Houses undergoing psychoanalysis :

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to explore the relationship between the self and the house. In approaching the subject, my assumptions were that the basic condition of the house-self relationship is of tension and animosity and that architectural design, following a psychoanalytical tendency to reduce tension, is used to improve this condition. When great amounts of energy and care are invested in this process, the narrative of tension and its resolution is brought to the surface through architectural drawings. Based on these assumptions I developed a methodology of analyzing architectural process drawings. In applying this methodology, the process of tension reduction through design is uncovered. Similarly to psychoanalysis, this methodology privileges process and the observation of change over time. In order to test these assumptions, I chose three case studies of house designed by architects either for themselves, or for a close family relation. I focused on cases where process drawings were available, and applied the methodology of tracing changes from scheme to scheme. I gave special attention to the arrangement of bedrooms and bathrooms, but considered many other aspects of design. In each case study, the house has its own narrative of tension which is resolved through its design. This narrative is not an analysis of the architect, nor is it architectural criticism, it is something that happens when self and house come together through design.