The “Convivial” Home: Resolving Emerging Building Technologies with a Culture of Self-Repair

Nowhere is the expansion of institutional building technologies into the domestic sphere more conspicuous than the traditional middle-class single-family home, where intelligent environmental systems, advancements in prefabrication and more widespread access to lab-developed materials are reshaping the typology and our relationship to it. Many homeowners are faced with mounting costs as they regularly contract outside experts for routine maintenance on tools beyond their understanding. In the constant shadow of contract care, homeowners are increasingly divorced from the physical reality of their own dwelling, weakening their bond to place, diminishing their sense of personal investment and limiting the scope of personal expression. As we arrive the watershed moment when a homeowner can no longer repair much of their home with affordable materials and equipment from their local home store, we are forced to ask: do architects have a duty to design for the old culture of self-repair? Building from the concept of “convivial tools” developed by Ivan Illich and engaging the “open housing” of Alejandro Aravena & Elemental, I will explore the pitfalls of new “industrial tools” and articulate ways to design future homes that allow for users to engage with self-repair while employing the machinery of our age.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.106.81

Volume Editors
Amir Ameri & Rebecca O'Neal Dagg

ISBN
978-1-944214-15-9