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R. Jeyagowri

Introduction

House plays an important role in one’s life. Modern house is entirely different from the traditional houses. There is a complete transformation in the house design, space planning and the materials used in the modern houses. Life space is a new term used to replace the word house. It not only gives people shelter from all natural calamities but also nurtures one’s development, helps to relieve job stress and outside world stress, promotes bonding between the family members, provides freedom to express emotions what cannot be done outside the house, gives opportunity to exhibit individual talents and potential. There is an adage that constructing a house and performing marriage are equally tough tasks because both have to be done with utmost care. If life space is not planned well it is going to affect entire households’ generation after generation. That’s why all the family members take great pain in understanding the concept of life space – planning and processing by consulting competent architects and implementing the plans into proper action through civil engineers with good experience.

Objectives of the session

By the end of the session, one will be able to:

* Understand the concept of life space and its importance in one’s life.
* Study the underlying principles of proxemics and life space
* Analyze the trends in house design

Life Space

Life space is a space in which a family lives where all activities such as socia l, private, religious, educational and emotional aspects take place in the most efficient and comfortable way. The physical and geographic location of the site may even change during many occasions in one’s life time, but the concept of life space is, irrespective of the place, where all the activities to be performed will not change for ever. It is considered as the set basic living needs of an individual.

A good living space is required to fulfill all human activities. In modern living space activities of an individual are well defined than they were during earlier times. All the family members like to sleep in their own bed in their bedrooms, enjoy socializing with their family members in living room, homemakers and others enjoy cooking in their own kitchen and like to relish their home made food in dining, bathing in their own specific bathroom, like to do garde ning in their own backyard. Such a great feeling of owning each and every aspect of life space creates intimacy among the family members results in better living atmosphere.

Importance of Life Space

Good housing is associated with good health, happy family environment and protection. A comfortable life space provides maximum out put with in the house as well as outside the house. A well planned life space promotes mental health thereby all the family members would be able to lead a happy and healthy living. Everyone who leads hectic life in the office and other outside working environment would like to relax and get relieved of their stress in their own respective homes.

All the family members are expected to accomplish economic, protective, social, education, religious, official and emotional functions to lead a healthy living. For each of the above mentioned needs one need to have a separate room so that each activity will be done in a most private manner without disturbing others activity in this fast hectic life.

Life space provides protection

A well constructed life space provides protection from sun, wind, rain, natural calamities, from thieves and intruders. A heavy windy, rainy day and hot summer season one can realize the advantage of having one’s own life space where they can feel safe and protected. Heavenly feeling would be realized exposing to heavy wind, heavy rain or walking through the hot sunny afternoon and entering the home. Even earth quake proof homes are constructed to avoid sudden earth quakes. Inmates of the house that is intelligently constructed with disaster proof materials will be saved from earth quake, flood etc . Placement of proper doors in the entrance and exit, windows, grills etc. protect the life space from thieves and intruders. They cannot break the doors and windows easily and enter the houses. Smart homes and smart phone system help the households to rush home when thieves enter home.

Life space promotes socialization

A proper living room in the home promotes socialization among family members. This space is considered as a common space for meeting all the family members for chatting, reading newspapers, watching TV and playing simple board games etc. This brings bonding between the family members and also exhibits talents and tastes of the members. It helps every one to relieve their day’s stress after a hectic day whether it is from outside or inside home work. It provides an opportunity to understand each other in a better manner and to exchange the worldly knowledge

Life space offers private space

Every individual needs private life though one lives with all the family members. A bed room or separate room for each individual provides privacy that is much required , to do things what we desire like reading books, just lying down and sleeping alone. This will help to rejuvenate the members after sound sleep without any disturbance. Every one prefers to spend at least 8 to 10 hours alone in the private space or with their partners. Even a married couple prefers individual private space for themselves other than the master bedroom in the house. This space will give them total freedom and independence.

Life space offers space for religion

Our culture and tradition promote religion. All families conduct poojas on all important days mainly festival days for which they need separate space. This space helps all the family members to gather in one place to concentrate on lord and do religious activities whereby all the family members are motivated to indulge in good activity in life.

Life space offers space for education and office work

In the present day children’s education plays an important role in one’s family for which a home requires separate space to do the activity in the most efficient manner. A separate study room for children and office room for employed homemakers and heads of the families with proper working environment will definitely enhance work culture and accomplishment of desired tasks.

