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A REMOVED HOMEfrom the large scale to up close and personal

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Conor Trawinski, Philipp Webber, Barbara Larcin and Kim Haagen

FROM THE LARGE SCALE TO UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

Moving out of Oud Woensel or relocating from Oud Woensel

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“WE ARE THE MOVERS”

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CONTENTS

Introduction9

The organissations11

The landscape of change23

The movers34

The importance of home47

Conclusion63

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We are a group of 4 students, Kim Haagen, Philipp Weber, Barbara Larcin and Conor Trawinski, who have come

together to explore the world of Oud Woensel. Oud Woensel is a neighbourhood in north Eindhoven which is

about to be demolished. Starting in December 2011 it will undergo a period of urban renewal and by 2020 it will

be replaced by an entirely new neighborhood. In the meantime it will continue to be a landscape of change.

When we first encountered the world of Oud Woensel we could not have imagined what was waiting for us behind

the facades of this neighborhood. Feeling like the explorers of a new world, which we were, we decided not to focus

on just one subject but to take a broad approach in our research methods which would allow us to see things from

a distance, to see the bigger picture. This approach gave us a certain ease in how to communicate with this alien

neighborhood.

Attempting to leave our assumptions aside, we went to meet the people of Oud Woensel and listen to their stories.

We gathered information, ideas and existing knowledge in order to shape our views and opinions, and to give our-

selves a strong standing point in this foreign world. We discovered connections and structures within the neighbor-

hood, but also - in some cases - a lack of communication and missed opportunities within these structures. Slowly

we became integrated and found a way to create a network. This allowed us to zoom in from the bigger picture,

thereby reaching closer, more personal situations.

At this point in our process we took a new step and discovered the deeper layers within our research. We took the

decision to focus on the big changes which are happening, and their effects. We wanted to see how these large scale

changes were affecting the small scale.

This transformation happening in Oud Woensel is not unique to this area but can be seen in any neighborhood

which is experiencing urban renewal. For this reason we are presenting this research as a case study.

“To A Removed Home”INTRODUCTION

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“When silence valued it ceases to be a waste of time.”

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THE ORGANISATIONS “Forming Connections”

Upon arrival in the neighborhood we discovered that there already was a strong presence of social organisations

in the area. We decided it would be a good idea to start our project by learning something of this new world from

them. We created our network and gathered knowledge from local sources in order to define a strategy. Our new

network - mainly composed of the organisations: The T-Huis, The Koffie Huis and De Boei - provided us with

different viewpoints on the changing world of Oud Woensel. These points of view lead us to see the possibilities

and needs of, what was becoming, a less alien world. Soon after our integration, we found that every organisation

was drawing different assumptions about the rapid transient world and what this neighbourhood’s role would be

in the future.

We choose to create a network in this way in order not to repeat work that had already been done. We also wanted

to understand the wider social structure in the area so as to be better able to reach the inhabitants on a personal

basis. Not only did the organisations help us to find our bearings in Oud Woensel, they also gave us support by

pointing us in the right direction. They, the T-Huis in paticular, made us aware of the different design methods

used within social research and introduced us to some important contacts. We were able to develop our project and

its specific focal point because they shared their own experience and local knowledge. It became very obvious that

the human aspect of interacting with the locals was extremely important and that without it our project would not

develop much further. From this we concluded that the situation of change and upheaval was to form the basis for

our research and that the individual experience of the inhabitants would become the focus.

What also became apparent by talking with the organisiations was, that we could and wanted to be, active par-

ticipants in actual situations where this process of change was visible. A participative research was the perfect way

for us to try and integrate but, above all, it would allow us to create a mutually benefitial relationship between the

researchers, us, and the local inhabitants. In this way we adapted our research methods by implementing creative

thinking and design tools which would allow us to permeate the daily lives of Woenselaars and to hear their stories.

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A Talk with the T+Huis

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T+HUIS

We are studying the individual people, Heather & Dennis who work at the T+Huis. We observe their personalalites and analysethe information they give us. By observing and analysing both we can get a better overview of how we will deal with the information we have received.Both Dennis and Heather live in Oud Woensel. Both were very enthusiastic that we deceided to work with the T+Huis and with food. They were more than willing to help us. While Heather really wants to help us learn, Dennis very much wants the neighborhood to become a better place. Dennis is more of an insider in the neigh-borhood than Heather, as he has lived there for many years. Heather doesn’t speak the language and is not Dutch. In that way she is more of an outsider.

To NoteWe did not enter the first conversation with the T+Huis in a very structured way. We had some discussions be-tween ourselves prior to the meeting ,which resulted in our basic concept and a list of questions for Dennis and Heather.

DennisObservations

He plays a very big part in the neighborhood and al-ways knows what is going on. He seems to care greatly about what he does for the people, and sometimes this can come across as if he thinks that he cares more than other people around him.When discussing ideas with him, he can be very stern. He wants to give us a particular starting point which he thinks will be a strong starting point. He is critical and sometimes sceptical of newcomer’s ideas. However, we believe he means this in the best possible way.

