Living with Smoke: A Fluid Domestic Environment

Abstract

This article examines the experiences of living with smoke in the context of traditional domestic food-smoking enterprises. Smoke is largely discussed in architectural discourse as a pollutant that must be removed from the built environment. This article argues that the investigation of traditional food-smoking practices potentially shifts such discussions, positioning smoke as a driver of the domestic living system. Understanding the notion of living with smoke requires a twofold discussion between the spatiality of food-smoking driven by the environmental, cultural, and social aspects of the community; and the material fluctuation of smoke that define the body experience and movement.

This research explores the experiential narrative of living with smoke in traditional fish-smoking dwellings in the Brebes neighborhood of Central Java, Indonesia. The study identified three intertwined experiential food-smoking narratives: (1) the activity flow of smoke, (2) fluctuating smoke behavior and the bodily response, and (3) smoke traces. These narratives suggest a fluid programming system that is driven by the spatial and material arrangements and maneuvers of living with smoke. In this system, dwellings no longer exist as conditioned spaces but are instead shaped by transactions between materials, bodies, space, and the surrounding neighborhood.

KEYWORDS: :

• smoke
• food-smoking practice
• material
• domestic
• fluidity

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Directorate of Research and Community Engagement, Universitas Indonesia under Grant PUTI Q2 2020 (contract number: BA-1403/UN2.RST/PPM.00.03.01/2020).

Notes on contributors

Kristanti Dewi Paramita

Kristanti Dewi Paramita teaches architecture in Universitas Indonesia as full-time lecturer since 2012. She completed her MA and PhD by Design in School of Architecture at University of Sheffield, UK. Her current research takes particular interest in design activism and architectural agency, understanding how such knowledge shapes architectural design methods. She has worked extensively in action research projects and educational environment design, engaging with a variety of stakeholders in the community. She is the chief editor of ARSNET, a newly emerging architectural journal focusing on exploration of architectural design methods, as well as the editorial board member of Interiority Journal.

Yandi Andri Yatmo

Yandi Andri Yatmo is a professor of architecture at Universitas Indonesia. He obtained his PhD in Architecture, Master of Architecture and Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture from the University of Sheffield. His current works are primarily on design theories and methods and their relevance to design practice. He was awarded the FuturArc Green Leadership Award 2019, Holcim Award Asia Pacific 2011, and other numerous design competition prizes at national and international levels. He is the co-editor of Interiority journal and the editorial board member of International Journal of Technology. [email protected]

Diandra Pandu Saginatari

Diandra Pandu Saginatari teaches architecture at the Department of Architecture, Universitas Indonesia. Having completed her MA in Art, Space, and Nature at the University of Edinburgh, she is currently a PhD by Design candidate in University of Nottingham. Her research revolves around the connection between architecture and the wider ecologies, exploring spatial and design practices driven by materiality. With the Architectural Design Research Cluster at the Department of Architecture, Universitas Indonesia, she has received the FuturArc Green Leadership Award 2019 for the project of Sekolah Indonesia Cepat Tanggap, an initiative to build schools for disaster-impacted communities across Indonesia.