HOME - FORMATIONS, FUNCTIONS, MEANINGS

© DAVID CARR-SMITH 2009 : all images and text are copyrighted - please accredit text quotes - image repro must be negotiated via dave@artinst.entadsl.com
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Eg 1: VIVIAN HOME - N-SPAIN >Eg 2: DURAG NIWAS HOUSE - N-INDIA > >Eg 3: PARMENTER HOME - S-LONDON >
This section of "HOME": 'LOCATION VIA PERSONAL CHOICES', offers examples which are neither so completely individually originated as the factory-squat and land-squat homes shown in this website's first two sections [ref: 'IMPROVISED-ARCH...' and 'IMPROVISED VILLAGES ...'], or so completely influenced by mass-culture domestic expectations, concepts and aesthetics as the examples in 'HOME - LOCATION VIA MASS-PRODUCTS'. Shown in this section is an intermediate manner of forming ones home, these people utilise existing buildings and loosely conform to local physical/cultural 'vernacular' norms, however (at least at the time of recording them) the way these homes are used, their internal planning and disposition of functions, is principally individually driven - only peripherally biased by conformity to mass-taste/product exemplars.

EG 1:
VIVIAN HOME - ARRES, N-SPAIN
Arres, (Berdun, Aragon Valley), Huesca, Spain ... in process

This first example: 'VIVIAN HOME' is a vernacular barn re-moulded into a home: its exterior minimally functionally modified, its interior rebuilt to accommodate the owner's individual needs and style of domestic living.

The external body of this house pre-existed as two adjacent stone barns. Vivian almost completely reformed the interior of these simple stone shells. She designed the disposition of the new home's volumes, retaining and reusing certain large-scale constructional features of the original buildings. She elicited the cooperation and advice of a builder concerning finishing techniques: surfacing, floor-laying, and service installations.


VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR (LEVEL 1) - NORTH FACADE & 'VILLAGE SQUARE' (pic 09-06-2013 / to SW) View from the top floor of the Arres 'Community Centre'. Behind us, this small 'village square' is the destination of village entry roads from north and east. The track from its left (south-east) corner descends to a farm; to the right the hill rises to the summit of the village.	VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR (LEVEL 1) - NORTH FACADE WITH THE HOUSE'S 'STREET DOOR' ENTRY FROM THE VILLAGE SQUARE (pic 12-06-2013 / to SW) Due to the fact that its site slopes steeply to the south the house's street-front door enters at its upper 'level 1' onto a small hallway/landing. At its left end this opens into the smaller of the house's two living rooms; on its right a stair descends to the larger living room which fills the whole space of 'level 0' below. From this space one may enter a bedroom/bathroom that fills a small single level building extending from the main building's south-west corner.

VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR (LEVEL 1) - NORTH FACADE ENTRY & GARDEN (pic 12-06-2013 / to WWN)	VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR - FARM-TRACK FROM SOUTH-EAST CORNER OF THE VILLAGE SQUARE (pic 22-04-2009 / to SE) The wall on the right edges Vivian's patio whose exit ramp joins this track just beyond it. .

VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR - EAST & SOUTH (FIELD) FACADES (FROM FARM-TRACK) (pic 06-06-2013 / to NW) From further down the farm-track we can look back towards the village square behind the east and south sides of Vivian's house.	VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR (LEVELS 0 + 1) - SOUTH (FIELD) FACADE (pic 24-04-2009 / to NE) Viewed from the field that slopes steeply from its southern face the house shows its two joined buildings, the large two-level east part and the single-level bedroom (with its landscape-viewing open door ). .

VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - SOUTH (FIELD) FACADE PATH TO EAST PATIO (paste-up x2 pics 24-04-2009 / to EES) A walk from the tiny terrace of the bedroom's external door, along a slightly worn track through the field's grass, towards the southeast corner of the house and its east patio. .	VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR - VIEW FROM SOUTH FIELD (pic 23-04-2009 / to EES)

VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR (LEVELS 0 + 1) EAST END FACADE & PATIO (paste-up x2 pics 22-04-2009 / to WWN) The east face of the main building, with the upper living-room's small balcony and a patio door into the lower living-room and kitchen. The patio is viewed here from a ramp that descends to it from the farm-track. From the big lower living room this can be a quicker route to the village-square than threading the internal stair to the street-door of the house.	VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR (LEVEL 0 ~ 1) EAST END - PATIO & RAMP TO TRACK (pic 22-04-2009 / to EES) With ones back to the house, and in the shadow of the high wall that edges the farm-track, one looks out across a huge view, separated by a ruined wall from the patio's rough cement ramp up to the farm-track that ascends to the village-square.


VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR (LEVEL 0 ~ 1) EAST END - PATIO & RAMP TO TRACK (pic 06-06-2013 / to EES)	VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR (LEVEL 0 ~ 1) EAST END - PATIO & RAMP TO TRACK (NIGHT) (pic 07-06-2013 / to EES)

VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - PATIO (pic 06-06-2013 / to SSW) The incongruity of banal domestic clutter facing a huge and magnificent view.	VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR (LEVEL 0 ~ 1) - THE PATIO'S NORTH-SIDE WALL (pic 22-04-2009 / to EES) This massive dry-stone wall encloses the patio and buttresses the farm-track above.

VIVIAN HOUSE: EXTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - PATIO DOOR INTO LIVING ROOM (pic 06-06-2013 / to WWN)


VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (E END) (pic 22-04-2009 / to EEN) The big living-room at the patio (and kitchen) end.	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (E END) (pic 21-04-2009 / to EES) The living-room's east-door evening-view of the exterior patio and interior reflections.

