Yingmin Chen: Student Housing, Home Experience Dissertation Proposal

This dissertation proposal by Yingmin Chen examines the socio-cultural and architectural factors influencing student housing experiences, focusing on the meaning of 'home' for students. The research objectives include identifying the meaning of home, investigating socio-cultural influences, and exploring architectural aspects that facilitate the transformation of temporary living environments into homes. The theoretical background covers the increasing number of students in Australia, the importance of identity and home, and the idea regarding home. The methodology involves literature reviews, precedent studies (Vickery House, TreStykker, Tietgenkollegiet, Sliding Transformer House), and design approaches. The expected outcome is to provide design principles for student housing that promote positive connections, social interaction, and a sense of belonging. The research aims to contribute to the design of residential environments that create a positive notion of home.

STUDENTS AND HOME
Examining Home Experience toStudent Housing
Yingmin Chen
18379316

Interim Dissertation Proposal

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
With a research focuses on socio-cultural factors and the aspects of architecture of student
housing, the theories of student identities and sense of belongings guided the student
housing design framework of the current study. By giving this purpose, this study is based
on following objectives:
- Identify the meaning of home for students
- Investigate the social-culturalfactors that influence the housing experience of
students
- Investigate architectural aspects that enable students to transform a temporary
living environment into a home
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
In recent decades, Australia’s student number is continuing to increase steadily. This is
mainly attributed to the number of international students choosing to study in Australia is
continuing an upward trend, due to the nation’s high education reputation and advanced
educational systems (Australian Trade and Investment Commission, 2018). There were1.3
million enrolments generated by 0.36million of international students studying in Australia
in 2015. This is 27.7 per cent of the student population is temporarily migrated and
considered as ‘new arrivals’ when they first come into Australia.
Due to the massive acceleration of international students’ arrival in Australia, Australian
Trade and Investment Commission (2018) forecast the number of international student
enrolments to grow from 0.65 million today to 0.94 million by 2025.This equates to a
compounding annual growth rate of 3.8 per cent in the next 7 years in Australia. Therefore,
the question arises is how to manage students’ needs of transition and adaption in new
environment and what is appropriate home environment for these impermanent resident
within the local community.
Identity and Home
Everyone needs a place, which they can call home; regardless it is for one night, a term time,
or for entire life. When students moving to a new place away from their parental home,
they face difficulties in adapting new environment and feeling same at home. Many
academic literatures have defined the meaning of home in different perspectives. Home is
like identity, physical suitability, connectedness and haven to a person (2002, 238), it is
something that goes beyond its physical structure. People are attached to their home

through demographic, cultural and psychological prospective and it becomes one of the
parts of their identity.(Clapham, 2005; Gifford, 2002). Therefore, the meaning of home for a
person isinfluenced by his or her societal changes, such as different life courses to people’s
housing pathway and different social and cultural circumstances (Clapham, 2005). Home is
characterised as a place where people can enjoy and a symbol of status. Identity of a person
is constructed through personal, cultural and social prospects considering the facts like
lifestyles, activities, contacts in the society and appearance (2000). Therefore, identity plays
a critical role in establishing a connection between the user and the space.
Environment of home in a situation that is temporary is characterised to emphasize
personal control of the space, to enable them to feel comfortable to search friendship and
new experiences (Cameron, 2012). The degree of personal control, autonomy and
individuality in personalising spaces and to indicate their personal belongings and create a
sense of familiarity, were important process for students moving from the parental home in
identifying with their new living environment. Therefore, this study is seeking to explore the
identity through institutional student housings, examining the use of place, the community
development, and the strategies to customize the established students’ self-identities and
social-identity to others.
Idea Regarding Home
The idea regarding home is a theory that describes the emotional connections of people
socially constructedfrom the spaces where they inhabit. Home environment are designed
for living which should inspire a person to feel comfortable and a sense of well-being. Home
is a space with physical places, social and cultural practices, and psychological meanings for
youth and plans related to moving away from parental home provoke such aspects. (2003,
377).““The transition into student accommodation is therefore constructed in relation to that
of the parental home It means the prospective student will have to negotiate their pre-
existing identities, routines and behaviours within an often-shared
environment”(Lahelmaand Gordon, 2003).
Therefore, the notion of ‘home’ is a social and psychological construct, the physical
demonstrations of characteristics that people perceive in their residential environment
attributed to the sense of home. “Emotional attachment to particular places provides a
canvas to the notion of residing in home and affect the way in which people adapt and
establish their self-identity in the new environment” (Marcus, 1995). These perceptions have
affirmative impact on people, hence, they build positive mental attachment, open their
minds to adopt new circumstances, and encourage them to come back to the place (Tester,
2011).
By incorporating the theory of idea regarding home, the aim of this study is to design places
that could attract the mind of the people positively. “Mental attachments with a space

