Finding the elusive idea of home in the dining room

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[["b"],["em"]],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In 2007, I completed a\ncross-Canada research trip to look at social and affordable housing in urban\ncenters. This was part of a larger doctoral thesis project that I was working\non at the time \u2013 an inquiry into the \u201cidea of home\u201d from an architectural perspective."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Of course, when I think about\nthe notion of home, food, dining, eating, and mealtime are at the heart of so\nmany important domestic rituals. As someone of Italian descent, I can attest to\nthe court that my grandfather held daily at his dining table in the basement,\njust outside his \u201cworking\u201d kitchen. Every time I returned from university, there were\npies, homemade spaghetti, pizza, sausages, soup \u2013 all\nat the ready \u2013 a gift of love and a celebration of a safe journey\nhome."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"As we age, however, our relationship\nto both home and food can change. On my trip, I toured a number of affordable\nseniors\u2019 residences\nthat catered to a largely independent demographic of elderly individuals. Most\nhad small, apartment-style units \u2013 some with kitchens, others without. Nonetheless, what\nwas common to each was a generous, ground-floor dining room where meals could\nbe shared and community could be fostered."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Recurring themes were large\nwindows for plenty of natural light; high ceilings for airiness; a selection of\nmodest soft-seating options, from rockers and club chairs to chesterfields and\nstraight-back wooden varieties, to ensure everyone\u2019s comfort; square dining tables;\nand finally a generous entryway to the room to allow residents to move in and\nout at their own pace. More than one dining room was also equipped with an\nupright piano; a telltale sign of the necessity to include items that cultivate\na sense of home when roots were long put down elsewhere."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"On a journey that was looking to\ndefine the elusive idea of home through very modest living spaces, the dining\nrooms were by far the most uplifting and enjoyable of all the places that I\nvisited. This communal room spoke of the importance of food in bringing people\ntogether. It was expressed in a simple, straightforward and honest architecture\nthat wasn\u2019t kitschy, grandiose or fussy. It was architecture\nthat accommodated the needs of slower, more demanding bodies and emphasized the\nimportant ritual of coming together to share a meal and maybe a story, too."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[0],1,"About the Author:"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[1],1,"Shannon Pirie teaches in the\nArchitectural Technology department at Sheridan College. A graduate of Carleton\nand McGill Universities, she defended her PhD dissertation on the Idea of Home\nat l\u2019Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al in February 2015."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\n\n\n\n"]]]]}