Abstract:
The closure and demolition of The Salvation Army’s Bethany Centre in Grey Lynn last year marks the end of an era in pre- and post-natal support for unmarried mothers in New Zealand. Moreover the closure of the centre provokes the question of how new parents and their children might be housed in a way that supports the circumstances they are in. The Bethany Centre was an enlightened response to what was potentially a negative experience for unmarried mothers, and is an inspiration for this thesis project. This thesis speculates the societal undercurrents of the increasing desire for privacy in the Western world and investigates the implications of a shift in the way we seek privacy for ourselves and our families. I am proposing the concept of a shared home for new parents and their children, entitled a private space shared, which challenges and alters the interrelationship of private and shared space. My research concludes that two major concurrent movements informing the evolution of the Western home, spanning over a century, have acted against one another. These are the movement towards greater privacy of the home, and the feminist desire to liberate women from the domestic realm. This thesis seeks not to negate these dynamics of human behaviour but to adapt to them. The tones of isolation inherent in the circumstance of unwed motherhood many years ago are today less felt, however developments in our behaviours, desires and the home environments we create for ourselves have not altogether eradicated this prospect. Whilst architecture cannot dictate the behaviour of those inhabiting the space it can influence it through building a framework for occupation and appropriation. The synchronicity in a private space shared of permanent and temporary space, private and shared space, socially inclusive and socially exclusive space sets up thresholds wherein a broad spectrum of spatial appropriation can occur. The proposed shared home for new parents and their children provides a haven in which to nourish the intimate parent–child relationship, without compromising social engagement.