Personalisation of Everydayness
Personalisation of Everydayness is a project about rethinking identity and its encounter. If someone is always moving and changes, what is the meaning of sedentary life in the uncertain world? What if the process of building a house is to know more about nothingness? A solitude state that all we possess is all stripped?
This is a design and construction project for a musician’s home, someone who is always on the move between stages and festivals, always in a state of uncertainty of never arriving. But each place always gives him a sign to slow down the rhythm—shadowed by deep connections to his hometown, his mother, his father, his own family and its cultural specificities. Born and raised in the city of Blora, the musician was influenced by Samin culture and shaped his perspective and music. A culture that celebrates egalitarianism as a way of life: There are no fixed boundaries between private and public, the self and the others, or audience and musician, but shared boundaries—and their spatial dynamics—can always be openly redefined.
During his early career, Malang became an important place for his musical life, so he decided to buy a house located in the middle-class housing residential area on the outskirts of the city. As with other housing complexes built by developers, these houses are typically homogenous and do not suit one's needs, lifestyle and taste. In addition the poor construction quality and the absence of kitchen and laundry room, make this house need a moderate renovation.
This project consists of two stages. First stage is the space reconfiguration and the addition of new functions. At this stage a music studio, praying room, kitchen and laundry room were added. Meanwhile in the second stage, the focus is on the front area of the house, namely the addition of a veranda and changes to the facade.
Responding to the house's existing design, we added a mezzanine floor for a studio and prayer room, as well as a kitchen and laundry below. The home spaces are carefully arranged to accommodate family activities without disturbing one another. Meanwhile a veranda was added to accommodate relatives and colleagues who visit regularly.
Inspired by his childhood memories, he wanted natural wood as the main material for the renovation design and used it to change the aesthetic feel of the existing house. Rather than a previous minimalist style, he prefers a more natural and honest impression. So the choice is teak wood as an architectural element and ironwood as a structural element.
In the design we focus on ‘in-between’ spaces and elements: How each space and material has a specific inter-relations and interacts with each other—between music and family, homeowners and relatives, a nuclear and extended families, musical partners and neighbours, permanent and temporary, wood and concrete, steel and wood, finished and unfinished, etc. We created roof, windows and door designs that could be adapted to the various uses of the space, and created boundaries that could be defined by multiple temporalities.
Therefore, we place the design of this house on the endless journey without a definite destination, like a boat that is always sailing in a sea of uncertainty, perhaps as a starting point, a transition point, or a home for travelers who need a little time to reflect on their search and destination.
