designLAB:: Stefis ROOM

What is HOME?

- a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household
- the place in which one's domestic affections are centered.
- the place or region where something is native or most common.
- any place of residence or refuge
- a person's native place or own country

I love the city! I like being outdoors and being part of whatever is happening there. I see the city as my home. Even though I am not from Amsterdam or Holland, Amsterdam is now my home. Amsterdam is the place where I formed my own life and where I’m currently living.
Still there are parts of Amsterdam, which make me feel even more at home, because of the atmosphere, the history, stories I’ve heard, certain events, moments that took place there. I think everyone would agree that the Jordan is the most well preserved part of Amsterdam, that even now a days with all the changes Amsterdam overtook, still feels very cozy, private and traditional. Elandsgracht is probably one of the few places where no one can rent or buy a house. All the houses there are owned with generations by Amsterdam people. No new comers. Even though I’m not from there, Elandsgracht makes me feel like home as well. It feels safe, happy, sweet, protected, clean…

My room is the center of my home. The idea of home, for me is always closely connected to the feeling I get thinking about my room back home. As a child, my room was the place where I was sleeping, playing, studying, hanging out with my friends, talking to my parents and so on. My room was my private home. If I think about the way it looked, I must say it was changing all the time as I was growing up and changing myself. Still it was probably the most truthful representation of the period I was in.

What is a ROOM?

- a specific place inside a house
- living quarters
- space, esp. enough space, to contain something or in which to do something
- a space within a building enclosed by walls or separated from other similar spaces by walls or partitions

My room back home has been my room since I was born. At first my parents were sleeping there as well. When my sister was born, for few years the four of us stayed in that one room, until my sister and I grew up a bit. Since then, till I left for Holland, I’ve been sharing that room with my sister. I guess my parents had a big influence or helped us out to decorate the room. Since I live alone, I get to decorate and furnish my room, which is my whole home at the same time. I live in about 20m2 and I have a bedroom, guestroom, closet room, art storage, library, kitchen, working area and living room, all in those 20m2!!! Last semester when I went away on exchange and I got new room that had to be furnished with the basics, nothing fancy, I realized what makes a room – usable room. I realized what are the basics that we all need to be able to identify a room as a living area.

A BED, A NIGHTSTAND, A DESK, A CHAIR, A CLOSET and A MIRROR

My room:

Skopje room 0- 5 years old:

Skopje room 6-16 years old:

Amsterdam room:

New York room:

From this, I come to realize that MY ROOM apart from the basics has a strong accent on the walls. Seems like the walls are always covered in things that I like, make me happy, or what I do, kind of a mood board.

For "Liefde in de strad" I want to build a room, sleeping room prerhaps, which everyone can recognise what it is, but still it won't be fitting with the surroundings. I want to make my childhood room, the way I remember it, in the middle of Elandsgracht. This nice area will be the host... By placing a room there, the city becomes a house. Eventhough, one can't just move in one of the houses on Elandsgracht, I will make it possible to live there.

Inspiration:

privacy/ inside/outside
Harrison Gorman " Looking into the median strip" 2006