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389cm 45x45cm by: shahin haghjou - int 2ยบ
. t c je b O e Th
“I remember that with a tiny bit of imagination i could easily play with my moms hair styling equipment for hours�
A short story... We were asked to bring an object that reminded us of our childhood home, the place where we grew up and where formed into the persons we are today. My first thought was to bring a toy, not that i had much toys when my family came to Sweden from Iran in 1987. And that is exactly why i chose to bring a hair dryer. Now why would i chose a hair dryer? The reason is simple, when i got bored of playing with the few toys i had probably took a look around the apartment to see what i could play with. I remember that my mom always had a lot of clams and other things for her hair. So these soon became my new toys. I remember that with a tiny bit of imagination i could easily play with my moms hair styling equipment for hours pretending they where sharks or guns.
My Family Home 1. Situation, app square meters, type of building, year of construction, neighborhood. number of rooms etc. When my family family moved to Sweden form Iran in 1987 we started out living in a refugee camp, we later got an apartment in the city center. However the apartment i want to focus on is the one we moved to after the first one, because i have more memories and this was and still is the place where i have been living the longest duration of time. The apartment was a 3 room apartment, two bedrooms, living room and a kitchen. It was located in a pretty decent neighborhood in a small town called Landskrona. The size of the apartment was approximately 80 to 90 m2 and was included in a commune called “Yxan” (the axe). The building was constructed in the 50’s and later became a form of commune where everybody had their own apartments but also had the possibilities to share spaces like a big kitchen, playrooms for the kids, a sauna and different recreational rooms.
2. How did the following circumstances affect the way you were living? Tradition: As Iranians coming to a new country where traditions where totally different i personally think we adapted well and fast. However we also stuck to our own traditions, the way we cooked and ate did not change until i became a bit older. Another tradition we stuck with was celebrating the Iranian new years, this includes having a table with different items such as honey, painted eggs, a fish bowl and a mirror to mention a few standing in the living room for up to a month during spring. We also took traditions such as christmas and easter from the Swedes, that included the tree and presents under it.
4 QUESTIONS
Our teacher gave us a couple of questions to answer about our family home and the way we experienced it as we grew up. The following text is my personal answers to these sometimes tricky questions.
Political situation: Since we lived in an commune i guess most of the people in the building where politically oriented to the left. This however did not affect the appearance our apartment, rather the way we tried to share whatever we could in the rest of the building.
Fashion: In the beginning we got whatever we could afford and then gradually changed furniture’s around the apartment. My mom has always been interested in home decoration and did a lot of thing to change the place. The colors would normally be dark and we had a lot of plants as well. It’s hard to describe the style as it was ever changing form one year to another. Family structure: My family was mainly me and my parents. My grandmother also lived with us either in our apartment or in her own in the same building. This very often led to conflicts in front of our television set. It seemed like i didn’t matter if she had her own TV, she would always ask me to change the channel to either watch Jeopardy or the sports channel. Being the only child of course had it’s benefits. I never had to ask if i could have the last ice cream or have to worry about sharing rooms or toys. Religion: My family has never been religious, so this did not affect the way we where living. Parents work: My parents had too reeducate themselves after coming to Sweden. So they really didn’t work until maybe 3 years. My father opened up an pizzeria when i was in the 4th grade and my mom helped as well, so they usually worked long shifts and this changed our way of eating. They would normally bring pizzas home with them after work. After a while my mother started having problems with her back which eventually led to her early retirement.
Economical situation: We started out with basically nothing and Define how you experienced the limits between public worked ourselves up to a pretty decent economical situation. This never changed the way we lived, we never got any fancy items, per- and private space. haps a new TV and a Stereo for the living room but that was it since my parents probably knew what it was like to loose everything they owned When i was younger i did not consider anything being private, but as i grew older and needed my own privacy i quickly changed my defiand preferred to save their money. nition of public and private. I would not enter my parents bed room Health/ handicaps: My mom retired early because of back problems. without knocking or even go in there if nobody was home. So my This affected our way of living in two ways. The first was that she definition of public and private was the rooms we did not share. stayed home instead of working in the pizzeria. This automatically lead to us cooking more at home. The second thing was that we got a couple of weird looking exercising from different home shopping networks so my mom could workout and keep her back problems form getting worse. She also had to have a special bed that could be raised and lowered to fit her condition.
“Since we lived in an oriented to the left.”
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Where in the home was the social gathering point? The living room. What was considered as status symbol? The Persian rug. Which materials where dominating and why? Fabrics and woods, because of my mothers taste in decoration. What colors where dominating and why? Dark greens and blues, because of plants and dark colored fabrics.
