ARTICLES

"The Interpretation of Dreams" in Residential Design

by Bruce J. Levy, AIA & Judith S. Levy, Ph.D.

As husband and wife, as architect and psychologist, and as a family that experienced and endured a home renovation, we know that the creative process of architectural design can be a scary and traumatic, and yet therapeutic experience. In residential design, whether it’s a new house or a renovation project, the homeowner engages the architect to help in designing spaces that will satisfy not only the homeowner’s functional needs for space, but also the unconscious need for a stable, nurturing or inspiring environment for living. Hopefully, as opposed to a commercial project, which might end up as a monument to the architect, residential projects should be the result of a co-constructed vision of the homeowner and the architect.

But what is the process that allows that result to flourish? What really goes on in the communication between homeowner and architect that allow homeowners to convey their personal and innermost wishes and dreams to the architect? How can the architect interpret those dreams, be responsive to the needs of different clients, and transform those needs into the design of a new home environment?

In a residential project, the architect is introduced to a family, with many interwoven relationships, whether it be between husband and wife, the lives of children, and the entire family dynamic which influences the dreams and "wish list" of the family. Homeowners are trying to convey to the architect the qualities of their lives that make them feel comfortable in their "inner space," and hope that those same qualities can be realized in the structure of their "outer space."

As we’ve learned from psychology, every decision and direction we choose, every wish and every dream resonates with parts of our individual histories. The design process itself stimulates wishes, fantasies and early memories regarding feelings of safety, comfort, self-regulation, and discovery. Psychologists understand that during sleep, dreams of houses often represent aspects of ourselves, feelings about our bodies, and our relationships with others. Kid’s drawings of houses often provide psychologists with significant information about a child’s development that might otherwise remain unknown. "One picture is worth a thousand words."

When engaging an architect to design a new environment, clients risk much personal vulnerability by allowing an architect to enter their psychic space. And therefore, they are entrusting the architect with the responsibility to be sensitive, empathic, and respectful of the power they have given him to interpret and express both concretely, and symbolically, some of their most precious, and even unthought-of wishes.

Consequently, good design is about fostering good relationships, providing not only shelter for the body, but also shelter for the psyche. Good design is not only about shaping spaces, but shaping emotional boundaries and creating invitations. Good design is about intertwining and balancing feelings about togetherness and separateness, while still providing a comfortable "holding environment" for people to play in "transitional spaces." Why does a person buy a house because there’s a stone hearth and fireplace? It represents foundation, stability and warmth. All the aspects of a house draw on our emotional past.

In residential projects, the sensitive and responsive architect requires more sophisticated skills to interpret, not only the wish list of spaces and their functions, but also the wish list of the unconscious dreams of the homeowners to create a nurturing, caring or stimulating environment. So for us, residential architecture today is not just about bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens, but how each family lives their lives. The end results should be not only aesthetic and pleasing architecture, inside and out, but also a supportive and encouraging environment.

Although somewhat limited by the "nature" of current building materials, and budget, the architect, by playing with the juxtaposition of walls and ceilings, can create a tranquil and calm experience in a bedroom, for instance, or design rising walls and sloped ceilings creating a more dynamic and inspiring experience in a living room. Symmetrical design can add balance, harmony and stability.

Kitchens and family rooms can be open planned spaces for the ease of sharing the food preparation experience and/or the ability to visually monitor activities of young children. Turning corners in a hallway, the transitions from space to space don’t always have to be at "hard" right angles. Rooms can be proportioned to feel comfortable and nurturing, whether large or small. And detailing of window and door trim, base moldings, cove moldings all add quality to the experience of space. Entrances to homes can be designed in a manner that is welcoming and receptive as opposed to hidden or distanced. And the configuration and architectural vocabulary of the exterior can reflect the emotional accessibility as well as the aesthetics and values of the homeowner.

Much goes on internally and interpersonally between the homeowner and the architect during the design portion of a project, during the creation of that "sanctuary" that will be called home. The sensitive and responsive architect will "listen" to more than just the words, and will see and translate the dreams and wishes of the client into a unique experience of space and form.. Besides natural and trained skills, good architects think more three dimensionally; they think "out of the box." Most important, is the sense of mutuality and synergy between architect and client that should develop during the entire process, from inception to construction to choice of finishing details.

In our practices, therapeutic "structural change" as well as good architectural design evolves from a sensitive understanding of a client’s inner and outer requirements. A good architect and a good therapist both contribute to the transformation of dreams of our inner lives, into the structure and quality of the way we experience and interact in the world.

Bruce J. Levy, AIA
BJLA Architecture & Planning, PLLC
41 Southgate Avenue, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706
Tel: 914. 906.7616 Fax: 914.478.2926

Judith S. Levy, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist
41 Southgate Avenue, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706
Tel: 914. 478.4108 Tel: 212.874.1909

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