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zdashamberI think rather a lot about architecture, planning out houses and condos and dorms and sometimes institutions in my head. I love houseplans, and look over them while bringing up a 3D version in my head, imagining how it would be to live there. I may start getting into architecture more here, because it would be fun to draw out every place I've lived in or visited extensively and critique them... For now, though, I'm going to note down some general stuff. Here are my dictums!
If I had a set of work with themes, main points would probably be light, arches, and handicapped accessibility. Handicapped accessibility?! you may think. Well, I've read several articles on it, and it makes a lot of sense to have wide doors, and access to useful house functions on the first floor. People want to stay in their house all their life, generally; and moving would suck even more when you were old. Plus, any house you can get a wheelchair through is a house that is enormously easier to move into. I'm not saying I can do it all the time, and I don't have a huge amount of knowledge on it, but it's definitely a filter I run everything through in my mind.
Light: I, apparently, like more light than almost anyone else I know. I dearly adore sunlight and want it everywhere, all the time, in massive soakable quantities. When the sun is, alas, down, I still want a ton of light... And not from a single fixture in the center of a room, goddamnit! WTF?! Throwing shadows below it in the center of the room where you need it, coming in at an angle so that facing the center of the room puts your book in shadow, and facing the walls puts your own shadow on the book! Insanity! Built-in light fixtures should be on the walls! Facing up, with translucent shades. With massive numbers of outlets in every room for putting occasional lights where you want them. And every room a circuit of its own!
Arches: Straight lines are practical, curves are a great addition if they're not in the way, bang, arch. The ceilings I love most are those with curved edges... My current bedroom has one long arch for a ceiling, like a barrel; I feel like I'm a captain of a ship. Yaar! It's keen. It's strong. Arches can also be laid flat to neat effect: I remember years later a slide of an excavation of, I think, an ancient palace on Crete: I remember sketching furiously to get the effect before the professor flipped on. It was the remains of a rectangular room about 14' wide, with a semi-circular raised area touching the edges, leaving curved seat/shelf bits in the corners. Might be neat to see in a living room, with a fireplace at the heart of the curve. Or you could just run the curve all the way up to the ceiling and pretend you were living in the gondola of a zeppelin. Anyway, arches are a great way to break up a boring wall while still having easy rectangular doors and windows in them.
Windows: While I'm on the subject, they should open wide enough to hang out of. Why mess with usability, airflow, and escape routes? Sheesh. I suppose there are places in the country where it's better to have your air constantly managed by machinery, but I've never lived in one.
Escape routes: Every room and every house should have at least two ways out.
Entryways: Should have a way to look out at who's at the door without the outside person easily able to see in. Should have a coat closet nearby, and a space for a bench so people to sit while taking off their boots. Should have a space both on the inside and the outside to set down your bags of groceries at hip-level while you unlock the door. Should have mirrors nearby to detect vampires. ;)
Stairs: Perhaps the most dangerous part of the house, architecturally. Lots and lots of people screw up their lives from falls on stairs. So, pretty as curved stairs may be, they're no good; even a slight curve massively increases the danger. Also: doors that open onto stairs are stupid! Likewise traffic patterns where misjudged momentum sends a person onto stairs. I've heard stairs ought to have a landing every person-height so you don't get too tired/numbed and miss a step. I like steps with about a 7.5" rise and 13" run, which is much bigger than I ever encounter. Dammit, I like striding everywhere, even up and down stairs! I hate granny stairs. Talk about a waste of effort, and mind-numbing boredom leading to falls. Bah!! Still, I guess the main point is to not get fancy or irregular. Every place I've ever rented had ridiculous stairs, and it's kindof annoying to have to think so much about your feet all the time. Also, piano movers hate you.
Bathrooms: Every house should have at least 1.5 bathrooms. I've lived in a couple places with only 1, and when it's a problem, it can be... problematic, eh? Should have a place where you can set your book while you're on the toilet which is bound to be dry: that is, not the side of a tub, or a counter next to a sink. Should not have the toilet set so that the door opens into your knees as you sit there. Should have a window, but not one you have to get wet to open: not in the shower or over the bath. Two sinks are quite nice.
