Assignment 1 submission

Poster
Model

Week 4

Interim submission

PDF File (A1)

Week 2

Understanding of  "home"

"At the same time the idea of home became the focal point for a form of ‘domestic morality’ aimed at safeguarding familial property, including estates, women and children."

In the past, the concept of home was to promote patriotism and to demonstrate your wealth and possessions whereas nowadays, it is more shaped based on the experience of the residents throughout time. A 'home' will always demonstrate, to some extent, the personalities of the residents. 

Research on client

• The residents around Victoria were affected by the severe bushfire and their houses have been burnt down. They require a temporary house to cater basic needs and to shelter themselves.
• Location: both urban and rural
• The structures that got caught up in the fire initially are close to plantations and the source of the disaster. They are mostly residential buildings. From here on, the fire spread to other parts.

The Guardian, Melbourne: Black Saturday's fires could be all too easily forgotten, photographs, viewed 7 March 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/feb/06/melbourne-black-saturday-fires-bushfires-2009-anniversary

• Climatic condition: hot and dry
• Compared to developing countries, Australia has a high standard of living and cleanliness. Hence, the temporary house has to be built on a clean site that is big enough to provide each container house with sufficient space to restrict privacy.

Principles of universal design

Simple and intuitive use: I'm planning to design a container house where the residents can pull down the beds when they are needed and push it up when not needed to create more space. This is quite a simple idea and everyone would be able to follow through.

Week 1

Disasters

Chosen natural disaster: Bushfire
Known as: Black Saturday bushfire
Location: Victoria, Australia
Occurrence date: Febuary 7 - March 14, 2009
Causes: Continuous high temperature, heatwave caused by slow-moving high pressure system and intense tropical low.
Post-disaster condition: Cooler temperature and rainfall
Description: This is a series of bushfires that resulted in the highest death rate due to the said disaster. It spread quickly due to the intense heat of the surrounding area. Starting from 7th of February, this event continued until the 14th of March in which rain that fell from 4-6 March helped to put out the fire. The weather then gradually became cooler.

North America suffered the most bushfire (wildfire), followed by Australia and South America and Greece. A lot of other countries such as China, Indonesia, Russia and some others have also experienced this, although not a lot.

Post-disaster pictures:

Shipping container houses

Arcgency

House made of bigger containers. They can't be folded but can still be removed easily, and stacked. Behind the wooden facade is a series of shipping containers, hence the heights and size of this house is adjustable.

AY arcgency, WFH House, photographs, viewed 2 March 2015, http://arcgency.com/21270/452944/gallery/wfh-house

AY arcgency, WFH House, photographs, viewed 2 March 2015, http://arcgency.com/21270/452944/gallery/wfh-house

Poteet architects

One storey container house that is about three size of the box that we have to work with on this project. Some parts can be retracted to create awnings, and the terrace base is the side of the container that is used to cover the glass door.

poteet architects, lp, container guest house, photographs, viewed 2 March 2015, http://www.poteetarchitects.com/containerguesthouse/7.html

poteet architects, lp, container guest house, photographs, viewed 2 March 2015, http://www.poteetarchitects.com/containerguesthouse/1.html

Both houses are mobile and can be easily moved from one place to the other although WFY house focuses more on space and bright interior whereas Poteet's guest house utilises ventilation, natural lighting and nature to brighten its enclosure. For this type of project where a lot of these container houses are needed, Poteet's guest house would more suitable due its more compact nature while still being functional. It also seems to be much easier to assemble compared to the other.

WFY House:

• Bright interior colour
• Large space for family, can cater for a lot of people
• Can be stacked if larger area is needed
• Contemporary design that makes use of a lot of empty spaces

Poteet's guest house:

• Cool colour for outdoor paint
• Utilises empty space to make house more functional and smaller
• Some parts of the boxes can be pulled to create awnings and a terrace
• Contemporary design that focuses more on the furnitures and play of colours in one tight space

Prescribed readings

"By its very nature then the identity of a place is ‘provisional’ or in flux. The boundaries of place and/or home are permeable and unstable. Equally, places have no fixed or essential past. The identity and meaning of a place must be constructed and negotiated."

Mallett, S. (2004). Understanding home: a critical review of the literature. The Sociological Review, 52(1), 70

Although someone might be living in one permanent place, the structure they are inhabiting might not be considered a 'home'. People's opinions of what others may call a 'home' will always differ, and that is one's past experience of living in one place that shapes their perception of 'home'. A structure is incapable of creating someone's identity, but it is through one's journey that a house's meaning will be shaped and changed until its inhabitant consider it a 'home'.