| Although beginning as a critique of the American Dream house at a conference, my grandmother's story became a metaphor transporting me to another space and time. It triggered my memory and imagination of her home in a Taishan village and her kitchen where she prepared meals during my childhood in Hong Kong. In exploring whether the designs of her previous home contributed to her sense of home, I encountered the stories of a Hong Kong woman (Ah Fun). She related memories of home in a Shuen Wan flat in old Hong Kong, a Sam Tuk Uk shantytown in Tsuen Wan, a flat overlooking Kowloon Wall City, a Tuen Mun high-rise at the foothills of Castle Peak, and a state-of-the-art retirement estate west of the old Kai Tak airport.;Central to the inquiry was exploring how the physical components of home design—interiors, exteriors, traditional images, proximity to significant relationships, and systems of support—may or may not contribute to a resident's ability to construct a sense of home. However, Ah Fun resisted attempts to frame her story as a Wuhua Hakka woman constructing her home in a "worlding city." Her stories remained in the "wild zone" and refused to fit neatly into any professional concepts or academic categories.;The research ended with an ironic twist. Ah Fun was moving to an Australian suburban home that was similar to my grandmother's American Dream house. She plans to live with her son and daughter-in-law and to help take care of her future grandchild. She gave me permission to continue this anthropological inquiry by listening to the stories she will tell about the everyday life of a grandmother living in her new suburban home, as streamed through the internet. These stories will be connected to the message emerging from winners of the 2012 House Reward and Pritzker Prize for housing planners to redirect attention from urban high-rises to retrofitted homes that are closer to the ground because they may be viable options for more affordable and sustainable development for most of the population living in them, both in the U.S. and China. |
