Constraintly inhered habitation

Abstract

“One of the basic human requirements is the need to dwell, and one of the central human acts is the act of inhabiting, of connecting ourselves, however temporarily, with a place on the planet which belongs to us and to which we belong” (1). The ability to inhabit space within our cities has become increasingly difficult; the population continues to increase, while available land decreases. Space within our cities, is often underdeveloped and wasted because of greed, the desire for more personal space than one requires. The spatial boundaries of the space humans inhabit for the purpose of living will eventually have to be confined to basic human requirements. The spaces that humans inhabit are required to be used more efficiently; increasing the functional use and designing for adaptive multiple uses. As spaces become larger the ability to use the space efficiently greatly decreases as the resource to operate the spaces increases.

1. Jun’ichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows, trans. Thomas J. Harper and Edward G. Seidensticker (Sedgwick, Maine: Leete’s Island Books, 1977), vii.