Bedrooms: Should face south or west. Should not have all the outlets behind the bed and the desk! Gah. Should have at least one long interior wall where you can put the bed without exposing it to the cold leaking through the exterior walls.
Kitchen: I had a kitchen once where the stove and the sink faced each other over a narrow passage. That was great! So many times I burned myself and just spun around to immediately run cold water over my hand; or got done cooking pasta and just spun around to dump the water out into the sink, or filled a pot with water and just spun around to start heating it on the stove. I highly recommend it.
Laundry room: Works best when on the same level as all the dirty sheets, but should not back up to a bedroom for noise reasons. Should have a work sink for soaking stains.
Fripperies: Oh, hell, yes! Doesn't everyone want secret rooms? Or at least wall niches. Or interesting mouldings outside. Or unique forms to rooms or the house.
Insulation: Everywhere! Grah! (I rather like straw bale houses.)
Views: Not into the neighbor's house directly, hopefully.
Common areas: It's nice to have a gathering room full of comfy seating with a TV, and one without. If you plan to have kids, it's good to have a space where their computer can be when they're young, where you can potentially divert a bit to glance at the screen. I hear home offices where two people in a house can compute at the same time are enjoyable for the sharing of things seen on the internet.
Vertical spaces: Big vertical spaces look all fancy and shit, but they're stupidly hard to heat, light, and dust, and they make noise sound awful, and they make you feel like you're in a fishbowl. 9' should be max height for everything, except skylights, which are awesome. Though I'd be willing for a bit of a compromise to allow exposed beams, which are sweet, because then you can hang hammock chairs or whatever else you like without tracking down ceiling joists, something I've never managed despite many years and many holes.
Lath and plaster: You have got to be shitting me.
EDIT 4/23/07: A couple other thoughts that came to me, reminded from comments and just forgot initially:
Entryways: Should have a concealed place on the outside where a FedEx guy would leave packages.
Kitchens: Nice to have enough space that you can fit a table surrounded by chairs so people can gather and eat in the kitchen space.
What are you guys's thoughts on living space architecture?
If I had a set of work with themes, main points would probably be light, arches, and handicapped accessibility. Handicapped accessibility?! you may think. Well, I've read several articles on it, and it makes a lot of sense to have wide doors, and access to useful house functions on the first floor. People want to stay in their house all their life, generally; and moving would suck even more when you were old. Plus, any house you can get a wheelchair through is a house that is enormously easier to move into. I'm not saying I can do it all the time, and I don't have a huge amount of knowledge on it, but it's definitely a filter I run everything through in my mind.
Light: I, apparently, like more light than almost anyone else I know. I dearly adore sunlight and want it everywhere, all the time, in massive soakable quantities. When the sun is, alas, down, I still want a ton of light... And not from a single fixture in the center of a room, goddamnit! WTF?! Throwing shadows below it in the center of the room where you need it, coming in at an angle so that facing the center of the room puts your book in shadow, and facing the walls puts your own shadow on the book! Insanity! Built-in light fixtures should be on the walls! Facing up, with translucent shades. With massive numbers of outlets in every room for putting occasional lights where you want them. And every room a circuit of its own!
Arches: Straight lines are practical, curves are a great addition if they're not in the way, bang, arch. The ceilings I love most are those with curved edges... My current bedroom has one long arch for a ceiling, like a barrel; I feel like I'm a captain of a ship. Yaar! It's keen. It's strong. Arches can also be laid flat to neat effect: I remember years later a slide of an excavation of, I think, an ancient palace on Crete: I remember sketching furiously to get the effect before the professor flipped on. It was the remains of a rectangular room about 14' wide, with a semi-circular raised area touching the edges, leaving curved seat/shelf bits in the corners. Might be neat to see in a living room, with a fireplace at the heart of the curve. Or you could just run the curve all the way up to the ceiling and pretend you were living in the gondola of a zeppelin. Anyway, arches are a great way to break up a boring wall while still having easy rectangular doors and windows in them.