IdeasDennis talks a bit about some of the ideas he has, to do with plants or food. One idea is about the empty houses which will spring up during the transformation of Oud Woensel. He talks about using closed houses and turning them into vegetable grow houses. The vegetables grown in these houses will be adapted to the neighborhood’s needs, which he claims would be a lot of tomatoes.

When a house that has been used for vegetable growing is demolished, the grow house will be moved to the next street in which there are closed houses. It will go on like

this until the new neighborhood is complete. He hopes that at this point there will be room in the neighborhood for a permenant grow house.

Knowledge about growing food will deepenover this period of 8 years, and in the end there will be a place of social relevance which will provide food for Oud Woensel.

Dennis believes that people from Oud Woensel do not go to the Kruisstraat restaurants or grocery stores as these are too expensive. Instead they all go to the market on Saturdays. We as a group are not sure if this informa-tion is true and will research it at a later stage.Dennis also told us of a food event he once held. He had invited people from the whole neighborhood for free food. However people did not turn up... as if they did not want to be associated with taking free food. It might affect their status.

HeatherObservations

Heather is very passionate about the children and seems to be in the T-Huis because this passion for social work. She wrote her thesis about social design. She is extreme-ly open to helping us in our research. She offered us her thesis to read, many of her ideas, the use of the space and has proposed that we work with the social workers of the T-Huis. She has, more-a-less, offered to help and to guide us through our research and the work we can do there.She reflects on and reacts to what the children do and learns about the neighborhood in that way. She was very reflective regardng her work and her ideas which have been put into practice. She is very good at seeing things in the bigger picture.An Exercise tool which unexpectedly revealed racist thinking in a childShe created an exercise for the children where they had to draw a recycling system in their neighborhood. Most children drew relatively normal systems like a paper re-cycling system which turned paper into a playground for them to play in. However, in one instance a child drew the felling of trees in the neighborhood and a big house which he could build as a result of selling all the trees. With a house like that the child would be rich. With his resulting power he wanted to kill all the Jews.Heather reacted to this discovery in a very reflective way. She found out that the children were studying the topic of WW2 in school and that the children were ob-viously getting the wrong idea... She reported the case to the teachers so that they could do something about it. In this way she discovered that she has designed a tool which could help her gather psychological informa-tion about the children so she could find out more about their thoughts and feelings.

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“THEY ALL GO TO THE MARKET ON SATURDAYS ”

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A talk with the Koffie Huis

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JeroenDuring the meeting at the Koffie Huis we discov-ered that Jeroen is quiet traditional in his ap-proach. He is rather explanatory, maybe since he is not living in the neighbourhood. His position towards us felt a little bit withheld. He works for Welzijn and his official job title is a ‘social commu-nity worker’.Jeroen proposed an easter dinner in conjunction with the Thuis.Through a conversation with both Yordy and Je-roen the idea of helping old people move came up.Compared to the T-Huis the Coffee Huis has a more supressed atmosphere; the motivation and enthusiasm of the Thuis is almost overwhelming and you can feel a certain creativity from both Dennis and Heather - is this because the Thuis is working with kids and the Coffee Huis is working with adults?Joreon is more passive in his approach.

It would be hard to open up to Jeroen, because he is so withheld himself. It did not feel like there was a passion in his work.The information that he gave us on the people that he approaches seemed very vague. He could not state clearly how he approaches them or his role in the neighbourhood.

The Koffie Huis came into the existance because of a need for meeting each other in the neighbour-hood.ELLI... we should talk to her.

IDEA: Helping people move from neighbourhood - this came from the discussion with Yordy: He told us about helping an old woman move...

Events:Lessons of home interior DiscoFlea MarketProposed Easter Dinner

A talk with the Koffie Huis

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“De Boei”

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What do they doThey provide an artistic work space for people with psycholgical problems. This work space gives “their clients” a reason to get up in the morning and also to have a structure and social life in their day. For their personal work they have to pay for their own material.The clients of De Boei all suffer from a form of psy-chological problems and are all sent their by an other local organistaion called the GGZE. Their main activ-ity is painting, however they also have other artistic activities now and again. An example is a drama/art project they had several weeks ago. They also gather old furniture and paint it which they later sell. The painting adds value to the objects and helps them raise money for the organisation. Some of the “clients” have given artistic workshops in places like Van Beak, for example in clay and thick painting.