Life space promotes economy and affection in the family

Each activity in the family is considered as significant and has a definite space in the house. Since the space is properly planned with proper working tools, equipment, other storage areas and large space for movement helps the family members to do that particular activity in the most efficient way. This promotes close relationship between the family members thereby the health and happiness of the family exists. The economy of the family grows when there is a harmony in the family and in turn this Space contributes health and happiness of the family A well planned space according to the age, sex, profession, number of family members facilitates comfortable and joyful living.

Life space for various age groups and professions

Life space for children

In present era each family member is voluntarily or forced to take up multiple roles starting from a child to elderly. A child has plenty of activities to perform such as sports, yoga, reading, drawing, dance, music, etc. other than regular studies. For which a child in a family needs separate room for each activity or at least one study room and another room for all these activities. The things that are required for these activities should be bought and stored in the wardrobes, for which one needs space which has to be planned well.

A girl child’s needs and wants of space are different from a boy child in the same family. If there are two female children in a family with five years age gap, they can share the space for various activities of common interest. One boy and a girl in the family need separate space for their activities especially during adolescent age. It varies from individual to individual and family to family. Thus the family has to plan the life space according to the taste, talent, age and sex of the children. Such well planned children’s room helps to promote these talents better than children from other households who are devoid of all such privileges.

Life space for elderly

Rails need to be fixed inside the rooms for the elderly to walk with support . Their rest rooms especially toilets need to be designed in such a way low commodes, rails, non slippery tiles for the floors make the elderly to feel comfortable to use the rooms. To avoid any mishap for the elderly inside the bathroom a sensor need to be fixed in the bathroom so that other family members will be able to attend them immediately. These changes in the system in the rooms help the elderly to lead a comfortable safe life.

Life space for gainfully employed homemaker and head of the family

A gainfully employed homemaker and head of the family need separate space to perform their professional activity at home without disturbing others. Homemaker who is a doctor by profession needs a separate space to attend her patients and an engineer head of the family needs to meet his clients. So the life spaces have to be planned in the most efficient way to fulfill their needs without any disturbance to others. This well planned life space helps them to accomplish their job while at home.

Proxemics

Proxemics is the study of spatial needs for personal, social and public life. Proxemic communication is communicating with others by virtue of the relative positioning of one’s body. According to Edward T.Hall human perceptions of space that all humans share are moulded and patterned by culture. It is the study of spatial distances between individuals in different cultures and situations. He classified proxemics into four types. They are

Each of the previous types of Proximity are heavily influenced by people’s perception of what the correct type of distance should be in a certain situation. Culture is one of the factors which contribute to people’s perceptions of how proximics should be used. People from different cultures have different views on what the proper personal space should be used. One has seen the theory from Edward T. Hall that Proxemics varies from individual to individual in different cultures and in different situations. Proxemics help to understand the space planning well as to how much space is required between a close couple, family members, outsiders and public.

Modern tre nds in house designs

Modern house designs look expensive and luxurious. Adding a few aesthetic and functional features in the modern house design changes entirely the ordinary looking house into beautiful homes. It can be improved in many ways. Architectural designs, room furniture and furnishings, lighting, landscaping and finishes used can

create a dramatic change in the modern houses. Adding these elements alone will not result in beauty; it has to be done with proper application of elements and principles of design in the use of furniture and furnishings, colour, lighting and landscaping for the interiors, exteriors and structure of the house. Modern house design can turn homes into a comfortable, functional, elegant, aesthetic and luxurious place to live and work. Recent trends in the modern houses are given

Unde rground garage

Underground garage with roof will not only add charm to the house but also conserve space in front of the house.

Modern tre ndy home theater

Home theater is an added new space in the modern trends. One living space (room) is setup with cushioned sofas, carpet, modern lighting and home theater screen to bring the luxury of the cinema theater inside the house. It helps to save time, energy and money of the family members going to the theater.

Out door play room

Out door play room is constructed around the tree with beautiful landscape and natural setting. It consists of kitchen, dining, play area, swing, out door fire places lend entertainment for the kids and family members. This setup will be entirely different from the main house setup.