Windows: While I'm on the subject, they should open wide enough to hang out of. Why mess with usability, airflow, and escape routes? Sheesh. I suppose there are places in the country where it's better to have your air constantly managed by machinery, but I've never lived in one.
Escape routes: Every room and every house should have at least two ways out.
Entryways: Should have a way to look out at who's at the door without the outside person easily able to see in. Should have a coat closet nearby, and a space for a bench so people to sit while taking off their boots. Should have a space both on the inside and the outside to set down your bags of groceries at hip-level while you unlock the door. Should have mirrors nearby to detect vampires. ;)
Stairs: Perhaps the most dangerous part of the house, architecturally. Lots and lots of people screw up their lives from falls on stairs. So, pretty as curved stairs may be, they're no good; even a slight curve massively increases the danger. Also: doors that open onto stairs are stupid! Likewise traffic patterns where misjudged momentum sends a person onto stairs. I've heard stairs ought to have a landing every person-height so you don't get too tired/numbed and miss a step. I like steps with about a 7.5" rise and 13" run, which is much bigger than I ever encounter. Dammit, I like striding everywhere, even up and down stairs! I hate granny stairs. Talk about a waste of effort, and mind-numbing boredom leading to falls. Bah!! Still, I guess the main point is to not get fancy or irregular. Every place I've ever rented had ridiculous stairs, and it's kindof annoying to have to think so much about your feet all the time. Also, piano movers hate you.
Bathrooms: Every house should have at least 1.5 bathrooms. I've lived in a couple places with only 1, and when it's a problem, it can be... problematic, eh? Should have a place where you can set your book while you're on the toilet which is bound to be dry: that is, not the side of a tub, or a counter next to a sink. Should not have the toilet set so that the door opens into your knees as you sit there. Should have a window, but not one you have to get wet to open: not in the shower or over the bath. Two sinks are quite nice.
Bedrooms: Should face south or west. Should not have all the outlets behind the bed and the desk! Gah. Should have at least one long interior wall where you can put the bed without exposing it to the cold leaking through the exterior walls.
Kitchen: I had a kitchen once where the stove and the sink faced each other over a narrow passage. That was great! So many times I burned myself and just spun around to immediately run cold water over my hand; or got done cooking pasta and just spun around to dump the water out into the sink, or filled a pot with water and just spun around to start heating it on the stove. I highly recommend it.
Laundry room: Works best when on the same level as all the dirty sheets, but should not back up to a bedroom for noise reasons. Should have a work sink for soaking stains.
Fripperies: Oh, hell, yes! Doesn't everyone want secret rooms? Or at least wall niches. Or interesting mouldings outside. Or unique forms to rooms or the house.
Insulation: Everywhere! Grah! (I rather like straw bale houses.)
Views: Not into the neighbor's house directly, hopefully.
Common areas: It's nice to have a gathering room full of comfy seating with a TV, and one without. If you plan to have kids, it's good to have a space where their computer can be when they're young, where you can potentially divert a bit to glance at the screen. I hear home offices where two people in a house can compute at the same time are enjoyable for the sharing of things seen on the internet.
Vertical spaces: Big vertical spaces look all fancy and shit, but they're stupidly hard to heat, light, and dust, and they make noise sound awful, and they make you feel like you're in a fishbowl. 9' should be max height for everything, except skylights, which are awesome. Though I'd be willing for a bit of a compromise to allow exposed beams, which are sweet, because then you can hang hammock chairs or whatever else you like without tracking down ceiling joists, something I've never managed despite many years and many holes.
Lath and plaster: You have got to be shitting me.
EDIT 4/23/07: A couple other thoughts that came to me, reminded from comments and just forgot initially:
Entryways: Should have a concealed place on the outside where a FedEx guy would leave packages.
Kitchens: Nice to have enough space that you can fit a table surrounded by chairs so people can gather and eat in the kitchen space.
What are you guys's thoughts on living space architecture?