Unplanned potential : domestic architecture designed for play

Why do so many of us appear content to live in repeated rows of domestic homogeneity, particularly in suburbia? Have these recurrent domestic forms repressed our imagination? The house, as the primary place of human dwelling, is clearly one of the most influential architectural environments in our lives. Yet it has become more or less a unit of monetary exchange which, while satisfying the basic domestic functions, is designed primarily for profitability, resulting in obvious patterns of predictability. Might we consider the cultivation of play in the home environment to be one of the ways in which to dislocate this convention? Play will be analyzed in this thesis as a potential modus operandi of imaginative engagement with creative potentialities, rather than as a particular type of activity. The introduction of malleability, engagement and the selective deconstruction of boundaries within a domestic space are investigated as a means of designing for play. The thesis experiments with the efficacies of malleable boundaries directly manipulated by the inhabitants in transforming the house, allowing for constantly evolving alternative modes of dwelling.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Architecture (M.Arch.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Architecture

Grantor dc:publisher

Carleton University

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Kearns, Yvonne Sylvia

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © 2012 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, research, scholarship, and teaching. Theses may only be shared by linking to Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be used without proper attribution to the author. No part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

10.22215/etd/2012-07289

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:carleton.scholaris.ca:20.500.14718/32931