Thinging Architecture: Architectural Affordance in Community-Making

Abstract

Though mundane things such as potted plants, doormats or Christmas lights are an unavoidable part of residential life in many neighbourhoods, their importance for community-making is rarely taken seriously in architectural design. This article shows how decorations in the transition zones from private to public domains play a pivotal role in informal community-making among residents in Danish social housing, as they offer a highly social though indirect way of negotiating atmospheric and communal expectations and coherences. Analysing empirical cases from three typologically different housing estates, we argue that the architectural design heavily influences the extent to which residents can form communities through things. Combining material culture theory and design theory, the article promotes the concept of thinging architecture as a means of categorising and identifying architectural elements/design that affords residents community-making through things. The article concludes that thinging architecture should play a crucial role in the design of social housing to enable a strong communal life.