Figure 1: The meaning of home (Author own diagram, 2018)
Figure 2: Photos of the Vickery House (Vickery House 2015).
inspire individuals to return to the space with a positive mentality in order to accept new
environment and change the way of thinking regarding the place. Thus, it is important to”
provide positive notion of belonging to the space to facilitate and encourage a different way
of thinking regarding another culture and for occurrence of interaction.”
Precedents
This study includes following precedents that need to be analysed with the aspects of
architecture of student housing that could influence satisfaction level of the student
regarding residential place and provide feeling of home and community:
1. Vickery House at Bentley, Perth
Vickery House is 42 single-story flats with 6 and 8 bedrooms, communal gardens, proximity
to amenities and public transport (Vickery House 2015). The particular concept of space is
very basic, but also effective. With the share of cooking, eating and living room facility
within a single-house, encourage of the residence to be able to interact with each other by
cooking and communication. However, this building form could limit the privacy in the
dwelling and the feeling of personal control.
2. TreStykker at Trondheim
TreStykker is a small-scale experimental project with the flexibility provided to courage to
the user in order to create and re-create their personal place of living. This could help to
form an attachment to this temporary residence. This dwelling is lack of privacy in the living
space, which could causeissues in a long term. However, the communal space of this
housing form has highly value on space particularly with supported social interaction. In
addition, the particular design and the high quality of the project seemed to develop the

Figure 3: Photo of the Tietgenkollegiet(TietgenDormitory 2014).
degree of individuals and personal control, which attribute to the personal identification of
students living in this temporary home.
3. The Tietgenkollegiet at Copenhagen, Denmark
“The design of the ground level of the building provokes the visual with a clear, cohesive,
circular shape that symbolize the idea of community of the public and the university
hall”(Tietgen Dormitory, 2014). The motive is to provide uniform and equal condition to all
residence and to ensure the level of optimisation of transparency and accessibility in order
to achieve a clear and picturesque visual for easily recognisable environment for the public.
(Tietgen Dormitory 2014). The picture and the architecture of the housing are seemed to
provide identity in the society, in which the students are living. The community space of this
form provides equal and unified condition to all residents, by ensuring the public community
space is transparent, accessible, open, and easy recognisable to all people, where provides
sense of community to the architecture.
4. Sliding Transformer House, in Madrid
This small customizable space creates flexible and adaptable solutions for people with
different uses. It provides experience to the inhabitant that is alike parental home. The
conception regarding the design is to create a sense of belongings in the space, which
isbasedon personal identity can be read through from the way individual operate their
private space (PKMN Architecture, 2014). The wooden craftsmanship is “suspended, mobile
and transformable containers” to allow users to create and reconfiguration of a small space
to accommodate individual needs, where provide personal connections with the space
(PKMN Architecture, 2014).
Figure 4: Photo of Sliding Transformer House (PKMN Architecture, 2014)

