The aim of this study is to explore the subtle yet ever present relationship between Dwelling and Dweller, so as to magnify this condition and procure a more acute sense of how are physical surroundings impact our individual identity and daily rituals. The work will utilize myself as both the investigator and the investigated, with my current residence (59 Englewood Ave.) acting as the site and instigator of the research. Broader subjects expected to be confronted through this experiment will be topics such as Routines/Habits, Familiarity/Nostalgia, Self-Reflection, Comfort, and Utility/Functionality.
Investigations into the Dweller Dwelling relationship will be conducted via extensive reading, writing, documentation, and many forms of making. The work produced and discussed will help piece together fragments of everyday life and their physical connections to home, so as to begin generating fantastic responses and events surrounding these newly realized threads. As of now the proposed product of the research is a series of imagined interventions/events within the home itself that will engage both Dwelling and Dweller in curiously imaginative and pattern altering ways. It should be made clear that the proposals are not intended to enhance the quality of life for the resident or improve the buildings performance in any particular way. The purpose of the interventions are to manipulate habits, instill fascination, and generate self-awareness relative to the home.
The larger concern fueling the research is a general dissatisfaction with the current residential relationship. More and more commonly it seems dwellers take less pride in, know less about, and interact less meaningfully with their homes. This is not only troubling when considering the field of architecture but also in regards to our personal identity. By manipulating things that stand so firmly in the typical reality of our everyday and augmenting them so that they have far more fantastic and intense rolls in our lives, we can begin to reflect and appreciate on our homes and on ourselves.
