data, is that they already contain links to
awkwardness, yet nevertheless, create
shelter must be satisfied, the sense of self
the past and already match the personality
spaces which enable interactions and
and the sense of environment are, in some
of the owner142. This ‘recreation’ of our
special bonds between the individual and
sort, intertwined, this connection has its
first home happens through keeping
the theme of home143 and dispense the
roots in childhood and evolves as the
furniture from the past, maintaining the
sense of belonging.
individual matures. Factors like society,
same smells, holding on to similar noises
culture, psychology and even aesthetics,
or sounds, painting the walls; all these
shape this bond amplifying its meaning –
actions that even subconsciously enervate
a meaning one can be aware of, thus,
our senses.
8.5 Findings’ significance and insinuations
Another
nurturing the design of dwellings capable of holding this meaning141.
Israel T., 2003. Some Place Like Home.
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for
reducing
Consequently,
feelings
of
domestic
architecture should be applied based on the fundamental principles taught by this study. What takes hours to define, days to
West Sussex, England: Wiley-Academy, pp. viii. Gosling, S. D., Ko, S. J., Mannarelli, T., & Morris, M. E., 2002. A room with a cue: Personality judgments based on offices and bedrooms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, pp. 380. 142
141
liable
143
Israel T., 2003. Some Place Like Home. West Sussex, England: Wiley-Academy, pp. vii.
Remembering Home | 115
design,
and
months
to
build
will
potentially embed itself as a memory for years to come. A dwelling engaging all five senses provides its residents better chance
for
a
positive
experience,
a
psychological attachment, the feeling of belonging the feeling of home.
Appendix I Appendix II
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Appendix I
Prefer not to answer ď&#x201A;¨
Questionnaire
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Appendix III Questionnaire’s respondents’ pseudonyms list: Respondent’s No.
Respondent’s Pseudonym
Respondent’s No.
Respondent’s Pseudonym
1.
Sarah
16.
Darius
2.
Lukas
17.
Mrs Cho
3.
Veronica
18.
Brenda
4.
Mr Thomas
19.
Emily
5.
Clara
20.
Vick
6.
Ms Lynn
21.
Catherine
7.
Mr Howard
22.
Ms Amanda
8.
Mrs Martha
23.
Mr Daniel
9.
Mrs Judith
24.
Mrs Elena
10.
Mr Mario
25.
Tony
11.
Ms Anna
26.
Ms Patricia
12.
Markos
27.
Mrs Georgia
13.
Mrs Ellie
28.
Nicholas
14.
Jake
29.
Mr Patrick
15.
Ms Heather
30.
Harry
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Appendix IV Interview Transcript #1 (example) Interview with ‘Mrs Ellie’, [Partaker no.13] Interviewer: Eleni Economidou Narrator: Mrs Ellie Date: 13th January 2013 Place: Narrator’s Home Persons present: Eleni Economidou : (I) Mrs Ellie : (N)
I: Mrs Ellie can you tell me a little about your personal background, who your parents were, where you were born and so forth? N: Well, I‘m an immigrant, my family and I came in UK during the 70s when my country was invaded. My parents were both farmers and had their own land which they cultivated and they grew olive trees and vineyards. We came with the optimism of building a new future but always kept the 128 | Remembering Home hope of going back home. I was 32 years old when we left. I have not visited my home
building a new future but always kept the hope of going back home. I was 32 years old when we left. I have not visited my home yet.
N: Yes. The reason behind it is that I want to keep my memories intact and prevent the defilement of the images I have as I grew up in that specific setting. I think my recollections would be deeply traumatised if I returned to a derelict place that little would remind of what it once was.
difficult conditions a lot easier. It had only four rooms, the kitchen, the bedroom used also as the dining room, the living room and the bathroom. A large garden full of all sorts of flowers and trees decorated its exterior. It was cool in the summer time and warm at winter times. We were a poor family, but we didn’t feel deprived, not by a long chalk. We lived in simplicity and we were happy; we were mostly autonomous since we cultivated the land behind our house and farmed a few animals such as chicken and goats.
I: You’ve already answered the questionnaire. Do you mind talking a bit about that recollection of your first home?
I: Which one of the rooms is the one you remember from your very first memory of this home of yours?
