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Biographies, Bricks and Belonging: Architectural Imaginaries of Home Making in Later Life

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Ways of Home Making in Care for Later Life

Part of the book series: Health, Technology and Society ((HTE))

Abstract

In this chapter, we explore the role of home making within architectural imaginaries of care for the future. Specifically, we aim to understand better how existing models of care can be challenged by architectural designs that are culturally situated, and attuned to the spatial contexts of care. We review our findings from a specific proposal submitted to an international design competition on housing for later life, the ‘Growing Old in Bow’ design, by Harper Perry Architects. This design draws on literary history as much as architectural theory to configure the care landscape as ‘refracted autobiography’. Through attending to the architects’ use of materialities and urban vernacular design in the plan, we argue for a greater attention to the ways in which everyday affects, material cultures and social practices are accommodated in architecture for later life.

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Acknowledgements

This research reported here was undertaken as part of a larger study called ‘Buildings in the Making: A Sociological Exploration of Architecture in the Context of Health and Social Care’, funded by the ESRC grant reference: ES/M008398/1. We are grateful to the staff at DWA Architects for facilitating access to the competition submission and to Claire Harper and James Perry (HarperPerry) for allowing the reproduction of their work in this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of York, York, UK

    Daryl Martin, Sarah Nettleton & Christina Buse

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  1. Daryl Martin
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  2. Sarah Nettleton
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  3. Christina Buse
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Correspondence to Daryl Martin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Society Studies, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Bernike Pasveer

  2. Centre of Diaconia and Professional Practice, VID Specialized University, Oslo, Norway

    Oddgeir Synnes

  3. Faculty of Health Studies, VID Specialized University, Oslo, Norway

    Ingunn Moser

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Martin, D., Nettleton, S., Buse, C. (2020). Biographies, Bricks and Belonging: Architectural Imaginaries of Home Making in Later Life. In: Pasveer, B., Synnes, O., Moser, I. (eds) Ways of Home Making in Care for Later Life. Health, Technology and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0406-8_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0406-8_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-0405-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-0406-8

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