Experiencing Temporary Home Design for Young Urban Dwellers: “We Can’t Put Anything on the Wall”

Abstract

A significant number of young people live in temporary homes, which are designed to fulfil basic needs and provide space for normal activities. However, it is unclear what those basic activities are. Moreover, the indoor environmental quality is often left out of the meaning of home, although activities and objects can affect its experienced quality. We therefore verbally and visually explored how young temporary dwellers appropriate and experience their homes, including the indoor environmental quality. Fourteen young adults took part in semi-structured interviews and photographed their most used as well as their favourite place. The interviews were transcribed and analysed following an interpretative phenomenological analysis. The experiences of appropriation in the home were connected to the physical environment through an analysis of the photos and floor plans (sketched by the researcher) using an architectural analysis from the user perspective. The outcome showed that the young adults appropriated their home in three ways: by familiarising the place with objects and “normal” activities, organising where things are and when they happen, and managing the indoor environmental quality through activities and objects. It is concluded that qualitative and visual analyses can assist with making recommendations to improve the design of temporary housing.