HOME AND HAPPINESS : What Architecture says
- Nishita Chopra
- Sep 23, 2020
- 7 min read
We find our best emotional support and well being only when surrounded by what we call home.
“We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us,” Winston Churchill observed.
As we have seen in the earlier posts, lighting, colors, configuration, scale, proportions, acoustics, and materials address the senses of the individual and generate a spectrum of feelings and practices. From inducing warmth and safety, defining well-being, or creating a positive and efficient working environment, space can have a whole lot of impact on how we act or on what we feel; therefore, design and creative measures should be considered according to the social and psychological needs of the occupants.
a well designed home has much less to do with the prime rate of real estate than with our responsiveness to cultural influences, personal preferences and deep evolutionary needs. some of which we are only subliminally unaware of.
Sol y sombre, a term coined in the Spanish that means the sun and the shadow, highlights that the concept of home, is a concept of balance. From the larger premise discussed throughout this paper, the balance between psychology and architecture. To the balance between individual architectural elements such as those briefly described above. It is always and but never or. Thus, a home is psychology and architecture. It is passive and it is active. It is simple and complex. It is not one element above all, but within the balance that home can exist.
Research from Environmental Psychology suggests that buildings support us best when they echo the scale and tone of the natural world, through pattern, light, layout or sound.
Although human life is more urbanized and centered on multistoried buildings and apartmentalised living, there is a craving to go back to nature. Nature and natural settings are part of relaxation concepts of humans. Therefore, a person who toils in the concrete urban jungle for a whole week looks for a natural setting to lighten the spirits and rejuvenate in the weekend. Additionally, consider the following arguments:
What makes humans have houses in a natural environment, although urbanisation is a major segment of human evolution and civilisation?
Why do people who look for an extraordinary home, opt for a cottage at a mountainside or a farmhouse in an isolated hamlet, a valley view villa, a lakeside log cabin, a bay view bungalow or a marine mansion?
Why do people from an urban setting, living in a skyscraper with all the modern facilities, comforts and gadgets, when stressed and burnout look for weekend leisure near a mountain, desire to spend some time in a forested location, or at a seashore or other natural environments?
This proves that every person has an innate inclination towards shelters in a natural setting.
Coming to the environment-friendly architectural style of ancient humans, constructing dwellings was intended to cater to the innate need of the people and connect with nature through the design and materials. Locally available natural materials protected them from weather and harsh conditions that reveal their intimate relationship and oneness with the environment, even further the cooperation with the eco-system. As days passed, urbanization, industrialization and the so-called civilization crept in; the use of coloured glass and the painted doors, vivid carpets influenced the lifestyle, gave extra impetus to dwelling at the same time slowly drifted them from nature.
With real estate prices shooting up in most metropolitan cities of India and with house rent going up parallelly, there is not much left with the buyer but to make do with what option is left to them. in some cases, it is the user, waiting for job retirement to shift to their family home later or get one made during their service time to be well adjusted for later in their future.
So, really what are the choices and ideas that can be kept in mind for when one does start looking forward to their dream home?
this blog looks into solving basic minimum required for the client to keep in mind while looking at places to stay which will be architecturally sound and also emotionally invested.
with climate change affecting our housing choices and and more the lookout for more closely connected communities have increased.
Shrinking residential space doesn’t mean that our homes have to be reduced to “machines for living,” as 20th-century Swiss-French modernist architect Le Corbusier famously advocated. In fact, if the answer to our housing crisis is to build smaller and denser, it’s more vital than ever to design living spaces in ways that support human happiness and well-being.
Fortunately, there are some choices we can make just to achieve that.
When one looks at housing, they look for some major components that makes it a home for them. A well-designed house is not providing extra space and the amount of money spent on it, rather proper planning, and designing to protect the inmates from physical and psychological hazards to bring wellbeing.
VENTILATION:
Windows are almost like the eyes of our homes! Air should be able to flow in and out of each room. Proper ventilation allows heat, odours (smells) to escape from the kitchen, bathrooms, and toilets. Windows deliver a variety of well-being benefits into our interiors, which will be more critical to optimize as we build denser dwellings. These portals to the outdoors can bring us daylight, air flow, prospect, natural views, and a sense of control—each of which is independently beneficial. Research has shown that we prefer natural ventilation to the highly processed, controlled air delivered by the ventilation, air-conditioning, and heating systems of modern buildings. Greater variability in air flow and temperature is more similar to natural conditions and has been linked to greater well-being, concentration, and comfort. The house is well ventilated and sufficiently lit by placing the windows and doors in the direction of the wind.