AnoukUpon our arrival at De Boei we met Anouk who we talked to for the first 30 minutes. They were very trust-ing from the get go as they offered us to help ourselves to a cup of tea or coffee and allowed us to feel at home. They treated us like we were always there. Anouk was very positive and open... explaining everything about their project in great detail. However she is extremely busy as she had to leave after 30 minutes of our meet-ing and it was hard to arrange a time for the meeting in the first place. She works there 2 days a week and she is a painter besides. Anouk refers to the people who use the facility the “clients.” The “clients” choose when they come to De Boei and that is mostly in the after-noon due to many suffering from depressions. For this reason she also said it is best to come by in the morn-ings as it is less busy. She also said it is nice for people to come by, but not too many and not all of the time. As soon as we started to offer an interest and help with working with them she became very enthusiastic.

IngeAfter Anouk left we talked to Inge. She is working there full time (4 days a week.) Inge feels quite relaxed but rather ordered. We explained where we are comming from and some of our ideas. She really asked why we were there and what we wanted to do. We suggested to help them with furniture if they wanted... but also to help them interact more with the neighbourhood. She did not know in which project we could help but she was open to all ideas and that, if we wanted to, we could use their patio as an event spot.

Before:Before De Boei was in that building the area was a complete mess as it was used as a dump. De Boei cleaned up the area and now the locals are quiete hap-py (according to De Boei) they are their as they have cleaned the area up and it is not a no man’s land any more. They are not paying any rent here as Domein have given them the space.

After:In June this project will move to Kruisstraat into an old monestary and A bicyle project, also related to GGZE, will move into Wite de Withstraat. The new building of De Boei will have a shop allowng then to raise money and pay a small rent to Domein. It seems De Boei and Domein have started a close relationship.

To NoteThey tried to have an exhibition but not many people came. We think this is partly due to the location but also because they are not widely known in the area. Maybe we can help give them more presence?!

A local man who is suffering from cancer calls into the building on a regular basis. He recently made his own urn there. Other locals also come by for a cup of coffee now again.

We can use their patio for events if we include them and their art in the event. Inge proposed that we give lessons to the “clients” if we have anything we can we can give lessons.

They worked with T-Huis for the open day. The children of the T-Huis helped paint the walls at the entrance of the area. The toilets used as flower pots were within the mess that was in the area before they arrived.

DE BOEI

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“THEY ARE NOT PAYING ANY

RENT HERE”

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THE LANDSCAPE OF CHANGE

The landscape of change mentioned in this document refers to the transition period that Oud Woensel is currently

experiencing. This neighborhood is confronted with urban renewal, which means that all the houses within the

area will be destroyed. Oud Woensel will never again be the same as it was, as in 8 years time the whole neighbor-

hood will be replaced by a new one. However, before it reaches its finished state, in 8 years from now, the period of

transition itself is something which must be taken into account. This period brings with it a lot of uncertainty and

discomfort for its inhabitants. They are left in a situation where they have very little control over their every day

lives, where they will loose their sense of belonging and their feelings of attachment to the area in which they have

been living for some time.

This changing and seemingly exotic neighborhood also attracts many outsiders and explorers, as this multilayered

place is in a state of continual movement, the combination of inhabitants in constant evolution. This sense of

movement and evolution helped us to open our minds to the area’s historical background and its collective memo-

ries. Consequently we ourselves became yet another layer of short-term deposit in the overall landscape of change.

We wanted to learn more about all of the different layers that are shaping Oud Woensel, and by starting with the

past we hoped to get a better understanding of the present and to develop a picture of the future.

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“Changing Comfort”

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The change that is taking place in Oud Woensel is not a straightforward one. People are not moving of their own

free will, but are forced to move due to the planned demolition of their houses and their world. Everything they

knew and had become accustomed to will soon be gone, with the result that they will have to adapt to a new set of

living circumstances in the future. Furthermore, even the decision whether to move or not is out of their control.

Therefore the neighborhood with its inhabitants has been forced into an unusual state of transformation.

During our project we found out that the change to come was not only going to influence the neighborhood and its

inhabitants, but also the entire economical situation in the surrounding area.

The far-reaching implications of this landscape of change were becoming clear to us. Change is happening on

every scale from the Townhall to furniture outlets, to people’s privacy and their personal lives. By zooming in on

the individuals and their emotions we began to understand what leaving a neighbourhood really means, including

the psychological aspects and the actual physical act of leaving itself. Following this discovery, we became curious

and wanted to look deeper into the values of changing home versus of just changing house. We realized that we

needed a private and intimate connection to the neighborhood in order to gain experiences on any significant level.

In order to do this it was necessary to design a research tool which would enable us to answer our research ques-

tions but - more importantly - it also needed to create a setting which would be of mutual benefit to both us and

the inhabitants.

What also became apparent by talking with the organisiations was, that we could and wanted to be, active par-

ticipants in actual situations where this process of change was visible. A participative research was the perfect way

for us to try and integrate but, above all, it would allow us to create a mutually benefitial relationship between the

researchers, us, and the local inhabitants. In this way we adapted our research methods by implementing creative

thinking and design tools which would allow us to permeate the daily lives of Woenselaars and to hear their stories.

