|
A good point about
additions being 'moved into' and the balance of house becoming used less. Part
of the reasoning I guess is that an addition tends to become 'personalized' by
the owner at the design stage and tends to reflect or serve their needs better,
generally with better comfort levels (heating,lighting, etc.). A more considered
space generally if the same degree of attention is given to an overall house
design it tends to become easy to reduce the scale and build upon more positive
things.
There is a lot
of ambiguity in generic large house design. Each room becomes a room to 'live
in' as if someone did not know how to live - therefore master bedrooms become
palatial as if one is going to spend their entire life there, ditto for the
mast. bath and every other room. I could say that this reflects an
insecurity with how to best occupy a house or how to best provide for needs, not
yet realized, or children's needs, etc. Ironically people are not very
different and the type of personalized space an addition represents also becomes
the kind of space that guests or future owners tend to be drawn
to.
In imagining or
conceptualizing these spaces we tend to express ourselves in large terms without
considering the actual space. Someone just mentioned 400 sq. ft. for a home
office. That is a huge space, not just to occupy but to furnish, heat, light. My
office is 10x12 and currently houses 18' of counter, two computers, walls of
books, file cabinets, 4 bikes, one small woodstove and still plenty of room.
I designed a spa
addition for a client that was intended solely for a large variety of exercise
equip.. The room had a nice feeling with a timbered clerestory ceiling,
good materials, good views from lots of well placed glazing, nice light, good
conditioning. Soon the equip. was moved out and the living room furniture moved
in, and now they are looking at selling and building a small place along the
lines of the 'addition'.
One other point is
that a 'personalized' space becomes a place for memories, a point of
attachment. The odd little space left in a kitchen corner became a 'house' for
my youngest child and his friends (accessed from the living room). It was
intended to be a stereo cabinet and some day might become that but in the
meantime it is the smallest imaginable playroom but in his memories will
probably be some huge place.
JOHN SALMEN
TERRAIN E.D.S.
I have been following this discussion and am also acquainted with the
"Not So Big House" book. I am planning to sell my "overly big" suburban
house and build a "not so big" energy efficient home and have been thinking
about size and design issues a lot. I agree that there seems to be a
tendency to build a monster house, if you can afford it. I think some of
that has to do with our culture in which one of the ways that affluence and
power is measured is by the size of one's house. The bigger it looks,
the better it is. I live in a Dallas suburb and that has certainly
shaped the way houses are built here. Also, we fall prey to the dictum
that for a house to be marketable it must have certain features, namely formal
living rooms and dining rooms, rooms that are rarely if ever used but occupy a
large amount of space and decorating dollars. I have heard this over and
over again. In the past, I have accepted it and allowed it to shape my
choices in housing. A final thought - As one's financial means grow, it
becomes more affordable to have more single use rooms and appliances.
Stories I have read about monster houses describe rooms dedicated to such
purposes as wrapping gifts. (Another sign of wealth, not only can they
afford to have a room used only for gift wrapping, but the implication is that
they are so wealthy and generous, they can afford to do a lot more gift giving
(and wrapping) than most of us do.) Gourmet food magazines offer us
specialized food preparation tools, items that will rarely be used but will
need to be stored (...more space requirements generated).
My personal experience tells me that Susanka is right. Sole purpose
rooms, especially if off the beaten track, will rarely be used. Most
activity will take place in a few areas of the house, even if that wasn't the
original design plan. So, while I am not a fan of very large houses, I
think the real issue has to do with how the house is designed. Space
that is rarely if ever used is a bad investment for the owner and the
environment. Space that is not comfortable for use or that doesn't meet
the owner's needs may also be a poor investment in that it won't be enjoyed
and will probably be stimulate the owner to move or add more space onto the
house in an attempt to make it more comfortable. Ironically, while
additions often times do create more useable space, I think what often really
happens as a consequence is that use patterns shift and the original space in
the house becomes unused. Such an interesting topic... Meanwhile, I
continue to strive to optimize the design of my "not so big" house to
be. Thanks for an interesting and thought provoking discussion.
Mary Ann
|
