Thinking Beyond the Homely: Countryside Properties and the Shape of Time

Author: Froud, Daisy

Source: Home Cultures, Volume 1, Number 3, November 2004 , pp. 211-233(23)

Publisher: Berg Publishers

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Abstract:

This article investigates the nature of the homely in England today. Focusing on the work of one developer—Countryside Properties—I ask what the popularity of the neo-vernacular "urban village," and the tactics used to construct this genre, might tell us about homely ideals and demands. First considering, then dismissing, postmodern claims of the nostalgia-driven consumption of simulacra, I go on to propose that people are not deceived into purchasing the "inauthentic," but knowingly enter into pacts with "instantly mature" environments. What matters, I suggest, is not so much surface evocation of the Past, but the constructed texture of Passed Time, and the sense of narrative evolution that this confers to both site and individual dwelling. Building on theories of "authenticity" as not inherent to things, but a quality that emerges in our environments through our relationships with them, I propose that the homely too is not an identifiable essence or "sense of place," but an interaction of body and mind with environment. That being the case, in order to be receptive to our homely needs and desires, might environments be designed to proactively offer spaces for these to take root? Concluding, the article takes theory back to practice by considering the relevance of such ideas to housing development, and to evolving practices of inhabitation.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/174063104778053473

Publication date: 2004-11-01

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