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students researchers DAE

foreigners elderly people

WE MEET HEREthe current moment in woensel oud:

a neighbourhood which is about to be destroyed brings a lot of changes and a lot of different people to one place

WHERE IS EVERYONE GOING?

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RESEARCH

PROPOSAL

Behind The Facade

Idea- We do not want to approach the neighbourhood with presumptions, but rather gain a broader image of the people by approaching the network of this area through connections (stichtingen, etc.)- We want to understand the general behaviour of the end of a neighbourhood. We will do this by investigating how people experience this change on a personal scale. Gathering stories about their origin, their memories, their current situation and their plans for their future will help us to understand.- All these stories meet here, where do they come from? how did they get here? what will they do here? where will they go? and will they take anything (non physical) from this neighbourhood with them? has woensel oud added anything to their lives (or taken anything away)?

Method- We want to get involved in the local network through ‘stichtigen’ in the area. through these organizations we hope to meet individual people- We will create particapatory tools, which will help us to get into peoples lives. For instance: handing out dis-posable cameras, approaching individuals by offering ‘tea-time’, using a map for them to describe their neigh-bourhood- We do not want it to be a one-way informational ex-change, however we want information to be exchanged from both sides (handing out personal photos, making cookies, etc.)- By using an opened information platform (facebook) we share knowledge

PlanFirst of all:

-Creating a network-Building up a data-base of knowledge and approaches-Integrating ourselves in the neighboorhood.

And then:-Looking behind the facade.-Personal interaction with individuals.-Finding interesting and unque stories-Creating an overall image

Finally:From all this information we will create a project which answers some of the questions posed by the research.We would like the outcome to be related to food.

Baba, Kim, Conor, Philipp

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“WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE

GENERAL BEHAVIOUR OF THE

END OF A NEIGHBOURHOOD”

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She is interested in how places reveal so much about you and how they take their shape to become what they are.

It is interesting that an old woman played the sound of the ocean in her house in order to evoke the memory of the seaside as she did not have the possibility to visit it anymore herself.

The greatest number of people have fondest memories of their bedroom, over any other room, from childhood. For example “I could hang out under the bed with my cat.” The bedroom is a place of solitude, intimacy and fantasy.

Second was the kitchen with memories of cooking and eating together with family, or sitting around the hearth or fire. The third was the basement or garage a place where people can me creative and mess with objects.

There is something interesting about the connection between arranging words on a page and arranging objects in a room. Both are about finding the logical order of things, about assembling them in a way in which they make sense.

Design is about making things “fit” to a person, or place, or a place to its surroundings but also the place, things and people to a social or moral sense.

Rituals are the bases for finding comfort at home.

“where we live can never be landscapes of logic, though they may have logic and precision designed into them.”

Front Door:

“I bought this house because it was just like the first one, but smaller”

Kitchen:“when I put my childhood home on the market several years ago, I was advised by one broker to have brownies baking in the oven while prospective buyers wandered through - or, at the very least, she said, have pot of cider with cinnamon brewing on the stove. Such comforting scents, it seems, are now thought to enhance… both the charm and market value of the house, sending subliminal messages that ‘this house is a home.’ “

“The kitchen… is the place in which to fully indulge our love affair with sensory experience.”

Book Summaries“Preface”

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“Geography of home is both elegant and funny, philosophical and thoroughly absorb-ing. Bush coaxes meaning and intirgue out of the front door, laundry room, and other humble elements of a house. She makes us realize afresh the fascinating and complex

lessons contained in a home.” -Residental Architect

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“Nostalgia remains a powerful force in the way we think about

home”

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THE MOVERS “or mover researcher”

We wanted to experience what the period of moving entails, as moving - or leaving your home

for something new and initially alien - starts many months prior to the actual, physical move

itself and does not finish until many months after. Participative research was the most obvious

and best fitting method for us to work with. We hoped to create a service for inhabitants during

this unstable period and a tool for us which would allow us to answer our research questions. We

came up with many different ways of applying this participative research and eventually found

one which was the most suitable for us in Oud Woensel during this period of change. This is

when we became ‘the movers’.

Using moving as a ‘tool’ we integrated ourselves in the area on a physical level which allowed

us to get closer to the psychological and emotional effects on the inhabitants, brought on by the

change that has been forced on them. It allowed us to become part of their personal lives from

which we could draw stories that would give us grounds to base our research on. Our role as

researchers was much less obvious and was taken over by the role of movers. As it turns out a

‘mover-researcher’ is accepted much quicker than just a researcher.

The day on which we are present, as the movers, is the moment where both the physical and

emotional aspects of moving turn into a reality. As the old house empties out, the new house

starts filling up with possessions from a previous life in another world. Offering a service to

people in this nostalgic moment of farewell was the key which brought us inside the private lives

of the inhabitants. This has allowed us to meet them at a moment of reminiscence, a moment

of extreme change in their lives.