My aunts, my uncle and me outside of our home in Shiraz Iran 1983.
n commune i guess most of the people in the building where politically
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* * * * * ** * Given one country each we set out to find out as much as we possibly could about them. I was lucky enough to get to learn about New Zealand, a country that ended up fascinating more and more as I studied it’s culture, customs and people. The following pages is a guide trough New Zealand’s many faces >>
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Largest City: Auckland 1º Capital: Wellington 2º Population: 4,250,000
Consisting of islands more than 2000 km from the nearest continent New Zealand is positioned south east of Australia in the Pacific ocean. There is two main islands, the north (155.777 km2) and the south (151.215 km2) and Stewart Island of the south shore. There is also six of remote and uninhabited islands from the south to the east, many which are nowadays natural reserves. The north island is where the majority of New Zealand’s inhabitants live and this is where the core of the country’s commercial and business can be found, while the south island is where the majestic nature and wildlife parks are located. The islands are volcanic and are still active, principally the north island. On the south island, the Southbern Alps with 223 peaks rising 2.300 m over the sea. These mountains are snow covered and give life to the rapids and lakes of the island. New Zealand’s 15.808 km of coast line consist of outstanding fjords, semitropical beaches, bays and harbors.
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Geography.
ma u e! !!!! Ka hi! ! ! m hu r i n a ru te rin ! h K u pa ru a a p o a ! n r n a e ma k an ! K qui a a a a u!! up n a m ! w e ! Ka hi! an i i a a t e e t Economics.
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New Zealand’s principal source of income are lactose products, meat and wool. This is why the islands are often referred to as the biggest farm in the world. 10% of all workers are involved in the agriculture of the country which is very profitable. The export horticulture (the culture or growing of garden plants) has been on the upswing since the 80’s with sales of 30 million NZD (1.00 NZD = 0.78 USD) to more than 1.500 millions in the 90’s. The main products for export apart from the famous kiwi are apples, pears and fresh and canned vegetables. Exotic products such as ginseng and other natural medicines. Another source of income is adventure tourism, every year 3/4 of the 1,2 million persons that visit New Zealand participate in one of many outdoor activities and there is more than 1000 company’s in this sector.
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History of New Z
Zealand. Early settlements
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sing the stars and ocean currents as navigational guides, it is thought that Kupe (the first discoverer of the islands according to the Maori) made landfall at the Hokianga Harbour in Northland, around 1000 years ago. The Maori are believed to come from the islands of Hawaiki which is seen as the ancestral home land of Kupe. You will not find Hawaiki on a map, but it is believed the Maori came from an island or group of islands in Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean. It is not known exactly which place, but there are distinct similarities between the Maori language and culture, and others of Polynesia including the Cook Islands, Hawaii, and Tahiti.
Colonization
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he first european to navigate the waters of New Zealand was the Dutchman Abel Tasman, however after a bloody encounter with the Maori he was never able to set foot on solid ground. 130 years passed until James Cook rediscovered the islands on the 6th of October 1768 and literarily put New Zealand on the world map. Prior to 1840, it was mainly whalers, sealers, and missionaries who came to New Zealand. These settlers had considerable contact with Maori, especially in coastal areas. Maori and Europeans traded extensively, and some Europeans lived among Maori. With the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, New Zealand became a British colony. New Zealand’s geographical position made it one of the last places to be colonized.
The Treaty of Waitangi.
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his is an agreement between the British Crown and Maori. It established British law in New Zealand, while at the same time guaranteeing Maori authority over their land and culture. The Treaty is considered New Zealand’s founding document. However this document has been problematic due to errors and misinterpretations, and there are still protests today from persons who feel they have been robbed of their land.
Population and Government.
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ew Zealand is an independent nation and a member of the British Commonwealth. It has a diverse multicultural population of 4 million people, the majority of whom are of British descent. New Zealand’s indigenous Maori make up around 14 percent of the population. The head of state is the queen of Britain, this however only symbolic, she has no political power. Although New Zealand didn’t get it’s independents until 1947, the country was slowly developing it’s own identity in the world during the beginning of the 1900th century.
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Food.
ue to their wast amount of natural food products and different food cultures brought to the country form different ethnic groups, the New Zealandian cousin is a wild mixture of fresh and healthy foods. Chefs are revolutionizing the way peoples cooking habits. Earlier people generally ate heavy types of foods that where brought form the english kitchen. Dishes with fried potatoes, fish and meat can still be found in the pubs of New Zealand. The quality of the food is often very high as they come straight form the farms of the country. New Zealand also has more than 100 vineyards (many of them which you can visit) and produces about 45 million liters of internationally acclaimed
The New Zealand Apa Realization and Process.
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fter learning about New Zealand our next objective was to adapt what we had researched about to an apartment. The space is 9 x 9 m, with a column in the middle. We where allowed to have windows on two sides of the apartment. On this age you can se the plans.
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ince New Zealand is a modern country with a very tender ecosystem the concept of the apartment is self-sufficiency / Eco-design. With a Vertical Garden system and solar panels the apartment should be able to maintain 2 persons for at least a couple of months.
Measurements Placement of lights.
artment.
The New Zealand Apa Realization and Process.
artment.
, nergy olar e ens h it two w n environm e e for m o to th g it a h ult, a post, makin lso friendly s e r l a a m the fin ed are nd co his is Gardens a aterials us m al . Vertic ption. The aland o ew Ze ly N d f n o ie tal fr stem ecosy fragile
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