The designation between house and home – is it semantics or is there a difference. Can I as “the architect” influence the difference one way or another?
According to Merriam Webster:
house (n): a building that serves as living quarters for one or a few families
home (n):a : one’s place of residence : domicile
b : a familiar or usual setting : congenial environment; also :the focus of one’s domestic attention
So no help there – but the definitions aren’t really the same are they? A house is a type of building where you put your stuff, and home is where you live your life. You don’t measure your kids growth progress in a house, you do it in your home. Or is just me?
As an architect who designs houses, modern houses in particular, I don’t think that I can make your house be a home but I do think I can make it a lot harder for your house to become a home. So I have talked about some of the rules that define modern architecture;
• adoption of the machine aesthetic
• materials and functional requirements determine the final product
• emphasis of horizontal lines
• express the structure of the building
• rejection of ornamentation – the simplification of form + elimination of “unnecessary detail”
and the most enduring, and most quoted rule of all:
• Form follows function
So if you fall into the camp that thinks that there is a difference between a house and a home, does the style of house figure into it? For me, it’s about creating memories and shared experiences with your family. These things can happen in a house, a car, a tent – under a bridge – wherever you happen to be. I don’t think it has to do with your “stuff” even though your belongings do contribute to a space being yours. This may be an extreme example but it is what popped into my head;
If a homeless person has all of their worldly possessions in a shopping cart, can the cart be considered their home? What happens when they unload all those belongings and lay claim to some space. I think at least it suggests that your home has to have some sort of permanence, a physical marker to an area that is “yours”. But houses are fairly permanent structures (relatively speaking), so I don’t think that’s it. Maybe it’s that the stuff has meaning and that’s why someone cares enough to move it around with them from space to space – the “stuff” has value to the owner which means there is some sort of emotional connection to keeping, maintaining, even relocating the belongings from “house” to “house”.
Where is all the stuff in a modern house? So does this mean you have to have stuff in order to have a home? Is the cart the house and once it’s spread out, it becomes a home?
There are some things that are noticeably missing from this list; things that can be included in modern architecture. What I am looking for is the evidence of human beings living in the space (the woman above is a cardboard cutout) While it is rarely the intent of architectural photography to capture how a space is used (rather opting for ideal conditions, perfect placement, and staged imagery), for the life of me I can’t imagine how this space would look with a jacket on the chair, crayon drawings on the fridge, a briefcase or books stacked up on the table.
The work I do is rarely pure enough to capture the interests of architectural purists and it probably doesn’t push the edge far enough to catch the interest of magazines. I know that people who have things going on don’t maintain a perfect photo ready home. Too often modern houses appear sterile, inhuman – certainly not child friendly – and devoid of personality despite the fact that modern homes were originally supposed to make life easier to live.
I think I have convinced myself that an architect can’t create a home, that is a job is for the occupants to take on and complete. As for the consideration that a modern house is more difficult to be a modern home, I will need to think on that a little longer … but where can I go to have some quality time and do some serious architectural thinking? …
I do some of my best creative thinking while riding a camel. I wonder if this will be a memory brick in the home I am building with my family?
At this point, I would like to hear what other people think … chime in and leave a comment. What makes a house a home?
Cheers,
This is the 24th entry into a series titled “ArchiTalks” and the topic was “House or Home?”
When I started #ArchiTalks, I wanted people to discover that architects have different experiences, backgrounds, and objectives. Despite architects all getting lumped together with a handful of broad stereotypes, we are all onions … we have many layers and not all of them smell good.
If you would like to see how other architects from around the globe responded to today’s topic of “House or Home” just follow the links below.
Keith Palma – Architect’s Trace (@cogitatedesign)
I don’t design homes
Lora Teagarden – L² Design, LLC (@L2DesignLLC)
House or Home? It’s in the story.
Michele Grace Hottel – Michele Grace Hottel, Architect (@mghottel)
“house” or “home”?
Marica McKeel – Studio MM (@ArchitectMM)
ArchiTalks: House or Home?