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From this we were able to see what it was that families valued (like well-being, relationships, location, space, objects,

etc.) and the way they behaved in this stressful situation. We were able to get behind the facades of the neighbor-

hood and not only see, but also experience, what it means to be forced to move from your home. It also brought up

the control aspect of having to move as a key issue. We could get strong glimpses of the emotions which the tenants,

or now ex-tenants, were experiencing. We shared food in improvised situations where the tenants attempted to bring

feelings of home and normality back into this chaotic situation. We also had many conversations where all of this

information was brought up without us even asking.

zoom in / zoom out

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BRAINSTORMAT THE T+HUIS

We met with Heather to have a look at their research results.We told her our ideas of how we want to approach the neighbourhood. She liked the approach of zooming out, looking at the bigger picture, and then zooming in again.Heather adviced us to make use of a so-called ‘Persona Matrix’ to give structure to our research.

In our approach towards people in the neighbourhood Heather and Dennis told us to always be 100% honest with our intentions.

Dennis proposed to start with meeting all kinds of dif-ferent stakeholders in order to get an impression of the diverse views on the area and to be able to create the previously mentioned ‘bigger picture’.

Through this we were able to link all the info that we gathered from the various points of view, to see the gaps and problems in the changing Oud Woensel, to com-muncate this and to design a service.

Research Categories

young

family

old

single

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A BROKEN

TABLE

A man in his early thirties speeds down Benidictusstraat in a blue Opel Corsa. He stops his car in front of house number 17, winds down his window and shouts at two students standing in front of the house, “You are design-ers, you are here to design and make art. You are not here to move houses. If you do not stop moving houses there will be trouble for you.” He winds up his window and speeds off.

We are a group of design academy students and from Februaury 21st to July 15th, we are working in the neighborhood of Oud Woensel in Eindhoven. We are collaborating with Domein, the housing Corporation of the area and for this period we are working in house number 17 on the Benidictusstraat. The T-Huis and the Coffee Huis are two social organizations working in the area.

The T-Huis, located at Weteringstraat 28, is a Sticht-ing set up by two Designers in 2006. It is currently run by Heather and Dennis who are the driving force of this NGO. They strive to create social change using the power of Design and Education. They have mottos like: “Creativity as a business model creates opportunity for social innovation” and “Bring people together to im-prove the greater neighborhood.”

The Koffie Huis, located directly across the road from T-Huis at Vreidesplein 15, is a stichting set up two years ago by a social worker for Welzijn called Jeroen. He wanted to create an area where people of the neighborhood could gather, drink coffee, and talk. It is a meeting point as well as place that gives support to those who need it.

It is Thursday 11:30 am, May 12th 2011.The man who just shouted at the students is a man who has lived in Oud Woensel for most of his life. He and his friend are setting up a small business in the neighbor-hood where they help locals to move house. They have just found out that our research group is also helping people, in the neighborhood of Oud Woensel, to move house, but our group is helping for free.

At 11:33 am, we, the moving group, are told that our group has just been threatened. Thirty minutes later, at roughly 12:00, the four of us, Baba, Kim, Philipp, and I visit the Koffie Huis as we know this is where these

two men sometimes hang out. Joroen, along with several local elderly women, are sitting at the table drinking cof-fee. One of the two men is also present but leaves as soon as we arrive explaining he is too angry to talk to us right now. The four of us sit down at the table with Joroen.

A 20 minute discussion follows. We explain to them, “We want to use the house movings as a tool to enter into people’s lives, while also providing them with a nec-essary service. We simply want to understand what it means to move house, both physically and psychologi-cally. We do not want to encroach on the business the two guys are starting.”

JeroenThe following week, 19th of May, we visit the Koffee Huis again in order to speak to Joroen and bring an end to this miscommunication. Upon our arrival however, the place looked different and several people were rear-ranging the main room. Joroen is nowhere to be seen, and as Philipp and I announce our presence Dennis, from the T-Huis, appears.

“I just had a big argument with Joroen,” he states. “When,” I ask.“Five minutes ago.” responds Dennis.“So where is he now then.” “I don’t know; he left, but now I am rearranging the space. Look, this table is broken and there is a perfectly good one in the back,” says Dennis. “Ya we noticed that when we were here last night,” I reply. “If you see Joroen tell him we stopped by.”

With that Philipp and I leave the Koffie Huis, confused. Communication seems to be a problem in this neigh-borhood even between working professionals. How is it that two Social Organisations, The Koffie Huis and the T-Huis cannot get along with each other? How are we supposed to communicate properly if the professionals in the area don’t even communicate properly?

