Place of Not Much

Home Competition Honorable Mention Year: 2019 Type: Competition

Technology and new business models are allowing us to outsource behaviors that have traditionally been tied to the home (eating, sleeping, sex, rest, etc.). Food delivery services have reduced our use of the kitchen, rideshare models render the garage door irrelevant, and pillow talk occurs in the secret archives of our DMs. This project speculates on a near future, where all activities have been removed from the home. What remains is pure ritual: a representation of personal territory. Architecturally, this project begins by examining the rug. The rug is a powerful tool in effectively demarcating space. For example, placed anywhere, the prayer rug can create a sense of privacy and safety simply by repeatedly framing its user both in shape (a rectangle) and in graphics. It is a poetic example of generating real personal territory by purely representing it. It is no surprise then that the carpet shows up in one “origin of architecture” story, when Gottfried Semper argued that architecture began when a carpet was first hung on a hillside to stage a theatrical festival. Through these simple elements (carpet, frame, and hill), this project reexamines what personal territory looks like in a not so far off future, when the home is no longer a place of much.