Jeff Echols – Architect Of The Internet (@Jeff_Echols)
House or Home? The Answer to Everything
Mark R. LePage – EntreArchitect (@EntreArchitect)
Emotional Marketing for Architects: House or Home?
Collier Ward – One More Story (@BuildingContent)
House or Home? A Choice of Terms
Jeremiah Russell, AIA – ROGUE Architecture (@rogue_architect)
house or home: #architalks
Eric T. Faulkner – Rock Talk (@wishingrockhome)
House or Home — Discover the Difference
Michele Grace Hottel – Michele Grace Hottel, Architect (@mghottel)
“house” or “home”?
Meghana Joshi – IRA Consultants, LLC (@MeghanaIRA)
Architalks #24 : House or Home
Brian Paletz – The Emerging Architect (@bpaletz)
House or Home? – Depends
Michael LaValley – Evolving Architect (@archivalley)
House or Home? Train for One, Design for Another
Jarod Hall – di’velept (@divelept)
A Rose by Any Other Name…
Greg Croft – Sage Leaf Group (@croft_gregory)
House or Home
Kyu Young Kim – J&K Atelier (@sokokyu)
Making a House a Home
Nisha Kandiah – ArchiDragon (@ArchiDragon)
Dwelling on a Macro scale
Jim Mehaffey – Yeoman Architect (@jamesmehaffey)
House or Home: One’s a Place, the Other a Feeling.
Tim Ung – Journey of an Architect (@timothy_ung)
Architalks – A House is not a home
Jeffrey Pelletier – Board & Vellum (@boardandvellum)
Designing a House into a Home
Mark Stephens – Mark Stephens Architects (@architectmark)
#ArchiTalks #24 House or Home? #RefugeeCrisis @GrainneHassett mentioned
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I believe that architects do have a lot of influence on making a house a home for someone or a family. But it takes involvement of other experts too. For example the choosing of colors, placing of chairs and tables, etc. It takes certain level of commitment from the architect. If you’re committed to make this house a home for this family, you will definitely go all the way for that. Which is something that I would do. I wouldn’t really like to create houses like the picture you have in this blog. They seem too lifeless. It seems more like a house for a temporary stay, a short getaway. If I ever get to design and create houses, I will most definitely be involved in all aspects. From getting to know the people, what they like and dont, to designing the interior to make it easier for them to feel at home. But what do I know about all of this. I’m just a first year student right now, haha
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I think that a house is an architectural construction while a home is a term much more in tune with our psychological needs.
We live in apartments, homes, studios, sheds, boats, tents, caves, whatever one fancies. But a home is a psychological and emotional bond we create either through what we have picked up as kids from our parents, what the society has imprinted on us or through honest emotional development.
I have an expat for quite a while now and in an automatic instinctual way I always refer to the country I was born in as “home”. Though mentally if I actually think about it, I know that is no longer my home, I know I would not fit back there anymore. However due to the subconscious emotional connection I still call it home.
I do not believe it is the responsibility of the architect to create a home. I do believe however that the architect is responsible for providing the future residents with the most appropriate canvas for them to create their home.
I am saddened by the architectural profession’s abnegation of its role in helping people to create HOMES, often expressing a disinterest in doing so, sometimes to the level of contempt. I would go so far as to say any architect who purports to be a residential architect, who doesn’t understand what it takes to make their structural envelope a “home” for a client, or even WANT to help them get there, has failed miserably, even if the building qualifies as magazine-worth “architecture”. This is partly what gives architects such a bad reputation as narcissists. Clients will ALWAYS make their buildings a home. If the architect gives up gentle guidance in this area, others will rush in to fill the void, like interior designers, kitchen designers, lighting designers, color consultants, etc. Why do architects willing give up a huge palette of choices in color, furnishings, lighting, textures, etc. to others? Are they just too burnt out by that point? Afraid the client isn’t going to pay them for their involvement? (And then, after leaving a huge amount of money on the table for other designers, architects complain that they don’t make enough money.)
