Thursday, February 05, 2009

Housing design matters

Driving down Bourke St, Alexandria today made DH's heart sing! The sun was shining, and life seemed full of creative possibilities. Why can't social and disability housing design be like that? Why is there so little public discussion about the importance of design in welfare housing? What does it mean to someone society hopes to rehabilitate when they come home to some hideous concrete or redbrick structure that says "This is all you are worth".

OK, so we're living with legacy housing from a more punitive era. DH understands that HNSW is now looking at building housing that is not distinguishable from private housing. May relief come quickly! And may this not be forgotten in the rush to put affordable housing down on the ground as quickly as possible.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is essential my son had to grow up in housing that was too ugly to invite anyone to and it was the best they could do. I walked out of the first place they gave me and put my son in a foster home. They offered me a place recently that looked like a bloke's place complete with sideways corrugated iron. Surely, it's mostly single mothers that have to live in these places. Put some femininity into the design. My next place will be painted mostly pink in protest. My public housing inspired OCD drove me to study interior decorating and building design. No intelligent thought goes into the design of public housing.