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“AT 11.33 AM,WE, THE MOVERS,

ARE TOLD THAT OUR GROUP HAS JUST

BEEN THREATENED”

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This homeless feeling is a psychological by-product of any move. However, when you are dealing with a forced

move this feeling is heightened. During this period of a forced move people are less willing, and have less time to

prepare for their new environment, than people who have chosen to move freely, as they are given no choice to

decide when to move or even if they want to move. On top of that their surrounding are in a process of change as

their neighbours and friends also start to leave the area. Again, the people affected have no say in the matter of their

changing neighbourhood, which heightens their feeling of insecurity and loss and influences the course of actions

they take and the choices they make. Knowing that they must leave in the near future they may well neglect their

soon-to-be-demolished homes rather than invest the time, care and money they would have invested previously. In

effect, long before the physical move takes place, home ceases to be just that – a home.

According to the urban sociologist, Henri Lefebvre, in his book “Right to the City” people need a home as a psy-

chologic base. Ever since people began to form settlements the home became our stable base. “Home” and not the

house defines a place where you can escape to and be protected from the outside world. It creates boundaries and

helps you to balance new situations in life, to have the opportunity to come back to a permanent and controlled

base.

Moving house is moving a number of a person’s belongings from one place to another, however, moving house is

not the same as moving home. Although they are closely linked, when a person, the mover, moves home there is

a difference. A huge amount of emotional and psychological turmoil happens in the person’s life when he or she

moves home. Before the physical moving of objects and possessions begins the psychological effects are long under-

way. Already months if not years before the physical move the person has that move on their mind.

In the case of a forced move, like in Oud Woensel, the emotions evoked towards the moving are clearly more in-

tense, as this type of move creates feelings of pressure and of lack of control. As previously mentioned, whenever

there is a lack of control over your own personal space, it interferes with your feeling of home. During this transient

period the mover must break his/her daily routines and try to adapt to the new situation and for a period of time

the inhabitant can not refer to or come back to home as a safe, controlled space. He/she is, in essence, homeless.

IV

THE IMPORTANCE OF HOME“Home As A Psychologic Base”

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After reading this book I have taken some quotes and ideas of the author and followed them with my own quick notes on the subjects he covers.

In Brooklyn the author, Robert Levine, was “thought at an early age to move fast or get out of the way.” Upon his arrival in Brazil he was confused by the rules of their Punctuality and that is because “they are inseparably inter-twined with cultural values.” From his experiences there he states “There is often a volatile reaction when these unwritten rules are violated,” referring to the rules associated with time and punctuality.The work reported in his chapters begins with the assumption that “places, like people, have their own personali-ties.” - This is true not only in relation to time but of also in to every aspect of a place. It refers to how the major-ity of people behave, as well as the global mood in an area and also the way in which an are looks. Oud Woensel certainly has its own personality!“Places are marked by their own cultures and sub-cultures, each with their unique temporal fingerprints.” - In rela-tion to Oud Woensel you can also see this is present especially among some of the locals who are out of work. There perception of time is very different to that of us, the design academy students. The same can be said about life in Ireland verses life in the Netherlands. In Ireland people will much sooner give you 5 minutes for a quick chat where as in the Netherlands the pace of life seems to quick to allow for this.

“Asking about the experience of time is a little like asking the question ‘What is art?’”

There is a well accepted saying Japan: “The nail that sticks up is hammered down.”TEMPO: the speed of life“The pace of life is the flow or movement of time that people experience.” He states, after several visits to several third world countries like India, that sometimes life there is like one big waiting game where people wait for trains, buses, dinner, toilets and so on. But nobody seems to mind. He found an inscription on the narrow-gauge Himalayan express which reads “ ‘slow’ is spelled with four letters; so is ‘life’. ‘Speed’ is spelled with five letters; So is ‘death’.

Elements of Tempo:“The healthier a place’s economy, the faster its tempo.”“The more developed the, the less free time per day.” - it seems every technical advance is accompanied by a rise in expectation. In an ever consumption orientated world, time spent nether producing or consuming seems like time which is wasted. The inrease in the value of time is felt, subjectively as an increase in tempo or pace.“Bigger cities have faster tempos.”

“Hotter places are slower.”

“Individualistic cultures move faster than those that experience collectivism.”

DURATION: the psychological clock

“If you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it feels like two minutes; when you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it seems like two hours. Thats Relativity.” - Albert Einstein

Book Summaries“Preface”

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“Places, like people, have their own personalities.”

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“A mind that is fast is sick. A mind that is slow is sound. A mind that is still is divine.” - Meher Baba

For some people the distortion of duration is a cherished skill. It is an active and conscious strategy for controlling the pace of events. One of the primary tasks of Zen is learning to experience the here and the now so utterly that time appears to stand still, and to be liberated from time.

People tend to experience time as passing quickly when experiences are pleasant, carry little sense of urgency, when they are busy, when they experience variety or when they are engaged in right- hemisphere modes of thinking.

According to Robert Ornstein a better or pleasant experience is organized better in the brain than a failure. Better organized memories take up less storage space which is also perceived as a shorter duration. In other words our memories of good experiences are experienced as taking up less time.