Are you saying that it is your opinion that there are architects who intentionally choose to not do certain parts of a residential project? For example, I do the lighting layout in 90% of my projects, but there are times when a lighting designer is involved. I will confess that my ego is not so large (speaking of narcissistic behavior) as to concede that there are specialists that are better in their area of expertise than I am. Have I failed in my fiduciary duties here for collaborating with other trades and professions?
I also don’t think you can simply buy goods or services and create a home – but maybe I am misunderstanding your point.
okay – thanks for the clarification. I tend to agree with you regarding the attitude of some service providers, but I am typically hesitant to judge because I can’t ever be sure that the lack of involvement or coordination by the architect was self-imposed or client driven. This is sort of the “Judge not, lest ye be judged” mentality I took on when I started writing this blog. I stopped (for better or worse) being critical of others simply because I typically don’t know the entire story.
A house represents the physical. Home is where the heart and spirit live.
Bob,
I’ve followed your blog for numerous years, always light-hearted yet erudite/thoughtful, which is not an easy thing to pull off!
I second your notion that architects’s design houses that clients then turn into their homes. If the client can’t seem to feel at home in house they’ve designed together with an architect then perhaps something went wrong (architect didn’t listen/understand/execute well, client didn’t communicate wants/needs well or client asked for something that they thought they wanted but in the end didn’t work for them…pick one or add a few more!).
Cheers! Renzo
Thanks Renzo!
I agree – both the architect and the client have an active role in the successful design of a home, but at some point, the architect is going to walk away, the clients will take possession of the house, and they will start living in it. To my way of thinking, this is the moment that the house starts the process of becoming a home. It needs to be infused with the energy of the people who live there to fulfill it’s destiny!
I am currently in school wrapping up my first year and I definitely struggle with my love for modern and contemporary architecture vs what actually makes a good home. School has instilled a romanticized attachment in pushing design forward, like Gropius or Zaha. However, I don’t think school will be able to prepare me to design a home. They want us to be creative, but it all my decisions feel very self centered and based in the architecture not the client. Granted there is no client to consult. I think the transition from school to the field might be tough. Was shifting your main focus from the architecture to the client tough?
I only designed two houses during all my years in college – in my very first studio, and in my very last (I’m also happy to announce that the evidence of growth between the two was staggering).
The transition from architecture designed for me (or fake clients) versus real once I graduated was fairly slow. As a young graduate, I was put in front of clients fairly early but there was still a buffer between me and the client for awhile. To that end, I would tell you not to worry about it – depending on your skill set, you either will, or will not, be someone who communicates directly with the client. If you are, it’s because you can, and therefore not an issue.
Could the debate of ‘house v home’ also have something to do with the mindset of those who will live there in relation to the context of the built form itself? For example, a ‘modern’ house could feel very much like a home to one person and not the next based on their personality alone. Some people like spaces just as they are (i.e. the photo you included with the cardboard cutout lady). Others may absolutely need to hang photos, add plants, place nicknacks to make the space feel like theirs.
There’s no doubt that there is some truth to the individual’s need to personalize a space in order to lay some sort of dominion over it. I would think that in the creative process, traditional homes have fewer rules that mandate how things should be done and as an end product, the owner might feel that they’ve had a more binary effect on its appearance. In modern design, there are rules to how things are addressed and I think unless you are extremely careful, the individual can get left out of the process.
Perhaps a house is what you see but a home is what you feel.
You buy a house, but you leave home. You reminisce about your hometown.
Ten years ago, in a bit of a rush, we bought a wheezy, creeky, poorly built mid-1980s mess of a house. It does not represent our aesthetic and it doesn’t always function well for us.
But I come home every night.
nice.
Eames house is my favorite house in the whole world! If I could, I would replicate something like that in my ideal home.. with personal touches. Loved reading the blog Bob (as always). Congratulations on the (F) – a little late to the party..
Thanks Meghana – for both the compliment and the congratulations. I feel blessed on both accounts.
“I believe a house is more a home by being a work of art.” Frank Lloyd Wright
I will admit that I never understood that quote. What does that even mean?
Why don’t we say someone is houseless instead of homeless? I think home is more a state of mind where we feel safe, don’t have to wear our public face, and can sit around in whatever. Lots of people feel; “at home” on the sea or in a tent.
