Habitus Magazine | Issue 6

In my last letter I floated the idea of conversation as a metaphor – in fact, an analogue – for what we are on about in Habitus. I also let slip the fact that, in a previous life, I had been an academic. This was at the University of Sydney where my areas of research were in conversation, the role of pronunciation in communication and child language learning.

Now, this may not seem immediately relevant to Habitus, so let me explain. Talking to one another is about generating meaning. So, children when they learn to talk are “learning how to mean” (to quote the great linguist, Michael Halliday). Meaning is not a given – it is something which we create through conversation, just as the words in a dictionary only have meaning when we use them (to quote that other great linguist, Humpty Dumpty). Meaning is not delivered like a message in one of those pneumatic canisters in department stores – it is generated through interaction and collaboration.

The best architecture and design results from interaction as well. It is, if you like, a conversation between designer and client. Each comes from their own space with their own message, and somewhere in the middle an agreed message, which is not exactly the same as either of the original messages, is worked out.

As I pointed out in the last issue, the different sections of Habitus reflect different kinds of conversation, most obviously in Close-Up and Jump Cut. But we also have Cross-Fade where, as with the Wynne House in this issue, we look at how an existing house engages in a conversation with the present. But there are many other conversations going on in this issue of Habitus.

Ann Pamintuan is a wonderful designer from the Philippines who is in conversation not just with her natural environment, but with the history of artisanship in her region to create highly contemporary products with wide appeal. Likewise, Malaysian Edric Ong combines sophisticated internationalism with a commitment to local craft tradition. In Australia, Janet Laurence is also engaged in an on-going conversation with what she calls the “alchemy” of nature, along with an intimate conversation with her residential clients.

Then there are the cross-cultural dialogues which can also involve intra-cultural conversations – see Montage for a discussion of the ‘Balistyle’ and our story on a house in northern Sydney where two Indian architects have given form to a conversation with their own cultural background, with the Australian landscape, and with furniture classics from international modernism.

The important thing is not to take anything for granted. So, thanks again to our advertisers and readers who have supported Habitus through its first year.

PAUL MCGILLICK | EDITOR