The Amount of activity

“Instead of saying “don’t just sit there, do something.” We should say the opposite, “don’t just do something, sit there.” “ - Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.

Time seems to move quicker when a task is absorbing, when its is challenging and when more events are happen-ing. In the US keeping busy is generally considered a good thing while doing nothing signals a waste and a void. It sometimes seems that life is constructed in such a way to avoid the awkwardness of having nothing to do.

The Author says “ In Nepal and India, I have watched friends drop by one another’s homes, only to sit and remain silent…. Sometimes these visits would extend for hours…. These people were confused when I asked them wether they felt awkward about doing nothing together. Simply sitting they explained was doing something.”

“When silence is valued it ceases to be a waste of time.”

Instead of describing the space between a table and chair as empty the Japanese call is a space full of nothing.In our society it seems so important for individuals to have a point of view that everyone feels they need to be first to put an opinion forward. “The need to be heard first seems to be more important than the appropriate response.” - Marsiela Gomez.

Time Free Thinking

The left hemisphere way of knowing is characterized be verbal and logical thought. Things based on planning, logic and step by tsp procedures. The right hemisphere is non-verbal and intuitive.

“The notion of time free think refers to occasions when people completely loose track of time.” This tends to occur in no-verbal activities such as art work and music. The experience of flow is one where the person is completely observed in the activity at hand. The clock no longer serves a good analog of the temporal experience.

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Abida

Old adress:

Weteringstraat 355612 GXEindhoven

New adress:

Reinaertlaan 485625 GHEindhoven

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AN INTIMATE MEAL

Curry chicken with almonds, rice and raisins. Eating with our hands instead of using cutlery. Sharing food from one big plate.

We are sitting in the new home of a Moroccan family. Abida, a single mother. Her two sons and her daughter had to leave Woensel, an area of the city of Eindhoven in the Nether-lands, because it will be soon be demolished in order to re-new it.

Abida’s father was traveling in Europe when she was thirteen in order to find a job to earn money for his family. After two years searching for work in Spain and France he finally settled down in Eindhoven working for a cement factory. His family followed, and soon everyone was living in Woensel.

For Abida it is a struggle to leave this place, since part of her family, including her father, are still living here. She has been in Woensel for the past twenty years and raised her children in this suburb of Eindhoven.

Her brothers wife, who is not present, has cooked an enor-mous traditional dinner, an acknowledgement of our help-ing Abida move into her new house. Her brother ‘Said’, his brother in law and the four of us are sitting around the table in the new dining room.Abida herself and her daughter sit apart from us, at a smaller table at the end of theroom. It feels as if the Moroccan tradition, which her family obviously maintains extensively, warmly embraces us.

This new place of hers is located in Jaegershof, fifteen min-utes further from the city center than her previous home. It is a welcoming house with a lot of light and a front as well as a back garden. It seems bigger and more comfortable then her previous home. Her living standard, compared to her old plac, has definitely risen.

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“A New Life, A New Home”

As we step out of the van a small, middle aged, muslim woman greets us warmly, in what little English she has. She is standing in front of a small terraced house. There is no front garden. The door is open.She invites us into her home and we follow her inside. I find myself in a narrow, dull, hallway with a short staircase two meters in front of me. To my left is a pin board full of photographs of, what looks to be, the same 3 children at different ages. Pinned on top of the many photographs is a police statement. I do not understand what it says.

We continue to the right and enter into a medium sized, dim, living room area. In front of me, a girl in her early twenties is carrying several boxes. A dismantled table, more boxes, a mirror and six upside down chairs are laying neatly beside her. There is a large flat screen TV playing pop music in the corner. Opposite hangs a pic-ture of Morocco’s countryside, in all its beauty.

Abida, a middle aged, single Moroccan mother has been living in her home at Weteringstraat 35, in Oud Woensel, for almost twenty years. On her own she has raised three children in this house, her twin sons, aged 17, and her daughter aged 21. However, soon her house will be demolished and that part of her life will come to an end. Abida is moving to a new part of town and we, Baba, Kim, Philipp and I are helping her to start her new life.

A new life starts with a van. It is the key to any house move. As luck would have it we arrived in a long wheel based, white, Fiat Ducato. It was the power horse of this operation and without it we would not be helping this friendly Morrocan lady to start her new life.As soon as the formalities and introductions were out of the way phase one started: the van was meticulously packed to the brim. This lead to phase two of the opera-tion, which was driving the van to the location for their

new life: Jagershoef. After completion of phase two it is inevitable that phase three must follow: arrival at the new life location where the unpacking begins.

As we step out of the van a small, young boy, no older than ten, greets us warmly without the use of words. He greets us with a big warm smile. He stands in front of a medium sized terraced house. It has a large green lawn in front. The door is open.

