As I have begun narrowing the direction of my research I have realized that a few things are very important to establish. First is the need for a specific type of housing. The situations, lengths, and intensions have become very ambiguous and therefore the information that pertains to what I am investigating has also become ambiguous. I have also been less explicit with my words than I need to be, so creating a vocabulary [and perhaps definitions] is going to be an important aspect of this project.
Words I have been considering as they relate to my purpose.
Refugee: A person who, by real or imagined danger, has left their home and is unwilling or unable to return. [aka Asylum Seeker]
Asylum: A place of sanctuary or refuge. Any place of retreat or security.
Permutation: An event in which one thing is substituted for another. The act of changing the arrangement of a given number of elements. Complete change in character or condition.
Autonomous: Existing as an independent entity; political independence.
Dwelling: as well as being a term for a house, or for living somewhere, or for lingering somewhere - is a philosophical concept which was developed by Martin Heidegger.
:: I think it will be important to read 'Building Dwelling Thinking' by Heidegger. Not something I can work through today but soon. Here is the preface to the essay as translated by Albert Hofstadter in 1971 [http://mysite.pratt.edu/~arch543p/readings/Heidegger.html} :
In what follows we shall try to think about dwelling and building. This thinking about building does not presume to discover architectural ideas, let alone to give rules for building. This venture in thought does not view building as an art or as a technique of construction; rather it traces building back into that domain to which everything that is belongs. We ask:
1. What is it to dwell?2. How does building belong to dwelling?
Questions that I need to answer. . .
What is the intention intension of the built environment?
Where does the dwelling stand in the gradation of permanent and temporary?
What is the reason for relocation?
What differentiates it from the status-quo of American homes?
What similarities does it have to the typical American home?
Who is building the dwelling?
What defines the intimacy of this space that is not inherent in some types of camp? Can a camp have intimate qualities? Or does it temporary nature strip it from that characteristic?
I am trying to answer too many questions and pull together too many ideas that have been floating in my head the past few days. I will continue with more specific responses to camp later.. although most of these questions are spurred by Hailey's early questions and interpretation of camp. I believe the type of dwelling I want to explore in detail lies within the definition of camp, but is much more exclusive.
I apologize for the fragments of thoughts that came together here, hopefully I will be able to clarify soon.
Great questions - especially dwelling.
ReplyDeleteSpend a long time defining dwelling. It will be good if you unpack the word dwelling on its own - a kind of paper in and of itself. Understanding dwelling relative to... (time, performance, culture, urbanism...). This could be the focus of your entire research agenda. If that is the case, you might want to make something upon your return instead of just writing.
I would ask that you deveote 1,000 or more words to "dwelling." Really Amazing! Site sources in that writing as well - not just the books, but also page number.