An atomised interior: Exploring a morphology for a pandemic home

Abstract

This article addresses the topic of ‘openness’ by interrogating established interior boundaries within the home through the speculative design of a 25 m² microhouse, as a direct response to a ‘crisis’ in domestic architecture that has been abruptly placed in public discourse to an unprecedented extent by the COVID-19 global flu pandemic. During lockdown, our homes have had to accommodate a broader variety of activities with varying and sometimes conflicting requirements, which are often overlapping, both spatially and temporally. Over the course of the pandemic, this programmatic implosion of the home has starkly highlighted the failure of ‘open-plan’ spaces as individuals have struggled to establish personal territory, as well as the limitations of ‘mono-functional’ rooms. While the SARS-CoV-2 virus has tragically affected so many people globally, its associated social restrictions have provided an important catalyst for a much-needed spatial discourse on the domestic interior. The article posits the following question, amid a ‘crisis’ in domestic architecture that has been amplified by the Covid-19 flu pandemic and its associated lockdowns, how might the architect reconceptualize the spatial organisation of the contemporary dwelling interior to better accommodate the needs of its inhabitants through the speculative design of a 25m² microhouse? A ‘Research by Design’ method has resulted in ‘Refugium’, a microhome situated on the Danish Island of Bornholm. Through the design of ‘Refugium’, established domestic boundaries have been reimagined as liminal ‘frontiers’ of opportunity through spatial layering, a denser and less open ‘atomised’ plan arrangement & the articulation of deep inhabitable threshold places.

Keywords:

• Atomised interior
• dwelling
• microhome
• threshold
• in-between realm
• research by design

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Carlsbergfondet.

Notes on contributors

Nicholas Thomas Lee

Nicholas Thomas Lee, Ph.D., Architect MAA is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Architecture and Design, Royal Danish Academy. With an academic and professional background in both architecture and design, Nicholas Thomas Lee’s research interests occupy the fertile domain between these disciplines, with a particular focus on the domestic interior. Nicholas Thomas Lee is specifically concerned with In-between places within, thresholds between, and the morphology of domestic landscapes. Email: [email protected]