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (E END + KITCHEN) (pic 22-04-2009 / to NNW)	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (E END) (paste-up x2 pics 22-04-2009 / to E)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (E END) (pic 22-04-2009 / to NNE)	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (E END + KITCHEN) (paste-up x2 pics 04-06-2013 / to WWS)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (E END) (pic 12-06-2013)	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (E END + KITCHEN) (pic 07-06-2013 / to WWS)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (E END) - KITCHEN) (paste-up x2 pics 07-06-2013 / to W)	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (E END) - KITCHEN (pic 07-06-2013 / to SE)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (E END) - KITCHEN SINK (pic 10-06-2013 / to SW)	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (E END) - KITCHEN WINDOW (VIEW S) (pic 23-04-2009 / to SSW)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (W END + KITCHEN) (paste-up x2 pics 24-04-2009 / to SE)	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM - KITCHEN WINDOW (W END) (pic 23-04-2009 / to SSW)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (W END + KITCHEN) - NIGHT (pic 23-04-2009 / to SSW)	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (W END)) (pic 07-06-2013 / to E)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (W END) (pic 22-04-2009 / to WWS)	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (W END) - NIGHT (pic 21-04-2009 / to NW)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (W END) (paste-up x2 pics 22-04-2009 / to E) From the center of the west wall rises a curtained stair to the level-1 road entry, a landing bathroom/wc, and the upper living-room/bedroom [see section 'Level 1' below]. (Behind us and to the left, is a door into a lower extension that serves as a bedroom and shower/wc [see last pic in this section].	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (W END) (paste-up x2 pics 22-04-2009 / to NNE)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (W END) (pic 24-04-2009 / to NNW) At the centre of the west wall a stair mounts to level 1 landing/hallway ... the building's street-door; a landing bathroom/wc; an entry into the east-front living room. Vivian is entering the curtained stair.	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (W END) (pic 22-04-2009 / to SW) In the SW corner is the entry to an extension building that serves as a bedroom and shower/wc.

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0) - LIVING ROOM (W END) - ENTRY TO BEDROOM (pic 22-04-2009 / to WWN) The steps down and door into a lower extension building that serves as a bedroom and shower/wc [see next section and section 1: 'Exterior' pic 6].


VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0-2) - BEDROOM (E END) - ENTRY FROM LIVING ROOM (pic 22-04-2009 / to EES) We look back from the bedroom into the living room.	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0-2) - BEDROOM - CEILING (pic 24-04-2009 / to SSW) A single slab of sloping roof.

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0-2) - BEDROOM (SE CORNER) WITH ENTRY FROM LIVING ROOM - NIGHT (pic 21-04-2009 / to SE)	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0-2) - BEDROOM (W END) WITH BED PLATFORM & BATHROOM DOOR (pic 24-04-2009 / to WWN)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0-2) - BEDROOM (W END) - BED PLATFORM (pic 24-04-2009 / to WWN)	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0-2) - BEDROOM FROM BED PLATFORM (WITH DOOR TO SOUTH FIELD) (paste-up x3 pics 24-04-2009 / to SE)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0-2) - BEDROOM - DOOR TO SOUTH FIELD (pic 05-06-2013 / to SW)	VIVIAN HOUSE: SOUTH FIELD DETAIL (pic 06-06-2013)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0-2) - BEDROOM (W END) WITH BATHROOM DOOR (pic 05-06-2013 / to NNW)	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 0-2) - BEDROOM (W END) BATHROOM (pic 09-06-2013 / to NNW)


VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 1) - LIVING ROOM (+ BED-SPACE) (pic 24-04-2009 / to NNW) The N end of the living-room - in its NW corner is its curtained entry from the hallway.	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 1) - LIVING ROOM (+ BED-SPACE) (paste-up x2 pics 24-04-2009 / to NE)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 1) - LIVING ROOM (+ BED-SPACE) (paste-up x2 pics 24-04-2009 / to S)	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 1) - LIVING ROOM (+ BED-SPACE) (paste-up x2 pics 24-04-2009 / to W)

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 1) - LIVING ROOM - ENTRY TO BED-SPACE (pic 24-04-2009 / to WWN) A small bed-space - located behind the hallway bathroom - is entered through a narrow (curtained) gap in the living-room wall.	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 1) - LIVING ROOM - BED-SPACE (paste-up x2 pics 24-04-2009 / to WWN)


VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 1) - STAIR UP FROM L0 PLUS L1 LANDING & BATHROOM (paste-up x3 pics [NB: very distorted image] 24-04-2009 / to E) I am standing on the small half-landing at the turn of the stair (which has emerged via a curtained exit from the big living-room below). One mounts three more steps; crosses a landing/entry-hall (past a 'free-standing-cuboid' bathroom on our right and the house's street-door on our left) to a curtained entry its far end, into the upper (second) living-room [ref next section].	VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 1) - STAIR FROM L0, L1 LANDING & BATHROOM (pic 24-04-2009 / to SE) Inside the landing/entry-hall bathroom

VIVIAN HOUSE: INTERIOR (LEVEL 1) - L1 LANDING WITH N-FRONT STREET-DOOR & ENTRY TO THE UPPER LIVING-ROOM (paste-up x2 pics 24-04-2009 / to NNE) The 'front-door' of the house - the home's street-level entry, and the curtained entry into the upper living-room, made across the width of the house's east-end.