When reading the Smithson’s “Criteria for Mass Housing” their emphasis on family dynamic within the household stood out as notable to me. From points such as number 10 from “The House” section asking “Does it take account of the 3-5 year olds’ play?” to 10 from “Sources of anxiety in flat dwellings” speaking about “the relationship of family life,” this document revealed to me that the Smithson’s find children and familial relationships important. This was further emphasized through one of the other readings, “The beginning of Team 10.” This document is also written by the Smithsons who considered Team 10 as their own “extended family.” This metaphor of the small group being a family is carried through the entire document, ending with them specifically calling all of their discussions and meetings with Team 10 “exclusively a ‘family’ matter.”
Personally, I appreciated what I perceived as the Smithson’s importance on family in their housing design, as I feel the different houses my family has lived in has affected how we interact with each other. In the house I lived in from when I was 2 to 8 years old, my sibling’s and my room branched off of the play room, which overlooked the living room, creating a more cohesive space that could be interacted with from all over the house. This was nice for my parents with us as young children as it was a good place for our “play” as the Smithsons asked about in “Criteria for Mass Housing.” On the other hand, the house I lived in from 8 years old to leaving for college was much bigger and had a specific media room and game room that felt closed off from the rest of the house, which kept us all more separate and less communal with the family. To me the architecture/design of the house definitely affected how my family interacted with each other as we did not have to share as much space. Additionally, about a year and a half ago my parents decided to downsize to a smaller house, which I never really planned on living in for longer than a few weeks on breaks from school. This plan obviously changed with coronavirus and being stuck at home from March to August. Since this house is much smaller, we all had less of our own space but I feel like that brought us together more in the kitchen and living room (which could be seen as a good or bad thing). From my own experiences, I agree with the points in the reading that family is something that should be considered in housing design.
Citations:
Smithson, A. and P. Criteria for Mass Housing, 1957, revised 1959.
Smithson, Alison and Peter. The beginning of Team 10., n.d.