Elements of Home

Abstract

This seminar explores how objects have transformed the way we live, tracing their spatial, social, and cultural consequences. By examining objects as catalysts of architectural change, students will study the domestic sphere as a site of innovation and design different modes of living through the lens of the everyday object.

Objective

The course invites students to explore how objects shape ways of living and the spaces we inhabit. It examines how material culture — from industrial to digital artefacts — has influenced habits, gender roles, and forms of housing. Students will learn to read objects as active agents within architectural history and to imagine their future transformations across different scales of life and form. How has the object shaped the home — and, in turn, how has the home shaped the object? From the mechanisation of domestic labour during industrialisation to the digitisation of everyday life, the seminar examines how design objects have continuously redefined our spatial and cultural realities. We will trace the histories of key artefacts — such as the microwave, the chair, the fridge, and the radio — revealing how each reflects broader shifts in social identity and spatial hierarchy . Through weekly lectures, readings, discussions, and analyses, students will develop an understanding of objects as mediators between bodies, technologies, and spaces.

Content

Phase 1 — Histories and Transformations Through lectures, readings, and discussions, and guest lectures we will explore pivotal moments when objects have reconfigured domestic and collective life — from industrialisation to digitalisation. Each week focuses on one object, analysed through its material, historical, and spatial consequences. Guest Lectures, or theory inputs will guide these weeks. Phase 2 — Objects in Transformation In the second phase, students will speculate on the spatial potentials of objects — whether historical, contemporary, or digital — and how they may become the “fossils” or “triggers” of new ways of living. Projects may reinterpret familiar artefacts or obsolete devices as spatial, material, or social catalysts, exploring how they might reframe everyday environments. The seminar will culminate in a collective Atlas of Spaces, a small exercise gathering all works into a shared narrative of living. (graded)

Resources