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A Time and a Place for Everything Read chapter Read first chapter

2014 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

House Biographies: Housing Studies on the Smallest Urban Scale

Authors : Eveline Althaus, Marie Antoinette Glaser

Published in: Cities for Smart Environmental and Energy Futures

Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

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Abstract

This article discusses ‘house biographies’ as a research approach for analyzing the dynamics of residential buildings’ built and lived space over time. Focusing on the smallest urban unit – the house within its local, historical, social and cultural context - is not only a way of researching the qualities and problems of a specific urban residential setting but can also make a fruitful contribution to a more sustainable planning that considers both technical and social issues. Thinking about future cities requires one to take into account what makes some buildings, including their premises, endure and which factors allow them to be appreciated over a long period. Doing ‘house biographies’ enables one to gain such differentiated knowledge, taking the small scale as a starting point for higher-level thoughts and actions. By placing the emphasis on methodological principles as well as applied research methods, this article provides an insight into the logics and ways of doing a house biography.

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previous chapter Sustainable Design for Campus Residential Housing
next chapter For the Smarter Good of Cities: On Cities, Complexity and Slippages in the Smart City Discourse
Footnotes
1
At the ETH CASE – ETH Wohnforum, an on-going research project analyzes the house biographies of large residential complexes built in Switzerland between 1960 and 1980. The project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and runs from 2011 to 2014. The primary investigator is Dietmar Eberle, researchers are Marie A. Glaser, Eveline Althaus and Claudia Mühlebach.
 
2
The term ‘trajectory’ was introduced by Anselm Strauss to delineate social processes that are shaped by interaction (Strauss 1991).
 
3
Since it has proven difficult to work with purely historical sources, Geist’s method has been supplemented by an empirical approach. Where Geist remains historically oriented on account of the lack of people to discuss with, the opportunity arises here to establish contact with residents, owners and management and to explore their uses and experience of the housing complex (Glaser et al. 2010).
 
4
Our on-going research undertakes several case studies simultaneously and therefore cannot apply an extensive ethnography, which would require spending a long period in the field. This project works more with the breadth of material collection than in-depth.
 
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Metadata
Title
House Biographies: Housing Studies on the Smallest Urban Scale
Authors
Eveline Althaus
Marie Antoinette Glaser
Copyright Year
2014
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Book
Cities for Smart Environmental and Energy Futures

Print ISBN: 978-3-642-37660-3

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-642-37661-0

Copyright Year: 2014

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37661-0_17

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