Home, Reconstructed
Click to view thesis site.
www.homereconstructed.com
Homes are a place of reconstruction. Everyone carries with them an idea of what home is based on their own upbringings and their past experiences and this idea changes as they move through life. When an individual builds a place to live, they physically represent the moments and the memories they cherish most and that they choose to carry with them. As people have unique backgrounds, the makeup and structure of their homes is unique as well. However, the single unifying factor is that these homes are inextricably tied to their own life.
My thesis uses the home that I grew up in as a case study to better understand how homes are built from past experiences. It looks closely at how my parents, from different cultures, moved in together and pulled elements from their respective upbringings and have created a unique space for my brother and I to call home. I’ve deconstructed my home by documenting as many parts of it as I could through audio recordings, videos, and images. I’ve recorded my parents making coffee at seven in the morning, filmed shadows flickering in the setting sunlight, and have taken pictures of objects placed on shelves and that haven’t been moved in years.
For my final project, I have reconstructed these documented moments into an interactive HTML page that houses all of this documentation, creating an experience that evokes feelings of nostalgia and appreciation. The single interactive feature is to download the files stored in the site, an act that allows users to view and own personal elements that have been removed from their original context, and allows them to draw connections to their own homes. I hope to use my thesis to push individuals to think more closely about what elements from their backgrounds have influenced them as well and how it has impacted the way that they build a home.