With Abida already inside the house we start to unpack the van. However, very quickly the boy takes control of the situation and starts telling us where to put which pieces of furniture. “Midlle kamer boven,” He says pointing at three flat packed pieces of a cupboard.

I obey his order and make my way to the front door, flat pack pieces in hand. I enter into in a bright, small hall-way with the staircase winding up to my right. I make my way up the steep staircase and place the pieces in the midlle kamer boven as instructed. This is a brightly lit, medium sized room.

On the way out I meet a middle aged man who is also here to help. He is friendly and I soon find out he is the brother of Abida. His name is Siad. His friend is also there to help. He does not speak any English. Polite smiles and nods are exchanged.

With phase three over we proceeded onto phase four, five and six. This consisted of driving back to Wetering-straat 35, packing the van, driving back to Jagershoef again, unpacking the van, and then back to Wetering-straat etc…. until we came to my favorite phase of the day: phase seven.

Phase seven: Lunch time. Abida prepares a table, as-sembling different piece of her, now transported, flat-packed furniture. She brings out plate after plate of

ABIDA

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food, followed by an assortment of drinks. We, the mov-ers, and the two men, sit down at this main table. Abida and the children sit at a smaller table behind. The wife of Siad, a women we never meet, has cooked for us. She has created a feast of four full sized, oven baked chick-ens accompanied by a large plate of various vegetables. “We usually eat with our hands from the same plate,” explains Siad with a smile on his face.”This is our tradi-tion, you do not have to like this if you do not want,” he continues, handing us cutlery and plates. Ignoring the cutlery and plates, we all eat with our hands from one large plate together.

A ceremony between different cultures. A feast. A sign of respect. A chance to talk. A chance to relax. Time to get to know each other. With the ceremony over, and everyone full of food and nourishment phase eight and nine follow. We unpack and re-pack the van one more time. We assemble the final pieces. We talk some more.

The day is coming to an end. Abida and her family thank us. We exchange phone numbers with everyone involved. “Shall we drink some coffee together in the future,” Kim asks as we leave. The answer is yes. An enjoyable and productive day had by all.

Nevertheless, I get the impression that Abida does not value the material aspect of her new home as much as a life close to her family, a life closer to the city, with a direct connection to public transport for her children to go to school or university, and a life closer to the market where she can purchase traditional food.

These values are obvious in this precise moment, where we participate in the intimate act of sharing food from the same plate with our bare hands; an act which plays an important social role in their tradition.

For me, a German student studying in the Netherlands, who mostly eat my dinner by myself with cutlery, and often rushed, a social event like this is a rather rare ex-perience, overwhelming in its opulence.

Related to Woensel though, it is difficult to imagine that such social interactions, so warm and intimate, only happen behind the facades of the houses.The question araises, whether ‘Domein’, the housing cooperation, will be able to maintain or even to trans-form this richness, which different cultures have brought to this place, and to make it visible on the outside by means of smart and modern architecture.

Of course, this question is only relevant if this cultural diversity will reappear in the new Woensel.This is just one story of moving a Moroccan fam-ily within Woensel, but I am sure this neighbourhood is filled with various flavours and stories about differ-ent traditions; with many small interactions which are wonderful to experience and which reveal pieces of Woensel’s inner identity.

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Serkan Saritas

Old adress:

Lohengrinlaan 325625EK Eindhoven

New adress:

Sint Petrusstraat 345612 GS Eindhoven

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CONCLUSION

Having explored and befriended the once alien world of Oud Woensel we would like to suggest a more positive

role Domein, that the housing company in charge of the demolition process, can play in this situation as well as in

similar situations in the future. In Oud Woensel the inhabitants were given money as a compensation prior to their

forced move. While the money was, no doubt, welcome, it can also be seen as a way of manipulating people, as a

kind of bribe to smooth out the bumps.

Efforts were, indeed, made to establish a degree of friendship between the housing company and the tenants, but

still the tenants feel patronised and neglected. We believe that much of the problem lies with the issue of scale. How

we see it the housing company approached this brittle landscape of change mainly on a large, impersonal scale and

failed to engage with the tenants on a personal level. The service we provided, in contrast, was direct and specifically

personal. Throughout the process we experienced positive reactions to our research. People appreciated the fact

that we were there to offer help in this particular moment of major change.We tried to be objective, without pre-

conceived ideas and us, being outsiders, created an atmosphere in which it was possible to discuss issues connected

to the situation. While this was not our intention, we were seen as mediators between tenants and the company.

We therefore believe that we are uniquely placed to offer suggestions as to how the relationship between the hous-

ing company and tenants could be improved. While the housing company was, and still is, also conducting research

with the tenants, this research took the form of formal questioning. The information optained in such a manner

tends to be impersonal and limited and often it can do more damage than good to their relationship with the

inhabitants. We think that participative research, is much more benificial, as the tenants feel both supported and

understood, a direct and sincere connection is established and genuine conversation yielding valuable information

for similar future situations can be gathered.

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