N: I must tell you that that particular memory is one of the most vivid I have from back home. I’ve lived in that house since the day I was born [she was born at home] with my parents and sisters and later on with my spouse and child until the day we were unduly and violently persecuted. My earliest memory, of that house, was from when I was 9 years old. It was a lovely house made out of plinths with straws and mud built with love and this made living under difficult conditions a lot easier. It had only four rooms, the kitchen, the bedroom used also as the dining room, the living room and the bathroom. A large garden full of all sorts
N: Well, this room had a large area [the bedroom] and thus, had multiple functions. We all slept in the same room and we also dined there together. It had 3 beds, my parents’ bed was a high four poster bed covered with lace curtains, my sister and I had a double wooden bed with a high bedhead and a small wooden rocking crib for my infant baby sister. There was a wooden table with chairs around it where food was served every night. It had a large window next to the bed facing the road and - 12100412© Eleni Economidou, with 2013 a large carved wooden wardrobe a mirror on the outside. I remember a piece of paper was attached on the inside face of its
I: Is there a reason behind this decision?
window next to the bed facing the road and a large carved wooden wardrobe with a mirror on the outside. I remember a piece of paper was attached on the inside face of its door with our names written on it along with our birth dates so that we would remember our birthdays. I: Do you remember any certain activities happening in that space? N: I remember a lot of events in that particular room, my sister and I preparing the table for our family dinner, me lingering on the window sill watching the rain outside and waiting for my parents to return home, my sisters and I playing, my mother telling us bedtime stories. I: Do you remember any particular feelings of that memory? Can you explain them? N: For once, I felt happy and that true family homeliness feeling I only get when my own children come to visit. I felt affection and love towards the people around me but at the same time a bit uncomfortable as we all slept in the same room and therefore it was a bit crammed. It is one of the things of my childhood that I remember with nostalgia but also with feelings of pain and lament MArch Dissertation due to the conditions of our disorderly retreat.
but also with feelings of pain and lament due to the conditions of our disorderly retreat. I: Do any particular smells or tastes transfer you back to that specific memory? N: Yes, the one of fresh home cooked stew coming straight out of the oven. My culture is closely related with food related rites and each traditional food smell reminds me of home but that specific one has the capacity to take me back to that place and time, making me feel like a small child again [beaming]. I: What about sounds? Do you remember anything particular? Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ve said that you heard the rustling of the leaves.. N: Well, I remember leaning on the window sill and as the glass was thin you could hear the wind whistling and the rustle of the leaves outside. I: Why did you associate this memory with the white colour? Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve written that it was because of the colour of the walls and decoration. Can you tell me a little bit about that? N: Sure, the walls were painted white and every fabric in the room was white lace or other embroidery. This room will always be
N: Sure, the walls were painted white and every fabric in the room was white lace or other embroidery. This room will always be associated with brightness in my memory and that is why I picked the white colour. I: I have asked you to produce a sketch of this memory, I am very glad you did, do you mind describing what you have actually drawn? N: Well, it is the room in my memory, the moment when my sister and I help my mother prepare the table for dinner. Everyone is there. I have drawn the wardrobe and a painting of a peacock I remember hanging next to it, the table, the window and my bed next to it. I: Have you kept any objects from that particular era? Or do you have any replicas or other items that remind you of them? N: I have kept some old photos and indeed some of the objects I have in my house still remind me of my childhood home; it is something I planned on purpose actually. I have searched and found a beautifully carved wooden wardrobe with a mirror on the outside just like the one we had in our room, now placed in the master bedroom. Remembering Home | 129 We even chose a neighbourhood with lots of green space to remind us of home. I have
room, now placed in the master bedroom. We even chose a neighbourhood with lots of green space to remind us of home. I have also planted some flower plants in my backyard whose scent reminds me of the ones we had in our home; like petunias, calla lilies, the jasmine and the almond tree; every time their flower s bloom I feel like I am instantly transported back home. I: That is great! So, in a way, you still preserve a mental connection with your first home. I think thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all. Thank you so much for this opportunity for an interview with you Mrs Elie, thank you once again for your contribution and your willingness to provide me with all this information and invite me in your home. N: The pleasure is all mine. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a nice occasion to share my story with you; a great opportunity to walk down the memory lane. I hope I have been of some help to you.
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Student no.: 12100412 MArch dissertation Remembering Home MSA School of Architecture University of Manchester Manchester metropolitan University
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