Habitus Magazine | Issue 28

Two particular words come to my mind when reading over this issue: integrity and integrate. I’ve not considered them side by side before, but they both come from the Latin integer, which means ‘untouched, unhurt, unchanged, sound, fresh, whole, entire, pure, honest’.

Unearthing the root meaning of the Latin term prompts a new understanding of the contemporary derivatives and reveals a complex interplay between them.

‘Integrity’ becomes a whole or complete way of being, an integration of internal values and external behaviours, which is exactly what the south coast home of architect Nick Tobias on page 44 demonstrates. And ‘integration’ deepens to become an act of making something whole again – or returning something to integrity – such as through the massive re-vegetation initiative in the Lune de Sang project on page 162.

These two stories are also linked by some common features: they are both properties some distance away from cities or suburbs, motivated by the idea of family coming together, and take a long-term and holistic view of architecture and landscape. Simple, yet vast, themes in the proposition of how to live.

These examples, along with our creative personalities, residents, designers and architects involved in the featured stories, present an unwavering point of view, which finds physical expression through the spaces they create and live in. Integration is also an important element of The Smart Home, our themed section for this issue starting on page 81. Whether talking about integrating technology, or integrating our daily rhythms and environmental rhythms (seasons) with our living spaces, connecting circles of understanding is a strategy for smart thinking.

As a side note, trees also figure prominently in this issue, particularly the planting and regeneration of native forests. Returning the land – and our way of living – to a simpler, symbiotic and more sustainable ethos is perhaps the smartest design decision of all.

Nicky Lobo | Editor