John Donne once wrote that “No man is an island”. The same is true for homes, feels Trisha Croaker. In an article for Domain, she points out why it is important for a home to imbibe the personality of its surroundings.
A great home is one which can be camouflaged by its surroundings. It goes without saying that a poorly built home would look to stand alone, quite unaware of what its locality demands of it- like a guava in a box of oranges.
Each locality has its heart and voice. Its structures, designs, forms, concepts and scales speak a language. If as a designer, you cannot fathom what a locality seeks in its buildings, you will lose out on creating a harmonious structure. Such a house will find it difficult to be a home, feels Croaker.
Build in sync
Croaker thinks that a sense of community spreads the horizon of a house. Once it begins to belong to its surroundings, it gathers a unique purpose of its own. Each home should have its own privacy but at the same time it should also be in sync with its neighbour, not sitting unsympathetically against its form and backdrop.
Croaker cites the example of architect Luigi Rosselli who had to design a house that looked over an over-the-cliff golf course. The architect soaked in the ‘feel’ of the site and made the home fan out exactly like the golf course fanned out towards its adjoining area. In blending designs thus, Rosselli gained a coherence which was delightful for the inhabitants of the house.
Sense of community
While building new houses in new areas, it is also important to talk to the Council. The councils by rule do not like standalone houses which have no sense of community. Councils do not mind modern ideas but they do not want the “harmony between homes” to be compromised.
To wrap it up
I feel that the beautiful sense of community needs to be acknowledged and considered in any home design project. There would still be those individualists looking for an awkward exception (a mauve setting amidst black quartz anyone?) but people would like their homes to blend in the style of their neighbouring homes. Complying with councils and creating something beautifully modern and yet harmonious is on top of the minds of home designers.
How do you feel about new home projects that deviate from an existing neighbourhood’s style and ambience?
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