User as the place maker : an examination of home as an individual place

Abstract

The ability that an architect has to make a place is considered as the most fundamental work of the architects. It is difficult to generalize about the constituents of a successful place; to define the concept of place making, for each place must by definition be particular. But it is not impossible to suggest the qualities that are being used in capturing a good place. It could be clearly said that a place should move us and enhance our lives both as individuals and as masses. In these places, the individual has a place which he or she can modulate according to their personal preferences whilst still remaining as a part of the immediate group, and by extension of the whole enterprise. On the other hand, mere aesthetics are not necessarily an attribute of a place since we tend to develop a likeness to the places, which do not really make us happy particularly by aesthetics. The place becomes live and it seems as if we, as humans are in a dialectic mood with another being who speaks in silence. As such, place making could be simply defined as creating place with a soul which communicates with us, and it shows that we are a part and parcel of the place and it is interrelated with each other with a strong bond. Home is also considered to be a specific place, and it acts as a foundation of our identity as individuals. The architects find it extremely difficult to cater to the psychological and spiritual needs of the individual. Ultimately a sophisticated final product could be achieved if the design is being approached with out a thorough understanding on the process of the place making. It is being expected through this study: 1. To identify the interrelation ship amongst the man, space and architecture. 2. The identification and the definition of the concept of place, constituents of place and attributes of place, while investigating how these dimensions are interrelated with each other. 3. To examine and illustrate how these principles have been manipulated by considering home as an individual place. With the help of selected house designs. In this study the concept of place and place making and the constituents of a place are expected to be established theoretically. The fundamental principles, which are needed for the creation of a place, are identified and defined by means of some successful unsophisticated primitive instances, where the psychological needs are purely expressed. In conclusion, the selected examples are illustrated and examined on the basis of the identified principles created by using the design strategies..