Windows with a view of natural features like trees have long been known to have especially strong restorative power. Visual access to nature has also been linked to positively influencing overall happiness, mood, and attitude. More recent research has suggested that vistas with more visible sky can enhance the restorative impact of windows in dense urban living spaces.
This states as to why, the rooms you stay or use more often are preferred more with windows or balconies to them.
SIZE OF THE ROOMS:
The size of the rooms you dwell at plays an important role to your mood too. smaller rooms not only means cramped spaces to more people but also more irritable and depressed surroundings.
It's why a dorm of more than 6 people in a hostel could mean unsuccessful if the spaces are cramped or why in all houses you look for separate drawing/dining. It is not only to divide functions of the room but also to divide the occupation capacity of it. When one enters a house, you automatically search for wider spaces and reach for open areas.
WASTE DISPOSAL:
This factor as seemingly unnecessary it sounds, plays a vital role in one's decision making of today's dwellings. We look for spaces that are hygienically fit with appropriate facilities provided. Easily accessible bathroom, at the same time without doubt isolated from the main functional area is the best planning. Some families prefer a shower bath, some like bathtubs; however, proper water facilities depending upon the usage style is highly recommended.
Futuristic planning of bathrooms and toilets, we always prefer those where there is sufficient ventilation, natural lighting and are in the bathroom to use. It is not because our needs have become higher, it is just your mind looking at spaces a certain way and inferring what's needed for you.
Larger bathrooms, whiter tiles, state of the art washbasins tend to give an impression of good hygiene and results in happier spaces.
Bathrooms in the north-west part of the house are the most beneficial, as the sun rays that come from the north and while setting in the west, help in drying up the bathroom faster and the wind rays that come from the north also help to keep your bathroom properly ventilated. This also helps in blocking the western sun radiation from the other parts of the house keeping it relatively cooler.
DINING:
Food plays an important role in daily family interaction, engaging guests, relatives and friends in every culture. Well-placed dining area and the associated kitchen reduce considerably the habit of eating outside. Smoke, dust, and odours from the kitchen can easily spread inside the house and ruin the mood of the people. Therefore, the dining place is one of the important healing places of a house.
A dining room is preferred where there are sufficient windows providing wind and light while eating and the table is placed where the path to the door or window is somewhat unobstructed. A dining room is looked for with its proximity to the kitchen and is generally to be in the west direction for it to get enough wind and light.
KITCHEN:
Kitchen is one of the areas where all the cooking happens and sometimes also some entertaining and dining. Hence the location of the kitchen is extremely important to take in for it is one room that is also most often used.
The kitchens that are located on the south-east side are more often suggested as the kitchen is the one place handling stoves and the winds from south west direction will not be disturbing this room.
LIVING ROOMS:
Living rooms are more preferred with large windows and opening and towards the north-east side where there is maximum morning sunlight sending all the positive energy into the house. As the living room acts as the main entrance to the house, it is natural for the users to look for maximum lighting and ventilation as your enter.
the use of curves in the living room looks inviting and lighter wall colours in the living room makes the area look bigger giving it a bigger impression.
Most living rooms have wood used in it in the form of furniture or flooring. this is because it offers a perception of less stress to the people using the room.
HOME GARDEN OR HOBBY SPACE:
No matter the size of the house, one always looks at the houses searching for that extra balcony or that extra small room that can be converted into your personal little shrine.
an addition of plants to a flat or a garden to your bungalow makes the house seem more happier and inviting.
As we go further into each room, that we intend to in the coming days, we study why and how we can transform our own houses into more happier and positive environment and also solve our need for adding leisure and class into our choices.
Each room defines a function and our habits and lifestyle has developed our rooms and choices in a way that sometimes additions only seem taxing. So let's delve this week into options and look into things to take care of about how we can improve our home life to suit our moods and needs better in a much more sustainable way!
Resources:
Well written, covering all the basics to be considered
Very well explained.:) Kudos!!