With a good understanding of materials, climate, and our clients needs we can pile up pulverized stone, rocks, some dead trees, wrinkled tin, and melted sand to make a “thing” that can become a home. If your are welcomed at an old clients house, and with luck now a friend, you know you succeeded in giving them a place they call home.
I agree that a home is a restorative stronghold where you nurture and recharge your sense of self in order to live your values and speak your truth as you move through life ‘outside’ of your home.
Great post Bob. As Architects, we design houses. Our greatest impact in that process is to listen to the client’s needs and address them in a way that the resulting product meets their needs. They are providing us the intel necessary for them to turn the house we design into their home. If we follow through on that we are giving them the tools they need to build the home inside the house.
As to the “Modern” houses ability to be a home is strictly determined by the occupants. I personally enjoy the aesthetics a modern house provides. I love the clean lines, minimal clutter, and order often seen in a modern structure. However, I would avoid pushing this aesthetic on a client who loves the feel of a cape cod. I would be designing my house for them instead of a structure they can call home.
Through the firms I have worked, we described our projects as “soft modern”because we bent our fair share of the rules to allow the owners of the house the opportunity to live there and have “stuff” and not require the house to look “photo ready” at all times in order for it to look right.
It’s easy to design out the individual’s personality when designing a modern house – they tend to reflect the rules of modernity rather than the personality of the inhabitants.
basically you build a house. after you move in it becomes a home.
succinct, if not lacking something in the poetics department. I think your description falls into the “Home is where you hang your hat”
Interesting thought. Surprised you didn’t take a stronger stance on the value of an architect.
I don’t think the value of an architect plays too strong of a role in 90% of the homes that people live in … my ego isn’t that big to assume as much. All I have to do is look at the 6 homes that I’ve lived in – I didn’t design any of them and with the exception of two, if an architect was involved, they had very mediocre abilities.
Running the risk of making this way too serious a comment… I think the “house” really has to do with the physical expression of the four archetypes I bet most of us learned about in Architectural History so many moons ago: the Plinth, the Roof, the Hearth, and the Walls. It’s the built space that protects us from all the big scary things out there.
The “home”, though, is totally a product of perception… i.e. have you ever felt awkward in someone else’s home? “Home” is just a combination of familiarity and safety – knowing where stuff is, and not being worried about anything jumping out at you. If you’re a single professional, home may well look like a Arch Record photo shoot – everything in its place, with really perfect, soft lighting and an Eames chair hovering in the corner. Then again, if you have small kids, home may look like the target of a dirty bomb filled with crayons and stuffed animals.
One is no better than the other if you walk in the door, and think, “It’s good to be home.”
I support serious comments on this site (somebody’s got to make them).
I agree with the premise that both your house and your home can be the same thing, I would think in most cases they would have to be. I like the idea that part of what defines your home is that notion of security/protection. I suppose what I am wondering about is that when someone does walk in the door and say “It’s good to be home” is the answer to the question “why”? I would imagine that the answer could be many different things but being able to say it would mean that you are, in fact, home.
I am always amazed by how people can keep their homes so tidy, and i think it is because they don’t really live there, they live there, but they are never there and the kids go to afterschool programs or are grown and they don’t work out of the house and they have a person clean the house once a week. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! (That and how many people live there and what they have per square foot) I have to say that the Eames House is great because it does have alot of stuff in it for two people and they had their studio in Venice. The Barcelona Pavilion looks good because there was never anyone living in it. But I do want to build that modern house someday and live in it in my own messy way!!!
my house is tidy but there is a critical mass the “messy-ness” must reach before I am forced to do something about it. We don’t have a maid or a studio in Venice … we just aren’t collectors of keepsakes and bric-a-brac beyond the occasional piece. It also helps if you move alot – it forces you to re-evaluate your stuff and whether or not it’s actually worth hanging on to or repurposing it to someone who could make better use of it.
yes, we have not moved since oct. ’99 and working out of the house makes it somewhat difficult, i’m trying to build a studio in the back for the increased workload 🙂