An Architectural Inquiry into the Significance of Home

Abstract

What is home, and why are we drawn to spaces which elicit this feeling within us? Why is it that we are immediately able to achieve a type of rapport with some spaces, while others remain indifferent to us? What is it about home that makes it such a special place? These are questions that would give pause to many designers. We spend so much time learning about the history of architecture, the science of buildings, and the economics of development, but how many of us can say with certainty that they can make a space in which an individual will feel at home? Can we tell our clients, in no uncertain terms, that we know how to make their lives better through design? The thesis seeks to establish the importance of the concept of home to our development as individuals and our ongoing psychological and physical well being, as well as demonstrate the connection between what recent psychological study has found to make us feel comfortable or “at home”, and factors over which architects hold sway. While previously thought of as ethereal, the feeling and space of home are too important to continue to allow their creation be left to chance. Research, both empirical and otherwise has granted us knowledge of how individuals communicate with spaces, and we are thus able to create spaces which will be more in tune with our entire being. It is our responsibility to use this knowledge to the benefit of our clients and the credibility of our profession.