Re-connections: Home/Work/Environment

Abstract

"Today's houses may even be well planned, easy to keep, attractively cheap, open to air, light and sun, but - do the houses in themselves hold any guarantee that dwelling occ urs in them?" (Heidegger, 1971). Heidegger's concepts may be dated, but the question of dwelling, and what it is to dwell is an underlying questi on and a driving motive. People think of dwelling as something one does in ones home. But contrary to that idea of dwelling, it is something that people do in all settings, it is their home, their work, their environment, and the interactions between the three. Society today has become one that has separated these aspects of life: home, work, and environment and has created a common link between these, the automobile. People no longer live in an area that all aspects of life are present, people have to commute between these aspects leaving life disconnected, and full of voids. This thesis intends to examine the voids that have been created by modem society and the disjunction that has occurred within it. What is it to connect home, work and environment? Is it just combining work and home in the same building or can they be removed somewhat from each other, but still be in the same context? At what extent can sustainability be ushered into the notion of home and work, yet not impede on progress of society or become a burden that interferes with the daily lives of the individual and allow people to live in the 21st century?