The decorated Christmas houses, bedecked in wreaths and lights and the mythology of Christmas, and the haunted houses of Halloween, draped in fake spiders’ webs and punctuated by plastic pumpkins, are two sides of the fantasy. The suburban house represents freedom and independence just as it can come to represent a trap. — Financial Times
What is the aspirational American house and why is the general public obsessed with this version of residential living? Hollywood has painted a picturesque image of what an ideal American house looks like, especially during the holiday season. These ideal homes can be broken into three specific groups: the Christmas home, the Haunted House, and the infamous McMansion.
All three homes consist of staple vernacular styles like large fireplaces, staircases, multiple garages, and windows of varying styles. However, why have these designs won the hearts of the public and have become the "design goals" of many builders across the nation? Some may say these homes embody varying forms of the American dream, each expressing a combination of fantasy and longing within contemporary American culture.
When people think of the contemporary American life, "families relocate thousands of miles for new jobs and the holidays involve long flights and car rentals. The obsessive decoration of houses at Christmas seems an attempt at manufacturing a hyper-domesticity. "
Perhaps these homes and the ideas they represent, although often fabricated by films, is a cry for wanting to root itself to an imagined sense of place and belonging? Tapping into the public's susceptibility to nostalgia, it is possible these homes are mere collections of manufactured holiday dreams.
10 Comments
And, how the modern houses mostly associated with the evil and criminal side of things in films.
In american and most western cultures the image of domesticity is a traditional house with a chimney, shingle roof and some neoclassical ornament or trim. This image of domesticity has been in our culture for centuries compared to the relatively short time span we have with modern architectural styles. The general public understands a house with a visible roof, trim and even some attempt at symmetry is a widely accepted symbol of domesticity and is a signal to others of the owners sense of values. Modern architecture, especially brutalist architecture fails to communicate domesticity in our culture.
Over and OUT
Peter N
I’d say every culture has their version of this no? Why do we hold ours in contempt, but hold others as precious
By “version of this”....I mean certain connotations of tradition and domestic life with their vernacular architecture...
Doesn't it seem like every society (at least one big part) tends to vilify its own culture (especially the traditional) while lionizing others? It seems like a hobby for many --the hyperbolic rhetoric, not the basic act of critique.
I think the folks who hold the suburban house vernacular contempt are mostly architects
https://archinect.com/news/art...
All part of the same brainwashing/ideology pushing
'Why the Victorian became the haunted house'
This Video does a great breakdown of this association. Also should be mentioned I'm sure everyone knows is the McMansion Hell Blog, a great breakdown of the pastiche gurgle of current gurgle.
Americans are consumed by social anxiety. They adopt brands to signify their social class and cultural status: Nike, Chanel, Maserati, Prius, etc. Advertising (especially movies and television) makes people feel inferior and guides their class-based consumption.
Architecture is an important indicator of status. Architects and decorators are hired to provide the style of the class to which one aspires.
Of course all this is just an illusion - real class is determined by one's behavior, not by one's belongings.
Reference: CLASS, by Paul Fussell.
Rich avant-guard architecture house owners never have to be concerned with the selling price of their home, which is another 'gotcha' they have over those they consider to be proles. That said the olde money seem to prefer the traditional styles while the arrivistes are looking to be accepted with their bizarre confections. Sometimes the new styles gain traction and become mainstream. Mid-Century Modern seems to be the last time that happened. Post-Modernism, Brutalism, Deconstruction, and Parametricism among others are road-kill on the highway to nirvana.
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