Sociology and housing
In the western world, cultures have influenced the home plans and housing designs employed in different regions or countries. The styles used in building houses convey various social meanings and have effects on people’s emotional experience and empirical evidence has been used to support this notion. People or residents of different regions across the western world have used the housing styles or exterior that defines their identity or communicates personal traits like social status, independence, privacy, life styles, aesthetic case, values and ideas (McKay, n.d). Homes and their styles have varied in accordance with climatic differences, and housing has been a major part of universal material culture that is found in all societies except the nomadic societies. Housing has also been a major component of entire capital formation and the single largest element in the whole building efforts of western nations. In addition, from a sociological perspective, homes or housing played and continues to play a major part in making sure there is community life continuity. There have also been closer link between family organization and housing which differ in various parts of the western world (Moore, 2012). In every culture and at each period, housing types have corresponded in a way to how families are organized in a given culture and this in turn has reinforced and sustained existing family organization forms. In places like northern America, the system of extended family among the Iroquois was reflected in their different room clusters within which were sections that were reserved only for the basic units.
Apart from these aspects, the traditional housing styles in many parts of the western world were shaped by events such as Arts and Crafts movement which emerged in places like England during Victorian period, since Britain was the most industrialized nation of the time. In the view of social status, homes have been a production ménage and for consumption and hence various economic organization features were reflected and still continue to be reflected. For instance, 18th century England wool centers, there were many cottages that were composed of upstairs rooms where family members worked and there seems to be confusion in rural cottages between life stocks’ and humans’ housing (McKay, n.d). These kinds of provisions have been eliminated by modern western life systematization especially among the urban communities. However, new dwellings may still incorporate housing stratifications like artists’ studios, doctors’ offices, libraries and shops with inclusion of managers or owners living accommodations. The sizes and shapes of the western homes were shaped or are shaped to portray the craftsmanship skills, occupants or owner’s personality and social-economic status in terms of education and income. Through the exteriors of the houses or sizes, the owners can be identified or judged according to social –economic classes like upper, upper middle, middle or lower class and the various design types may be defined as neat, tasteful and rich. Moreover, they also depict the different taste cultures in the western world in relation to art and which may differ in various aesthetic cultures expressed (Moore, 2012). Due to the various classifications, every socio-economic group reads different literature, engage in different social activities or even watch different programs in televisions all of which form part of aspects that influences preference for various designs. The social or economic classification also influences the size or even shape of the homes that the residents from different regions of the western world can afford.
The colonial home designs in United States more so South Jersey included symmetrical façade, single windows that were regularly shaped with some front door decorative ascent. These complexity, size and decoration are major features that set aside the colonial housing designs and sub-styles. The emergency of these styles occurred in American colonies with settlers adapting the building techniques used in Europe, available materials and New World colonies climates (Nasar &Kang, 1998). The houses designs in the colonial South Jersey and entire United States were influenced by the wealth and natural resources available to be used as building materials. Such designs differed in accordance to locations such whether New England Colonies with town houses, Middles colonies that had farmhouses and southern colonies where most houses consisted of plantation houses. The designs used in colonial mansions ensured that the houses were opulent, spacious, and elegant and were quite expensive. The designs also bore signs of culture influence from Greece and ancient Rome cultures and hence the designs used depicted a lot of influence from different parts of the world including Dutch and French (Nasar &Kang, 1998).
Apart from the colonial influence, the various housing designs can be attributed to the political, economic, socials and religious beliefs which have a direct link with cultural institutions and the society they foster. These factors originate from the cultural traits of the society and form the basis from which architectural design language is created. The origin of these kinds of designs used in the colonial period can attributed to the cultural traits of people living in this period and the designs portray their cultural values and preferences. The architectural language is pervaded by a sense of culture, in regard to what is supposed to be, what is to be done, its importance and how the designs created link to the community, the supernatural and material world (Dietrich, n.d). The designs communicated to the community the architectural designs meaning and how they related material, human and supernatural world. The way in which the housing designs evolved in the colonial eras may have been specific to particular region in relation to the security and shelter as major housing needs and the technological advances such as construction techniques and materials. The basic issues of behavioral characteristics are influenced by constructed environment and hence designs can be created to facilitate behavioral aspects in a community or individuals. However, the human behavior is unpredictable but his issue van be addressed by designing facilities or houses that enables completion of activities or tasks effectively and efficiently. The origin of these colonial designs can be attributed to the need of addressing the issues especially in the urban setting where the large populations had to be accommodated (Dietrich, n.d).
Personal status is another aspect that may have informed the emergence of the various housing designs used in the colonial American homes. Personal status is normally induced in architectural designs across all human cultural levels whether, offices, churches and even in recreational facilities (Nasar &Kang, 1998). Using housing design to portray status can be traced back to the original monuments or status elected for various personalities such as pharaohs and priests in Egypt where monuments were erected while alive so as their glory would continue after they died (Nasar &Kang, 1998). This indicates how housing designs are influenced by personal status and which is upheld by a given community. The colonial settlers may have had their houses designed to depict their economic or social status in the community. The designs could have been a basis of their ideology in way that their social ideals and positions would be enhanced and promoted in the whole American community.
The designs also originated from the development in art in this community which saw the emergence of craftsman and Bungalow homes styles. As aforementioned the designs and styles emerged from Crafts and Arts movement that emphasized on use of natural materials such as brick, stone and wood. Since there were not may specialist for building houses, most could have been built by families in the community. The changes in art and craftsmanship also changed with changes in affluence of the communities (Tanner, 2003). As families rose in terms of living standards, there was growing need of home individualization. The rise in space standards that had been a preserve for middle-class communities or homes may have stimulated this kind of individuation in the community and hence leading to designs for personalized homes. With increasing urbanization that played a big role in changing the family organizations, the designs for housing continued to change as different people have to be accommodated in apartments or flats while limiting the space for rural household activities. This lead to emergence of various design standards as urban behavior changed so that more privacy was required (Tanner, 2003). These changes can be observed even in the current housing where household’s tasks have to be done in limited spaces.
References
Moore, J. D. (2012). The prehistory of home. Berkeley: University of California Press. 82-84
Tanner,J.,(2003). The Sociology of Art: A Reader Psychology Press.143-145
McKay,S.,(n.d).Western Living, Western Homes. Retrieved from: https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/71524/vol14_3_65_74.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Nasar, J., Kang, J., (1998).House style preference and meanings across taste cultures. 33 -42 Retrieved from: http://facweb.knowlton.ohio-state.edu/jnasar/crpinfo/research/housestyle99.pdf
Dietrich, K., (n.d).Sociology and Architectural Design. Curriculum Development. Retrieved from: http://www.kdietrich.com/thesis/d9a-research/section%204%20social/section%204-social.pdf
