Definitions of dwelling

Abstract

Home is an elusive concept. In one manner it is highly specific and individual in its definition, and in other aspects it is ubiquitous, present in our every act. In this thesis I explore several possible definitions of dwelling originating from the different relationships between the observer and environmental meaning. The meaning of dwelling is examined in four manners: case studies, interviews, academic research, and a small design project. The relationship of vernacular and formal architectural ideas are compared, and shown in the context of the user. In this way the degree and manner in which architecture influences the nature of dwelling is shown. It is my contention that architecture is but a subset of the manifold influences on dwelling. Architecture can assist dwelling by careful encoding of activity oriented meanings, but it is only through the user's inhabitation that dwelling truly occurs.