A House is a Container of Human Activities

What does that even mean? When I read the statement, it makes me think of something purely functional, that is, the function of a house is to contain the activities that humans would undertake.

But we can take it a step further and say this also relates to the relationships people have with their house. We can postulate that it is about safety, control, ownership and adaptability. A house gives us privacy to undertake our activities in as much or as little seclusion as we want. A house also has an organisation that is intuitive. It is hard to define what activities would occur in a house, it requires flexibility as humans are unpredictable creatures and owners may change over time.

The Isaacson/Davis beach house’s context is that of a holiday home, and was designed as a retreat and a place to relax, a container for holiday activities.

Its space is divided by usage- the architect asserts to have designed the residence based on patterns of use, with rooms having similar functions and uses grouped closely together (Carter, 2008).

The plan has been described as “binuclear”, with clear distinction between the living and sleeping areas, a fact which emphasises the move from private to public/shared areas (Ferguson, nd).

The floor plan is open and adaptive, allowing its inhabitants various uses of the inside spaces.