Out door living spaces

Having a large out door space around the house with beautiful landscape design, play areas, balconies and terraces can be used to enjoy sunny days, to go for morning and evening walks and also to play the out door games. Placement of swimming pools with latest LED lighting is a new trend beautifies the house.

Glass partitions and glass floors

Glass reflects light. The use of glass as partitions, floors and ceilings will merge the out door space with interior space and also it helps to reflect light that will brighten up the house and create more space. Different painted glasses for walls, windows are the added features to the house. Placement of sliding glass doors for the living room will unite both interior and exterior of the house.

Use of stone as finish on walls

Instead of plain painted walls the use of different stones through out the outer space and inside the living room is an additional feature in the modern trend. These stones were used in full walls or half of the walls and the rest of the wall are used as a plain wall.

Use of mode rn lighting to impress the portico

The portico can be made more attractive with the use of modern lighting and help to give a good impression about the house.

Use of staircase as storage space and kids play area

The space below each step of the stair case can be used as drawers for storing things and the slide can be fixed on the side of the stair case. So that children can slide and enjoy inside the house and this provision help the family members to attend them while they are sliding.

Contemporary designs are striking feature in the recent trends of modern houses. All the rooms should be well planned to suit to the needs of each member in the family. The other factors involved in planning each living space (room) in trendy modern houses are unique design of the rooms, storage space in the unused place, creating enough space to move around, use of modern trendy materials according to the function of the rooms and use of lively colours for creating space and aesthetic appeal. It is a pleasure to spend time in a thoughtfully designed life space. Each room in a living space is individually planned according to their taste. Kitchen is considered as the heart of the living space. So this space has to be planned with meticulous care.

Design of the kitchen

Modern kitchen has open plan, striking, contemporary design, sculptural shapes, sleek and shiny finishes. It balances the multifunctional space of the kitchen. Clutter is banished behind glossy doors or hidden in deep storage drawers. So it does not disturb the good combination of materials. A recent trend in the design of the kitchen takes the form of L, U and a modern Island kitchen. The galley kitchen with two parallel counters with lot of storage space at easy reach is preferred in the recent days. Work triangle created by three areas used for storage (fridge), food preparation (sink and counter tops) and cooking (the oven) and the bin is included in this area. This triangle will help to minimize the distance and the efficiency of the work. An Island unit is a great option for sitting and chatting. Over hanging table in the Island kitchen is a versatile choice. The preference of the shape of the kitchen depends upon the life style of each family. A modern kitchen lends a space for TVs, speakers, lap tops and sofas and this helps the homemakers to have stress free life in the kitchen since cooking is considered as routine and boring work for the homemakers

Materials used

The aesthetic appearance of the kitchen is largely determined by the materials used in it. Man made components such as concrete and corian are used for floors, units and counter tops against woods. A great change in material from stone and wood to stainless steel and corian. A stone such as marble, lime stone, granite and laminate is a good choice for its textural appearance. Crushed quarts and resign is used for composite work tops include integrated sinks and drainers. Stainless steel with polished concrete will give an industrial look. Wooden flooring creates warmth. Slate tiles for cooking area and wooden boards in the dining area for open kitchen plan. Using single flooring material through out the kitchen creates a sense of space.

Preference of colours

Neutral shades to natural hues and occasional bright intensities are used.
Use single colour for floors, walls, counter tops and units in order to create a harmonious life space.
Range of texture from tactile woods and rugged concrete to shiny stainless steel and high glass units makes subtle colour schemes an intelligent choice.
White and gray colours are used. Bright accessories such as painted ceramics or glass wares are used to boost the room’s energy.
Monochromatic colours are popular and striking choice for using black units with a white work top or vice versa and graphite shades always have a strong impact.
A vibrant colour can be used in alcove on a single feature wall or even as a back drop to a glass splash back.
Design, colour, natural and man made materials used in the kitchen determine the personality of the kitchen

Conclusion

Life space in the modern era has a new meaning and great importance in everyone’s life. Everyone has a dream of owning their life space and continuously plans to fulfill their dream. As we all live in modern technological era the information regarding the house design, construction, materials used are readily available through print media, internet and advertisements which is very helpful for the households to plan their life space according to their taste and preference. This technological development and awareness about life space has brought positive change in every one’s life by providing a happy, healthy, comfortable and luxurious house.

you can view video on Concept of life space: Life space, Proxemics and Trends in house designsy

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