Sunday, January 08, 2006

More weight?


weights

Each time I pick up a newspaper I seem to end up reading about the merits (or otherwise) of corduroy. Such a boring topic for the New Year doesn’t auger well. Apparently Stephen Fry’s big on corduroy … and there’s been a corduroy dispute here. Corduroy got a mention here, too. (And, if you’re thinking of linking corduroy and literacy you can go here!)

You can imagine, then, that I was refreshed by reading about a study of the built environment which really seemed to cross over into a social geography of the home. Although the report makes it sound like a made-for-TV study (using a smiling, white middle class family of the neo-conventional type), the idea about how we use, customize and dominate our living spaces is interesting. It reminds me of Wellman’s studies of media in the home, and also some of the work Keri Facer’s did in the Screenplay project.

I’d just like some more weighty acknowledgement of how identities and lifestyles construct the diverse patterning of the spaces we inhabit (and if not, maybe a more in depth look at curduroy?).

2 comments:

Kate said...

Really like that last sentence Guy - Diverse lifestyles and patterning)
I have a colleague doing her Phd on people who have designed their spaces they work in at home and her work is really interesting.

Guy Merchant said...

Thanks for your comment, Kate. I'm fascinated by the ways in which home-working transforms living spaces in different communities - your colleague has a really good theme.