RESIDENTIAL SPACE SEEN THROUGH FAMILY DYNAMICS

 

Daniela Negrisanu^1* and Maja Baldea²

¹PhD student, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania, daniela.negrisanu@rdsign.ro

² PhD, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania, maja_baldea@yahoo.com

*Corresponding author

Abstract

Life-cycle, beginning with the transitional womb period and ending with the closing phase, is passing through a wide diversity of physiologic and spatial necessities. Residential space, as an active container of all these diverse metamorphoses, must take over and absorb them all, in order to accommodate familial necessities of every life-stage. Psychology and psychiatric literature identify several important phases, adapted to specific particularities of the family life cycle: preliminary stage (nest detachment and courting), early stage (couple formation and reproduction), median stage (expansion, separations and partial exits) and closing stage. Along this process, the roles inside the family vary and so do the purpose and the utility of different spaces inside the house. Inconstant use of certain spaces inside the house, inconstant family roles and the amplified dynamics of the family, all of these are requiring an elastic way of living and, in consequence, a flexible residence. By internalizing all these information, housing theory can receive another perspective of how residential spaces can be properly conceived and projected, so that they can come closer to the needs of their residents.

Based on an extended and multidisciplinary research on housing, from architecture theory to psychology, sociology and neuroscience, this study is aiming to investigate the particularities of every stage in the family life cycle, filling up the missing knowledge in housing theory. A better understanding of these characteristics can facilitate architects an improved response to housing project design, assuring thus an adequate response for its end-users. The study of the differences between the actual house needs of every stage can be extremely useful for architects during the design process of residential projects.