PERSONALIZING SPACES – Resolving the ‘Identity Crisis’ in today’s Housing projects

Everybody likes to express themselves

A few months back, there was a cultural  program in the housing society where I live. This housing society is ‘today’s typical’ with multiple similar looking buildings. During the mid course of the program , I walked out to go back to my apartment due to some important work I needed to attend. As I reached the lift lobby, a small kid of around 6-7 years old came running alone & asked me to drop him to 7^th floor ,where he lives. The lift went up & as the lift door opened on the 7^th floor, he suddenly started crying aloud. I was confused & asked him why is he crying. The answer came that he does not live on 7^th floor. Hearing the noise, an old lady residing on the 7^th floor came out. She happened to recognize this child & told me that he does live on the 7^th floor but in the ‘H’ wing & not in the ’G’ wing where this lift door had just opened. The simple reason to this incidence was that there were no ‘cognitive’ visual references by which a child can tell the difference between lift lobbies of two different wings & doors of the houses. 

Recall how many of us as adults have faced similar problems in today’s housing projects while looking for an address in similar looking huge building complexes, where we search address through abstract numbers like G 604 or B 302. Now recall how simply we can still locate an address in the ‘Old city’ or the Traditional neighborhoods. Some one can tell you that you have to travel down from the large lane to the small lane near the grocery store from where you have to stop next to the temple & come in the court where his house  is located which can be recognized as the house with the decorative door or with green color windows etc.

In the traditional development –villages, old cities etc , People ‘personalized’ their houses, there house fronts, entrance doors, windows with elements derived out of their culture & religions. Just take a heritage walk in any of the old town of Pune, or Kolhapur or Ahmadabad. You will get to know how a Brahmin house always appeared differently than the ‘Traders’ house. The design of their houses were of course different because the houses were built by themselves as per their own needs & not ‘Mass produced’ by developers as they are done today.

This cultural connection defines  the ‘likes’ of  people even today. Hence even in the mundane looking apartment building, as soon as you enter the house, you can distinguish between the house of ‘Shahs’ to the house of ‘Iyers’ to the house of ‘Deshpandes’. The difference comes because of the lifestyle & culture of the people & what their background is. Religion, rituals & attitude towards life makes them ‘Make choices’ unknowingly. There have been studies carried out by Architects, Anthropologists & Social scientists in various parts of the world on this aspect. The research tell you in nutshell that it is more logical to define you own spaces by yourself rather that being impressed by what you see in magazines & movies which do no belong to you.  Hence I make it a point, Not to kill anybody’s belief when people speak with me about designing their spaces. If ‘Vastu’ is an important derivative to you, believe it in true sense. Read about  it in the traditional text books in great depth & then define the locations of various things. There are also counter arguments like when the busy lifestyle of say IT professionals is same in larger cities, we can give them modern spaces with international touch. Just remember that you are an IT professional or a Businessman in your Office. In you home you are a human being, a loving father, a son or a caring mother who comes from a certain background where certain aspects of culture still continue in some form or another.  

The Great truth is that ‘We do not do interiors’ but we ‘Express’ our attitudes, individuality, lifestyle & culture in our spaces. It is our basic need to ‘Personalize the Space’ where you live in. YOU HAVE THE ULTIMATE CHOICE to personalize your space.

So when , next time any Interior designer  or any Vastu expert tries to impose some designs on you, Think why you should not tell him to just shut up & listen to you & design as per your needs not his.

Hrishikesh Ashtekar