METHODLOGY
This research asks how social, mental and architectural aspects of student living
environment away from their parental home create a sense of home and to enable students
transform the new environment into home. In order to inquire about this question, this
research will undertake a methodology, which is qualitative in nature, based on human
behaviour in the role of built environment, and conduct the theory of sense of place and
belonging to give better understanding of the students’ perceptions in their social and
physical contexts. Following methods are used for the project:
1. Literature Review
Through the review of literatures on following aspects, constitutes the framework (as figure
1 above) to inform home experience for student housing:
- Home is such a place to which individuals are attached in order to identify
themselves in the society;
- Home giving inhabitants a sense of belonging, emotional connections, where should
inspire the user to feel comfortable and a sense of well-being;
- By providing a sense of home to the space, the user is encouraged to adapt the new
living environment.
2. Precedents Study
Analyse the design methods presented in the local and international precedents and
reinterpret in to the project to develop design principles. It is also used to explore variations
and design strategies to similar problem statements, which provide information to support
or oppose research related to the topic.
3. Design Approach
Testing the concepts through diagrams, sketches, drawings and prototypes to and
variations, explore the design in different options and variations.
- Illustrates design in three-dimensional programme
- Examine and repeat the process of testing the variationsuntil coming up the best
solutions
SIGNIFICANCE
The principle of design, which is generated through this research, states the priority of
design that can satisfy the mental, physical and social needs of the students in the

residential environment. For further research in this field, the generalizing ideas of this
study can be proved useful to further research the opportunities of developing other types
temporary living environments, such as healthcare institutional housing, housing for elderly,
service apartments and hotels. The final product following this study with a test of design
processes that could contribute to develop a model for the design and planning of
residential environments, that can create a positive notion about home and a feeling of
prosperity.
OUTCOME
The expected outcome of this study is to provide design principles for housing suitable for
students to increase opportunities for positive connections and social interaction and make
student housing current and competitive. Establishing the relationship between the building
and the user is a significant step towards “better architecture, planning in an effective
manner, and insight into the progressive society for the users.”
REFERENCE
Cameron, Parsell. 2012. “Home is where the house is: the meaning of home for people
sleeping rough.” 27(2): 159 – 173. DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2012.632621
Clapham, David. 2005. The Meaning of Housing: A Pathways Approach. Bristol: The Policy
Press.
Gifford, Robert. 2002. Environmental Psychology. 3rd ed. Victoria: Optimal Books.
“Growth and Opportunity in Australian International Education”. 2018. Australian Trade and
Investment Commission.https://www.austrade.gov.au/Australian/Education/Services/
Australian-International-Education-2025/growth-and-opportunity
Lahelma, Elina, and Tuula Gordon. 2003. Home as a Physical, Social and Mental Space:
Young People’s Reflections on Leaving Home. Journal of Youth Studies, 6(4), 377-390.
Marcus, Clare Cooper. 1995. House as a Mirror of Self: Exploring the deeper meaning of home.
Berkeley: Conari Press.
Miles, Steven. 2000. Youth Lifestyles in a Changing World. Buckingham: Open University
Press.
“PKMN Architectures: Creates Sliding Transformer House in Madrid”. 2014. Archidaily.
https://www.archdaily.com/566605/pkmn-architectures-builds-transformer-house-
studio-inmadrid
Tester, Griff, Erin Ruel, Angela Anderson, Donald C. Reitzes, and Deirdre Oakley. 2011.
"Sense of Place Among Atlanta Public Housing Residents". Journal of Urban Health 88
(3): 436-453. doi:10.1007/s11524-011-9579-0.

“Tietgen Dormitory: Lundgaard and Tranberg Architects”. 2014. Archidaily.
https://www.archdaily.com/474237/tietgen-dormitory-lundgaard-and-tranberg-
architects
“Vickery House, Bentley Campus”. 2015. Curtin University. http://life.curtin.edu.au/housing-
and-childcare/Vickey_house.htm