THE IMPACT ON ADULT ATTITUDES TO HOUSES OF CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES OF HOME

Abstract

This paper discusses how childhood experiences of one's house have consequences in adulthood, particularly in respect to preferences for openness and closedness of the house. Openness and closedness refers to the apparent transparency of division between interior parts of a house and between the inside and outside of a house. The hypothesis for this study is that the interior spaces of a house (including form, material and dimensions) and the degree of their perceived openness and closedness have an important effect during childhood, as it is one of the most important experiences of non verbal communication with the world, society and family. The hypothesis also includes that the child's experience of the degree of openness and closedness in the arrangement of the house becomes embedded in the child's memory and that this experience will show its effect in attitudes toward house and home in adulthood.